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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
The content of this book is incredibly difficult to read, but it is so well-written and engaging that I couldn't put it down.
An insightful must-read about one man's experience in the 2nd Sudanese Civil War and his journey to America (via traveling by foot to a refugee camp with the Lost Boys of Sudan). Eye-opening.
I loved reading this book about a subject I knew nothing about.
Wish there was an option for more stars with this one!
I did not finish this book, a hard read. Started it for book club. Interesting but didn't have the time to devote and dig into this book - pretty dense although what I read was good.
I'm surprised by all the reviews calling this book a sprawling epic. Sure, it tells an amazing, long, ghastly story, but the book itself is so personal and small-seeming (in a good way, trust me). Step by step, Deng lives the trials of his life, one after another, and keeps going. I am bewildered by his strength and the fact that he is still optimistic and working for positive change in Sudan today.
A visit to the webiste www.valentinoachakdeng.org has an interview with Dave Eggers. He mentions several times that he ultimately decided to remove his presence from the telling of this story, and he did do that extremely well. I forgot that this was partially his story through most of my time reading this book.
A visit to the webiste www.valentinoachakdeng.org has an interview with Dave Eggers. He mentions several times that he ultimately decided to remove his presence from the telling of this story, and he did do that extremely well. I forgot that this was partially his story through most of my time reading this book.
I've enjoyed other books by Eggers and the subject matter of this genuinely does interest me, but I don't think it worked the way it was crafted. The description of the attacks on the Sudanese villages and the epic journey of the "lost boys" to safety and then further trauma in the refugee camps was gripping and interesting. And while the later story of Valentino Deng's struggles in the USA were also interesting, I found that part of the book less well written. It had chapter after chapter of Valentino in some sort of limbo situation (tied up by buglers or waiting in A&E) while he "reflected" on his past. Okay, one instance of this would have been tolerable, but it was virtually how the whole book was structured, with the Sudanese parts told almost as flashbacks. In some parts it also seemed didactic or preachy, but that might just be me. The story in itself is horrific and I'm glad that I read it. I just wish it had been written either as a novel or as a memoir, rather than something that falls between the two cracks. And while I respect that the enigmatic title comes from a response that his father gave to one of the militia men, I grew tired of the repetition
of it throughout the book and really did not come away understanding what was meant by it.
of it throughout the book and really did not come away understanding what was meant by it.
Makes me wonder which life is worse -- a stranger in a strange land or a citizen of a warland.
Starts a little slow, but picks up after a little. Or maybe it's that I didn't get a chance to read in big chunks until about half way through the book. But either way it really picked up and I really enjoyed it. It's not Egger's regular style 100%, but it is never the less well written, and he still plays with language, but the fact that he's telling someone else's story keeps him in check. So if you never liked Egger's style, don't be afraid to check this one out.