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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
great narrator reading the book, but I just wanted something lighter
Perspective is a necessary thing. There are tragedies happening around the world that we cannot begin to fathom from our bubble of security, warmth, and full bellies. This was a difficult book to stomach but it was necessary. This particular book is a work of fiction, but for many people, the events therein were very, very real.
I will not explain about the Lost Boys of South Sudan. Valentino Achak Deng, in this book, will explain it to you according to his first hand account. And if that is not enough, there is plenty of research you can do on the Sudanese Civil War and the Dinka...forever changed by it.
I will warn that the flow of the book was a little hard to follow. The timeline jumped back and forth and in between and that was challenging. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated excellently.
I will not explain about the Lost Boys of South Sudan. Valentino Achak Deng, in this book, will explain it to you according to his first hand account. And if that is not enough, there is plenty of research you can do on the Sudanese Civil War and the Dinka...forever changed by it.
I will warn that the flow of the book was a little hard to follow. The timeline jumped back and forth and in between and that was challenging. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated excellently.
I knew a bit about the refugee experience in the US but really appreciated learning more about the pre-immigration experience.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Valentino Achak Deng’s story is one of resilience. As told by Dave Eggers, Deng’s story comes alive: the tale of a young “Lost Boy” turned optimistic refugee in America.
Growing up in a small village in Sudan, Valentino dreamed of marrying the pretty girl in town and owning a shiny bicycle like one of the most prosperous men he knew. His dreams are dashed, however, when a gang of rebels beat his father in the middle of the village, and soon his home is a battleground between the government and rebel armies. As the town is burnt to ashes and his friends and neighbors are executed before his eyes, Valentino flees for his life: the first steps in his miraculous journey.
Faced with unbelievable hurdles, narrowly avoiding death, losing loved ones, and at times, hope, Valentino overcomes his circumstances to become a hero to his own countrymen.
One of the most poignant things that Valentino reflects on, at least to me, was that after his remarkably difficult journey, he has become more educated than he ever could have in Sudan before the conflict. As I have been meditating on the art of resiliency lately, that fact made me take pause; in spite of everything, at least one part of his life was arguably improved by his harrowing plight.
I am a bit more in-tuned to global issues than some other readers, but regardless, this is a book everyone should read in their lives. It is no wonder that many schools have adopted it as required reading: its lessons on adaptability, hope, and the power of resiliency are rare to find in any text. In short, read this book. Valentino’s experience can teach anyone a lesson in survival and looking with hope to the future. And, unlike Nujood Ali of I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, Valentino has used the publicity and funding from this book to transform lives back in Sudan. He is an inspirational man, and this is an inspirational book.
Growing up in a small village in Sudan, Valentino dreamed of marrying the pretty girl in town and owning a shiny bicycle like one of the most prosperous men he knew. His dreams are dashed, however, when a gang of rebels beat his father in the middle of the village, and soon his home is a battleground between the government and rebel armies. As the town is burnt to ashes and his friends and neighbors are executed before his eyes, Valentino flees for his life: the first steps in his miraculous journey.
Faced with unbelievable hurdles, narrowly avoiding death, losing loved ones, and at times, hope, Valentino overcomes his circumstances to become a hero to his own countrymen.
One of the most poignant things that Valentino reflects on, at least to me, was that after his remarkably difficult journey, he has become more educated than he ever could have in Sudan before the conflict. As I have been meditating on the art of resiliency lately, that fact made me take pause; in spite of everything, at least one part of his life was arguably improved by his harrowing plight.
I am a bit more in-tuned to global issues than some other readers, but regardless, this is a book everyone should read in their lives. It is no wonder that many schools have adopted it as required reading: its lessons on adaptability, hope, and the power of resiliency are rare to find in any text. In short, read this book. Valentino’s experience can teach anyone a lesson in survival and looking with hope to the future. And, unlike Nujood Ali of I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced, Valentino has used the publicity and funding from this book to transform lives back in Sudan. He is an inspirational man, and this is an inspirational book.
