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9 internautes sur 9 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
What, what, Fév 22 2007
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.
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3 internautes sur 3 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
A gift, Déc 3 2006
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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1 internautes sur 1 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
5.0étoiles sur 5
fascinating, Nov. 18 2007
I have tried to read Egger's other novel but found it quite unsatisfying. This one, however, I could not put down. Eggers does a fantastic job at weaving together the memories and experiences of his main character; resulting in a riveting and heart wrenching chronicle of the Lost Boys in their struggle to flee war-torn Sudan. It is not for the faint at heart. It gives the history of the war in Sudan throughout the story and doesn't spare any details of the realities of civil war, ethnic cleansing, life as a refugee, and as well of the most rural "third world". I cried when I finished this, and wasn't able to read for a while afterwards. If you are ever feeling sorry for yourself, you should read this book and be inspired by the will of those in it.
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