Hardcover, 475 pages
English language
Published Oct. 25, 2006 by McSweeney's.
What Is the What is the epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children--the so-called Lost Boys--was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Impressive recounting of Sudan's civil war and a life-long experience having no place as a refugee.
As much is this book is about incomprehensible struggles in far-off places, it belongs more overtly to the category of good old fashioned adventure books- an unbelievable quest undertaken by a naive and brave youth. Eggers does a great trick in keeping the eye trained on the triumphs, and not the tragedy, of his hero's journey.
I liked it. Total bummer and a little heavy handed but I thought it was informative. Sudan has been in so much trouble for so long.
Extremely well written, aside from being occasionally pedantic. Less obnoxious than other Eggers stuff. Anyone familiar with Sudan or forced migration probably has an idea of what to expect when playing voyeur to tragedy, but from the very start Achak's story takes one well beyond that.
What is the What, the latest novel by Dave Eggers, is the novelized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, who witnessed the devastation of his village, Marial Bai, and became one of Sudan's Lost Boys. When he did make it to America, he faced a new set of problems.
Eggers succeeds in writing in a different voice and creating a convincing narrative while describing the unimaginable nightmares these boys faced everyday, such as starvation, wild animals, predatory adults, and disease. They were chased from location to location, they were unaccompanied orphans who staggered and died along the way, the youngest human beings to live on hope and adrenalin.
What is the what? No one knows, but these boys all had to have some faith that they would find their own what, in order to keep moving. Valentino did. It's a sad story and a long one. One of Valentino's earlier monikers …
What is the What, the latest novel by Dave Eggers, is the novelized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, who witnessed the devastation of his village, Marial Bai, and became one of Sudan's Lost Boys. When he did make it to America, he faced a new set of problems.
Eggers succeeds in writing in a different voice and creating a convincing narrative while describing the unimaginable nightmares these boys faced everyday, such as starvation, wild animals, predatory adults, and disease. They were chased from location to location, they were unaccompanied orphans who staggered and died along the way, the youngest human beings to live on hope and adrenalin.
What is the what? No one knows, but these boys all had to have some faith that they would find their own what, in order to keep moving. Valentino did. It's a sad story and a long one. One of Valentino's earlier monikers was "Gone Far," and though he's still a young man, he has already achieved that.
Even if you're not attracted to any of Dave Eggers's other novels, you might like this one. The subject and style are completely different, the events staggering. It's a memorable read.
Really helped me put my bourgeois problems like work stress and dating drama into perspective. At least I don't have to worry about being eaten by lions. The (true) story of the Lost Boys of Sudan is a compelling one, and Dave Eggers tells it from the perspective of one particular survivor very well.
I love Dave Eggers, and the more socially conscious he gets, the more I love him.
