Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

28 reviews

lanayagraham's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

This is an absolute MUST READ. It was honest, funny, hearbreaking, interesting and easy to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Excrement, Cursing, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Colonisation, Misogyny, Gun violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, and Grief

kiwichill's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was one of the best memoirs I have ever read.  I have never seen Trevor Noah on TV, I'd never heard of him.  I just kept seeing this book come up in Facebook groups etc.  At times shocking and disturbing,  other times humorous,  it opened my eyes to what life is like in South Africa, both during apartheid and after.  Poverty, domestic violence, crime, racism and government laws that support these ideals are a way of life over there. Noah's mother must be commended for the strength of character and resilience she displays.  I recommend listening to the audiobook as it is excellent 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Cursing, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Colonisation, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Medical content, Misogyny, Murder, and Physical abuse

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Gun violence, Child abuse, Police brutality, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Classism, Misogyny, and Racism

Moderate: Excrement, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury

ethrbo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Excrement

crazytourists_books's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative sad tense medium-paced

3.0

An interesting book about growing up in South Africa before and after the end of Apartheid.. I could never imagine that Noah went through so much on his life; enough to break him, but he managed to step away, and that's remarkable. 
There was a lot of going back and forth in time that made it hard(er) to follow and gave a feeling of being a tad inconsistent. Not bad, just not great... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Medical content, and Misogyny

filipa_maia's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

I'm such a huge fan of Trevor Noah and this book was on my TBR list for so long... I was really excited about this read. I'm usually not a fan of autobiographies (biographies in general) but I could not pass this one.

I really enjoyed this book. Is so effortlessly written, almost like a conversation.  The story goes back and forth with such grace and detail that the reader feels like its actually a one-on-one talk with Trevor.

Trevor as a very unique way of describing whats around him. Its a very funny, but serious way of telling us what was like to born and live being someone who does not belong. But this book is so much more that just a story about Trevor's life. Is all about a time period that changed an entire country and its people forever. Its very interesting the way this book describes such dark times through the eyes of a child and, later, with the proper interpretation of an adult. More than 30 years after the end of apartheid people still live surrounded by its "ghost"... its not there anymore but its presence is still felt.

Everyone, no matter what your race is, your age, where you are from, should read this book. We all should learn what happened during (and after) apartheid, because when we forget the past we are bound to repeat the same mistakes.

P.S.: I believe there is a quote very similar to this by a philosopher, but this is a saying that I really like.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Police brutality, Grief, Child abuse, Racism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Racial slurs, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Hate crime, Gun violence, Classism, Violence, Genocide, Domestic abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Excrement, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

itsliterarycait's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really good read. Its pretty educational and relatable (for a black-coloured-looking South African). I love how he explains some colloquial terms and how he (seemingly) effortlessly describes life as a South African. I relate so much to how he describes himself as a chameleon, being black but not black enough, looking coloured but not being coloured, speaking multiple SA languages. This book really is like a mirror being held up to my face. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Gun violence, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Excrement

Minor: Suicide attempt and Rape

clarabooksit's review against another edition

funny inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.5

This is good—not as good as the hype claims, but enjoyable. If you like Noah’s comedy and especially his delivery style, you’ll like this.

Noah is clever, nerdy and funny and this memoir showcases that. His love of South Africa, where he came from and his mother are apparent on every page, even as he’a cracking jokes about them. I especially enjoyed learning a lot about South Africa.

Where the book let me down is in its lack of emotional resonance. That and it was very obviously written for a U.S. American audience, which felt confining even if I’m a part of that audience.

Noah has lived a fascinating life full of sticky, incredible and awful moments, but his voice remains distant like the person at a party who tells wild and traumatic stories for laughs without registering how deeply personal they are. While there’s a great deal of reflection in the book, it all felt anecdotal to me. The format of the book also makes every story feel like a lesson and that didn’t quite work for me.

To be fair, that may be more of a reflection on me than the book. I did like it: it’s zippy, I learned a lot, it made me laugh and at the very end, it made me cry. But it didn’t thrill me. Would still recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Slavery, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Body shaming, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Excrement, Police brutality, and Slavery

Minor: Animal cruelty and Rape

navyredrose's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Excrement

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Colonisation

sabrina_d_arcy's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Drug use, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Violence, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Minor: Abandonment, Antisemitism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Addiction, and Excrement