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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
I really didn't understand the trouble in Africa. this was my first real look into the civil war. Learned a lot. Very sad happenings. The book was very engaging.
A well-written book - violent and depressing at times, but the writing is so clean and clear that I moved through it almost without effort. Changed the way I thought about Africa, and refugees. I originally picked it up because I liked "A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius" so much, but this writing is much different. Not worse, just different.
Eye opening, alarming, educational, and outstanding. We meet this young man, a refugee from Sudan, in his apartment in Atlanta. He is the midst of an armed robbery, being held captive in his home, and we learn through his story telling of the unbelievable and unforgettable journey he took as a boy through Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. He is attempting to escape oppression, violence, death, suffering, starvation, lions, beatings, lies, bombs, bullets, deceit, disease and dementia. He desperately clings to the hope of finding his family, and as the reader, you wonder if you would make it even a month under similar conditions. Overwhelming sadness permeates his story, as we are brought back to the present, where in this free world, as a refugee, he is beaten down. It is a story of survival and oppression and hope. I am not quite done. This man's story is changing how I see the world.
So good, and soooo heartbreaking. Quite a few years ago I got interested in the plight of the Lost Boys from Sudan. I looked into ways to help and it seemed most of them required money (I was starting college around this time). This book re-sparked that flame.
My god, the atrocities people live through...CHILDREN, live through. Quite often many people did not live through. But this poor man went through so much, one thing after another. I looked him up after this and read he is doing good things for his old country and most humans, since he was kind enough to share this story. My heart is forever hurting for and because of humanity.
My god, the atrocities people live through...CHILDREN, live through. Quite often many people did not live through. But this poor man went through so much, one thing after another. I looked him up after this and read he is doing good things for his old country and most humans, since he was kind enough to share this story. My heart is forever hurting for and because of humanity.
Great book. Fascinating (but fictionalized) perspective on the life of a young boy in Sudan caught in the country's turmoil, and the culture shock of the Lost Boys adjusting to life in America. I never saw the documentary that came out a few years ago about the Lost Boys of Sudan. It's on my queue to watch, but may have to bump it up now.
Similar to watching Hotel Rwanda, it makes you really appreciate the things you take for granted living in America, even with all our ridiculous political and economic issues. At least I didn't have to run for my life with the Mujaheddin at my heels when I was six, or decide between being shot at the riverside or jumping in and taking my chances with crocodiles.
Eggers' writing style is engaging and vivid. I am looking forward to reading his book about Hurricane Katrina as well...and (tangentially) lamenting that I can't be at the Where the Wild Things Are screening @ 826NYC this Wednesday with Eggers and Spike Jonze and my silly brother.
Similar to watching Hotel Rwanda, it makes you really appreciate the things you take for granted living in America, even with all our ridiculous political and economic issues. At least I didn't have to run for my life with the Mujaheddin at my heels when I was six, or decide between being shot at the riverside or jumping in and taking my chances with crocodiles.
Eggers' writing style is engaging and vivid. I am looking forward to reading his book about Hurricane Katrina as well...and (tangentially) lamenting that I can't be at the Where the Wild Things Are screening @ 826NYC this Wednesday with Eggers and Spike Jonze and my silly brother.
Great chaser to this book is the documentary "God Grew Tired of Us"
Hooray! I finally finished...I've been reading it all summer, which was cool since South Sudan gained independence while I was reading the book. Informative, sad, frustrating...
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I first read about this book on Rosie O’Donnell’s website. It is the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the lost boys of Sudan. It is called a fictionalized memoir. At times the book was difficult to read, but I am glad that I stuck with it. It took me a long time to read it, but this was the also the time when I started working again and had less time for reading. I learned so much about a series of events I had heard and read of, but really knew nothing about. Valentino says, “God has a problem with me” and he (and others like him) have surely suffered and endured so much more than anyone I know.
Niet uitgelezen wegens niet mijn ding. Onderwerp interesseert me, maar te overgoten met een amerikaanse saus. In hetzelfde genre vind ik 'a long way down', over kindsoldaten in sierra leone, een pak beter.