- Paperback: 560 pages
- Publisher: Vintage (2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307385906
- ISBN-13: 978-0307385901
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 2.5 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #501,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow,
By
This review is from: What Is the What (Paperback)
Viscerally disturbing, as it should be. The sudden, incomprehensible, physical, degrading horrors of war, the deprivations and indignities of being a refugee, and the surreality of an exile for which one is supposed to be grateful.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What, what,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: What Is the What (Hardcover)
Dave Eggers is the literary king of autobiographies tinged with fiction. First we had "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," a dramatised look at Eggers' own life.Now he's produced "What is the What," a novel-slash-biography of Valentino Achak Deng, a real-life refugee from the Sudan, who was moved to the US years ago. Through his voice, Eggers crafts his best novel to date -- a raw, compelling life story, without gimmicks or tricks. The story actually opens in America, when Deng is working in a Georgia health club and attending college. One day, he's assaulted and his apartment is robbed -- as he lies tied up on the floor, he thinks to the boy watching his TV, "You do not understand, I would tell them. You would not add to my suffering if you knew what I have seen." Inside his own mind, Deng takes readers back into his own history -- back in the Sudan, he was part of a large, loving polygamous family, with lots of friends and siblings. That all changed when Arab militiamen attacked his village, burning homes and leaving many of the adults dead. And so Deng was one of the Lost Boys -- 20,000 young kids (mostly boys) who wandered across the deserts to refugee camps. Many of them died on the way. Deng spends more time in one of the camps, before finally being brought to the United States. But while the US has plenty of new opportunities, Deng must struggle with new problems and setbacks. In a way, Eggers is the ideal author to chronicle a "Lost Boy's" life story -- he's devoted a lot of ink to stories of people who are "lost" or displaced from those around them. And so when he's called on to write of a person who was truly displaced, he falls right into the groove and barrels right ahead. And the result is absolutely breathtaking. No navel-gazing. No angsty introspection. There's just Deng's story, wrapped up in Eggers' prose. Eggers has shorn his writing of its trappings in favor of a funny, dark, stranger-in-a-strange-land narrative, soaked in a feeling of homesickness, sorrow and loneliness. His prose is smoother and more powerful than ever before -- the horrifying trip across the desert is one of the best pieces of writing Eggers has ever done, as are the final pages of Deng's inner thoughts. It's a little hard to really describe Deng in this novel, since he is a real person who is still alive. But through Eggers' pen, he comes across as a saddened, scarred man who is nevertheless hopeful for a better life. It's incredibly compelling, and one suspects that a fictional character would never have leapt from the pages like this. "What is the What" is a bittersweet odyssey from the point of view of one man, and Dave Eggers proves his brilliance by bringing that story to life. A must read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gift,
By
This review is from: What Is the What (Hardcover)
This is an incredible book. A moving journey across space and time. Always fast paced, always heart wrenching. You keep wanting to turn the page but at the same time savor every line and every word. Every human being should read this book, take a deep breath, and realize how small the world we live in is. It should not be ignored.
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