Book: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

 

An autobiography of comedian and host of the Daily Show, Trevor Noah. However, before he was any of those things, he was a troublemaker from Johannesburg.

Trevor talks about his childhood under apartheid, being mixed raced and his struggles with personal identity in a society where specific labels didn't apply to him. Too dark to be white, too light to be black but also to "black" for the colored people trying to deny their African heritage and traits. He takes you on a journey throughout his childhood as he tries to find his way in a system that makes it theoretically impossible for him to exists. He faces danger from the government because he could be taken away from his family, danger from the black community for having a rule-defying outspoken mother, and just the overall stumbling of childhood and adolescence we all face.

My thoughts:

If you can, you should listen to the audiobook where Trevor Noah personally narrates everything. There are a few passages where he re-enacts conversations in different languages and it’s absolutely amazing to hear these foreign tongues spoken. I found myself relating to much of what he spoke about when it came to not fitting in one place or the other. (Being mixed races myself I faced similar situations as well). Being a who and what he was he at some point became a chameleon belonging everywhere and nowhere. Living like that forces you to relate to many perspectives and makes you very social yet extremely isolated. Another thing I noticed was how honest he was about being such a naughty boy causing mischief and mayhem wherever he went, and I appreciate that.

This was an excellent read (or listen), however, there was a lot of cursing. As far as I know, there is a version of this book written for children, I believe it is free of swear words, so if cursing bothers you check out the censored version, It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.

The book doesn't follow a strict chronological order and instead focuses on specific events or subjects that are related, which can get confusing in some parts. If this was stated at the beginning in a prologue or something similar, then it would be easier to follow. Still, overall the story, the style an above else the heart put into it warrants 4 out of 5 smiling cats🐈🐈🐈🐈 from me.

Kat K out-

 

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