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sylvanmoon 's review for:
What Is the What
by Dave Eggers
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.