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bantwalkers 's review for:
What Is the What
by Dave Eggers
What is the What is one of those books that needs to be explained, reviewed, gushed over in vague, but glowing, buzzwords.
Fascinating.
Harrowing.
Touching.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
It is, indeed, all of these things. And hard to talk about without giving it those, and more, words of praise. None, however, quite capture it though.
What is the What is the fictionalized Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, which causes for some early confusion. Valentino Achak Deng is, in fact, a real person, and the events in this book are, for the most part, real events. However, writer Dave Eggers has shortened timelines, moved events around, and added some literary license to make for a better story. But it’s hard to tell how much is Eggers and how much is Deng. The voice of the narrator is so complete, that it’s easy to buy this as just a straightforward autobiography. Things that I think of as being Eggers-y, sort of a postmodern clown who can add humor and insight to unbelievably sad occurrences, are here, but not in abundance. And even when they do show up, they don’t sound like Eggers. Maybe that’s how the two became friends, they share similar traits. Deng’s story is much sadder and horrific than Eggers’s (Eggers lost both his parents in a short period of time and then became the primary guardian of his 10-year old brother (a story he told in his acclaimed memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.)) Even if it is Eggers’s influence, Deng tells his story of political unrest, violence, and displacement in his home country of Sudan to the culture shock of his move to the United States with more hope and humor than a soul-crushing sadness (which would have been easy, even understandable.)
Deng’s humor in the story isn’t one of naiveté either. He is, instead, capable of a subtle form of observational humor. And the book is an easier read because of this. Neither Deng nor Eggers want to have you bawl your eyes out; they don’t even seem to want anything from the reader. They just want Deng’s story, and all the Sudanese who Deng’s story stands in for, to be told. If it’s sad, then be sad. If it’s funny, then laugh. If it makes you outraged, then be outraged. But it doesn’t ask for you to be any of these things necessarily, it just has the power to illicit them. And that is the mark of solid storytelling.
Fascinating.
Harrowing.
Touching.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
It is, indeed, all of these things. And hard to talk about without giving it those, and more, words of praise. None, however, quite capture it though.
What is the What is the fictionalized Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, which causes for some early confusion. Valentino Achak Deng is, in fact, a real person, and the events in this book are, for the most part, real events. However, writer Dave Eggers has shortened timelines, moved events around, and added some literary license to make for a better story. But it’s hard to tell how much is Eggers and how much is Deng. The voice of the narrator is so complete, that it’s easy to buy this as just a straightforward autobiography. Things that I think of as being Eggers-y, sort of a postmodern clown who can add humor and insight to unbelievably sad occurrences, are here, but not in abundance. And even when they do show up, they don’t sound like Eggers. Maybe that’s how the two became friends, they share similar traits. Deng’s story is much sadder and horrific than Eggers’s (Eggers lost both his parents in a short period of time and then became the primary guardian of his 10-year old brother (a story he told in his acclaimed memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.)) Even if it is Eggers’s influence, Deng tells his story of political unrest, violence, and displacement in his home country of Sudan to the culture shock of his move to the United States with more hope and humor than a soul-crushing sadness (which would have been easy, even understandable.)
Deng’s humor in the story isn’t one of naiveté either. He is, instead, capable of a subtle form of observational humor. And the book is an easier read because of this. Neither Deng nor Eggers want to have you bawl your eyes out; they don’t even seem to want anything from the reader. They just want Deng’s story, and all the Sudanese who Deng’s story stands in for, to be told. If it’s sad, then be sad. If it’s funny, then laugh. If it makes you outraged, then be outraged. But it doesn’t ask for you to be any of these things necessarily, it just has the power to illicit them. And that is the mark of solid storytelling.