Author: Trevor Noah
Date of Publication: 15 November 2016
Genre: Autobiography, Social commentary
Legacy: This is the first book by the author who is a renowned comedian and TV host
Intended Age Group: Any
“We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of
what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination
can be quite limited.”
This thought embodies the book.
I read this one because it was recommended by a very socially aware friend - I
usually steer clear of biographies. And I must say I am grateful to her for
encouraging me to read it!
This book tells the
bitter-sweet coming-of-age story of Trevor Noah, the son of a black South
African mother and a white German/Swiss father. This pairing made him a
"colored" boy - of mixed race, which was a whole different street to
navigate when it came to the already jumbled and messed up labyrinth of
different races and tribes during the African apartheid and thereafter. Not to mention, it was also "illegal" to be of mixed race, hence the title of the book. Noah
writes about his childhood experiences of social/racial/domestic/systemic abuse
and prejudice and how he sometimes overcame it and sometimes 'ran with it' -
pun totally intended (read the book to know more!). To be honest, it was
eye-opening for me. It never ceases to amaze me how different and yet how
similar all cultures are, and how our circumstances pretty much rule us.
To help us understand the African societal
structure and constructs, Noah gives us a bit of history in every chapter- it's
a great dose of history! It's much different from the textbook history we learn
without empathy in schools. It's human nature to dismiss any suffering except
our own, and Noah strikingly demonstrates that with the help of various
instances including the 'Hitler' incident -I won't narrate it here to avoid
spoilers, but that incident, and that whole idea, really made me stop and
think. As kids in India, my friends and I also used the name of Hitler
flippantly: you know, labeling anyone who was assertive or steadfast as Hitler,
greeting each other with a "Hail" just to show comradeship, and even
arguing the merits and demerits of dictatorship. We knew about the atrocities
committed by Hitler, of course, it was taught in schools; and yet, it was just
a story to us. And it was the same for Noah and his fellow Africans, who were
themselves the victims of slavery and genocide, and yet, couldn't empathize
with victims of the holocaust.
Trevor Noah is amazingly gifted
at observing people and the world. He introduces a world that is so different
from the world we 'imagine' - because our imagination, as the introductory
quote here states, is pretty stunted at best. When we think of Africa and
apartheid, we think of injustice; but we hardly ever scale the depths of the
destruction of human rights and worse, spirits. There are so many things
we take for granted and the success of this book is that it hits us hard about
our complacence.
While Noah excels in deep
understanding and insight, he lacks in fluid writing (I do think that he is a
wonderful comic, but that's immaterial here). Also, non-linear narrative is
great when you are working a mystery, but in a biography - especially one which
has so many 'hues' - no pun intended, it just tends to confuse the reader. In
fact, the back and forth narrative and the long descriptions of his childhood
routines is what made me take off a star. But despite that, the book is worth
reading for everyone who is the least bit interested in cultures, society, and
humanity.
Read this book, people! We
often resign to the fact that history is written by victors, but that's just
because the vanquished and the survivors choose to or are forced to stay mum.
Not anymore. It's high time we start listening to their voices - and even more so when
they are as insightful as Trevor Noah's.
Rating: 4 on 5
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