The second book I read for my 24 books in 2017 was Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Child by Trevor Noah
Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Spiegel and Grau (November 15, 2016)
Something you should know about me. I love memoirs about people I find interesting. Musicians I enjoy listening to actors I like watching. I really like reading these memoirs when their lives and upbringings are so different from mine. I should have been a sociologist. Is that a real thing?
Anyway, Trevor Noah was born and raised in South Africa. If you know anything at all about South Africa, the word apartheid probably comes to mind. Yup, that's all I knew about South Africa... that and Charlize Theron comes from there.
Apartheid is defined as institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination, in South Africa, that occurred from 1948 to 1991.
Trevor Noah was born during apartheid to a Swiss (white) father and a Xhosa (black) mother. Interracial relations during that time could be punishable by 5 years in prison. This was only the start to Trevor Noah's story. The obstacles he has overcome, paths he could have taken, and even paths he did take, shaped who he is and how he got to where he is now.
I have to admit, I laughed a lot, I cried a ton, and the amount I learned about South Africa and apartheid was insane.
There were parts that I read and reread and shared with Shawn and some friends, because they were simply too good to not tell everyone about. The story where he snuck a poop on some newspaper inside the house, instead of going to the outhouse in the rain and his family thought it was a totem left by a demon, stands out to me. I'm chuckling just thinking about it now.
There were also parts where I cried, or held my breath, like any story really talking about his step father, but mostly when his step father shot his mother.
I literally couldn't put this book down. I would recommend though, if anyone decides to read this, it's not for the faint of heart, and also, get your tissues ready.
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Child by Trevor Noah
Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Spiegel and Grau (November 15, 2016)
Something you should know about me. I love memoirs about people I find interesting. Musicians I enjoy listening to actors I like watching. I really like reading these memoirs when their lives and upbringings are so different from mine. I should have been a sociologist. Is that a real thing?
Anyway, Trevor Noah was born and raised in South Africa. If you know anything at all about South Africa, the word apartheid probably comes to mind. Yup, that's all I knew about South Africa... that and Charlize Theron comes from there.
Apartheid is defined as institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination, in South Africa, that occurred from 1948 to 1991.
Trevor Noah was born during apartheid to a Swiss (white) father and a Xhosa (black) mother. Interracial relations during that time could be punishable by 5 years in prison. This was only the start to Trevor Noah's story. The obstacles he has overcome, paths he could have taken, and even paths he did take, shaped who he is and how he got to where he is now.
I have to admit, I laughed a lot, I cried a ton, and the amount I learned about South Africa and apartheid was insane.
There were parts that I read and reread and shared with Shawn and some friends, because they were simply too good to not tell everyone about. The story where he snuck a poop on some newspaper inside the house, instead of going to the outhouse in the rain and his family thought it was a totem left by a demon, stands out to me. I'm chuckling just thinking about it now.
There were also parts where I cried, or held my breath, like any story really talking about his step father, but mostly when his step father shot his mother.
I literally couldn't put this book down. I would recommend though, if anyone decides to read this, it's not for the faint of heart, and also, get your tissues ready.
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