No Longer a Lost Girl in America | What Is the What

Bowls of Bright Oranges | What Is the What | Dave Eggers

books:


	• What Is the What Dave Eggers BBC Audiobooks America, 2007 average customer review:based on 166 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great book

Wonderful book, a great read and fit into my college class perfectly. Arrived in great condition!

No Longer a Lost Girl in America

This book gives a realistic and balanced account of the horrors of the crisis in Sudan through the expert recounting of Valentino's life story and at the same time, educates. You not only learn about the terrible crimes innocent people suffer in that part of the world, but also about the adjustments these men and women have to make to living in other countries. This is without question one of the most important books of our time and should be read by every man, woman and child.

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Bowls of Bright Oranges

As told to author, Dave Eggers, in What is the What, Valentino Achak Deng, recounts his walking journey from the war-torn Sudan and how he eventually arrived in the United States . In this epic novel, that made it to the New York Times bestsellers list, we are introduced to one of the "Lost Boys", survivors of the massacre to their homeland who walked a journey that lasted months with many other motherless (and fatherless) boys and some girls. We realize that many of them made the journey while more did not, having lost their lives to hunger, malaria, being eaten by lions, eating raw meat, the enemy soldiers, and loss of hope among many other things. Achak's hope was in getting to their destination where there would be "bowls of bright oranges" on every kitchen table.

Achak "tells" his story, while living in Atlanta , GA , to the many people he encounters in his life through his daily living. The beginning of his retelling starts as he is being subjected to a home invasion. While he is gagged, he obviously cannot physically talk, but in his mind, he is telling one of his captors, a child, his story as if to say, "Don't you know what I've been through? So why would you pick me to do this to?". In "telling" his story to the people he encounters, we meet his childhood friends, William K, Moses, his walking partner, Deng, Achor Achor, and the leader of the walking boys, Dut. We learn of their fates and how without each of these boys, Ackak does not know how he would have made it.

While reading this novel, I thought of my own son, a nine year-old boy, around the same age that Achak was while on his journey. As many sons are to their mothers, Achak was enamored with his. He frequently remembers her bright yellow dress and through his description, you can visualize the deep admiration, respect and love he had for her for she was everything to him. So to have to leave everything you know and venture on this journey, having to know who to trust and who knows the safest journey, when to rest, and when to keep walking, is so much for an adult, but especially for little boys. That he made it through this journey simply speaks to God's purpose that he had for this boy and increased my faith just by reading about it. We also learn, as readers, what the "what" is.

Dave Eggers did an awesome job of helping Achak tell his story. In reading, you definitely get a sense of Achak's dialect. In addition, while reading, I really heard Achak's voice; it read like a transcription. Dave Eggers made himself invisible so you could know Achak and his journey. This novel has a subject matter I thought was going to be difficult to get through, however he told the story for Achak in a poignant, sometimes funny way with a beautiful use of language and emotion that surpasses all boundaries of language or culture. This book is highly recommended for those that enjoy stories of hope and perseverance.

Lena Willis
APOOO BookClub

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couldn't put it down

The best book I've read all year. I couldn't put it down and actually got up once at 2AM to continue reading in the middle of the night. The final paragraph is of a lyrical beauty that keeps running through my (mind?) heart like music.

Very Relevant Issues - Great Read

Valentino's story brings out all the emotion of the issues going on in Africa. I couldn't wait to read more every day. The author's style was easy to keep track of using the flashback method of storytelling. One of my co-workers has met Valentino and will be joining our bookclub for our discussion - this should be really good.

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