What is the What

The Book
What is the What, by Dave Eggers

Synopsis
The novel is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Sudanese “lost boys” displaced by war in Southern Sudan to Ethiopia, then Kenya, and finally the US. This is a graphic, humanized narrative of a tragedy that’s become familiar in the news.

The story of Valentino’s life is told in the space of one difficult day in Atlanta, GA. He reminisces about the events of his life, directing his story silently at the people around him. While they only see his silence, the reader shares his vivid recollection of the steps, people, and emotions that brought him to this day.

What I thought
Without Valentino, this story would be too brutal and dense for me to get beyond the first few chapters. Somwhere in those first chapters though, I was captured by his personality. Then I kept reading to make sure he would make it. When I consider, his life seems to include too much suffering for one person to endure, and certainly a reader of their own volition. Yet, the horror in his life does not maim Valentino; when happiness or love arrive, he is still free to be happy and love in return. His life is also something of an Odyssic journey, and while his circumstances are unique and far from my experience, his quest to understand his path feels universal.

The New York Times Sunday Book Review