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A review by whatlenalikes
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Wow. This book is breathtaking. It’s written in the same simple, funny, intimate style as Trevor’s comedy, but it deals with the real darkness and tragedy of his childhood growing up under and after apartheid. The complicated figure of his mother throughout the book is so stunningly and humanistically portrayed.
Do you ever read a memoir that you know you won’t be able to stop thinking about for years? Because that’s this one. It’s so matter of fact with the way it deals with the dark stuff, and it also has such moments of light, it’s impossible to put down or forget. Even though it’s an essay collection, so it’s far from a cohesive storyline of Trevor’s childhood, the puzzle pieces are all there that explain how he became the individual he did. It’s just stunningly told.
There weren’t a whole lot of negative reviews that I saw for this, but I’ll say it: the ones that I did see were straight up racist, or completely unaware of their own privilege. I saw people complaining about the choices Trevor’s parents made, or the way he recounted some of the abuses he experienced. I hope those people maybe take a moment to reflect on why that disturbed them as much as it did. This was a stunning collection of well-written stories, and definitely a book I will be revisiting.
Do you ever read a memoir that you know you won’t be able to stop thinking about for years? Because that’s this one. It’s so matter of fact with the way it deals with the dark stuff, and it also has such moments of light, it’s impossible to put down or forget. Even though it’s an essay collection, so it’s far from a cohesive storyline of Trevor’s childhood, the puzzle pieces are all there that explain how he became the individual he did. It’s just stunningly told.
There weren’t a whole lot of negative reviews that I saw for this, but I’ll say it: the ones that I did see were straight up racist, or completely unaware of their own privilege. I saw people complaining about the choices Trevor’s parents made, or the way he recounted some of the abuses he experienced. I hope those people maybe take a moment to reflect on why that disturbed them as much as it did. This was a stunning collection of well-written stories, and definitely a book I will be revisiting.