This book was a part of the summer reading list and the back story was very interesting and intriguing. After reading many positive reviews and people raving on and on about the book, I decided to give it a go and read Trevor Noah’s memoir “Born a Crime,” and I am glad I did because it did not disappoint. This book has two of my favorite aspects to find in a book, history, and a first-person perspective. I loved not only learning more about the war and life under apartheid but also having a character take me through their life in the story to further understand the reality of the event.
This book is about Trevor Noah’s life growing up in South America neither white nor black but mixed under apartheid. He learns that he is different and how to navigate life with the privilege he has. He learns how to navigate under apartheid and embraces his rich black culture from his mom’s side and how to overcome the barrier of being, mixed. He learns how to navigate and interact while under the pressures of apartheid.
This book is in first-person point of view and is written in past tense but eluding to the emotions and details that were in the past events and interactions he has. In this book, every couple of chapters had a history outline of the historical figure or event that he mentioned in the previous chapter while still maintaining his voice and tone in this section. An example of this was after chapter 3 talking about the importance of language in his culture, “The great thing about language is that you can just as easily use it to do the opposite: convince people that they are the same. Racism teaches us that we are different because of the color of our skin. But because racism is stupid, it’s easily tricked the fact that he can’t speak like you reinforces your racist preconceptions: He’s different, less intelligent. A brilliant scientist can come over from the border from Mexico to live in America. but if he speaks in broken English, people say, ‘Eh, I don’t trust this guy.'” Throughout even his historical explanations and outlines in the book, Noah is able to maintain his voice and uses his diction to explain the importance to readers and help them further understand.
I highly recommend this book to take a deeper dive into the life of America’s favorite reporters. This book is not only educational but takes you into Noah’s life, giving you first-hand experience under the life of Apartheid and the struggles he faced. This book is a 10/10 I highly recommend!!!