Finished my second Dave Eggers book What is the What and was just blown away! A woven together story of many true events told under the narration of one Sudanese man, it is not true non-fiction, but perhaps that why I loved it so. Achak narrates the book with his life stories of walking as a refugee and a “Lost Boy” by addressing them to the people directly in front of him, to the people robbing his Atlanta apartment were he was relocated, to the hospital workers that take hours upon hours to treat him, to the health club patrons where he works. The voice that Eggers conveyed was beautiful and never faltered; I never felt it was Eggers and not Achak. Understanding world events in this way was more poignant for me than the morning news.
Here are some quotes I picked out:
“In New York City I viewed the Statue of Liberty from a ferry, and was surprised to see that the woman was walking. I had seen pictures perhaps a hundred times but never realized that her feet were in mid-stride; it was startling and far more beautiful than I thought possible.”
“I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If ever I love again, I will not wait to love as best I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”
I had a few more but they really make more sense with the story.
Here are some quotes I picked out:
“In New York City I viewed the Statue of Liberty from a ferry, and was surprised to see that the woman was walking. I had seen pictures perhaps a hundred times but never realized that her feet were in mid-stride; it was startling and far more beautiful than I thought possible.”
“I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If ever I love again, I will not wait to love as best I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.”
I had a few more but they really make more sense with the story.
I put off reading this book for a long time, thinking it might be too depressing, what with the horrors the "Lost Boys" endured. But when I finally picked it up (I needed books I owned for a long road trip), I was hooked in the first chapter. What confuses me is why it's called a novel. It's written in the first person of one of the boys (Achak) , and the afterwords describe his life since the end of the book. What are we to make of this? Is it what we'd call a true story, but only the dialog and details are necessarily made up? Or are we essentially reading one (albeit compelling) side of a complex, intense and highly partisan political and religious conflict? This matters because the atrocities of the "other side" are described in horrifying detail. Is this because the protagonist's side is in truth more virtuous, or because it's all the protagonist saw, or is Eggers unfairly painting a picture sympathetic to one side? I'd be willing to give Eggers the benefit of the doubt, except that the small portion of the story that takes place in the U.S. seems very biased.
I was going to give the book 5 stars, because it's a great story, and told well. But as I'm writing this review, and thinking over the book, I'm having second thoughts. Almost all of the story takes place in Africa, but it's told in flashbacks by Achak as he meets what he decides are unsympathetic people in America. He addresses them by name, then tells another part of his African story. I think Eggers adopted this method for the sake of irony (America didn't meet its promises to the Lost Boys), but the effect for me is one of a petulant child complaining that he only got one cookie when everyone else got two. Not only did he only get one cookie after suffering unimaginable hardship, but nobody seems to care. Therefore it must be the fault of all these people who in fact had nothing to do with distributing the cookies.
I was going to give the book 5 stars, because it's a great story, and told well. But as I'm writing this review, and thinking over the book, I'm having second thoughts. Almost all of the story takes place in Africa, but it's told in flashbacks by Achak as he meets what he decides are unsympathetic people in America. He addresses them by name, then tells another part of his African story. I think Eggers adopted this method for the sake of irony (America didn't meet its promises to the Lost Boys), but the effect for me is one of a petulant child complaining that he only got one cookie when everyone else got two. Not only did he only get one cookie after suffering unimaginable hardship, but nobody seems to care. Therefore it must be the fault of all these people who in fact had nothing to do with distributing the cookies.
This is well-written and worth reading. I'll admit to not knowing a lot about the civil wars in Sudan, so it was a nice history lesson as well.
The book is written like Achek is addressing his story to different individuals throughout the book. The overall idea is that he heals and grows from his experiences each time he tells his story. Very moving account. Almost a little arrogant at times, but a solid book.