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A review by rhys_thomas_sparey
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Few books are so affective, and in such a variety of ways.
It seems cliche to review a book for its ability to make a reader laugh and cry, but it is true that Noah's autobiography achieves both. More than that, it is an inadvertent ethnography of the perseverance of racism and misogyny in post-apartheid South Africa, but in their significantly more complex forms, as well as their historic origins in British and Dutch colonialism. Whether it elaborates on the playground politics of suburban Catholic schools or narrates quite matter-of-factly the extraordinary and dangerous lengths to which him and his mother would go simply to survive, Noah's ability to understand the human spirit at its core and convey his experiences as much with comedy as with tragedy is magnificent and I recommend it to everybody.
It seems cliche to review a book for its ability to make a reader laugh and cry, but it is true that Noah's autobiography achieves both. More than that, it is an inadvertent ethnography of the perseverance of racism and misogyny in post-apartheid South Africa, but in their significantly more complex forms, as well as their historic origins in British and Dutch colonialism. Whether it elaborates on the playground politics of suburban Catholic schools or narrates quite matter-of-factly the extraordinary and dangerous lengths to which him and his mother would go simply to survive, Noah's ability to understand the human spirit at its core and convey his experiences as much with comedy as with tragedy is magnificent and I recommend it to everybody.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Abandonment