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What is the What

Valentino and the Lost Boys of the Sudan

By Dave Eggers

(62)

| Paperback | 9780141015743

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Critics

Evil under the sun

What Is the What by Dave Eggers 475pp, Hamish Hamilton, £18.99 It is terrible to be ruled by spooks or serial killers. But imagine being terrorised by both - because this is the fate of many people in southern Sudan. The current omnipotence in Kharto ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

A lost boy who found his voice

What Is the What by Dave Eggers Hamish Hamilton £18.99, pp475 Five years ago, Dave Eggers met a Sudanese refugee living in Atlanta, Georgia, called Valentino Achak Deng. Achak, then in his early twenties, was one of 4,000 'Lost Boys' who had washed u ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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7 Reviews

4 people find this helpful

Don't expect to find out what the What is, but you will have a profound appreciation for the life of the main character, the hardships endured by his refugee countrymen (in Africa and the US), and the ability for Eggers to effectively write in a voice from perhaps the most disparate background possi ... (continue)

Don't expect to find out what the What is, but you will have a profound appreciation for the life of the main character, the hardships endured by his refugee countrymen (in Africa and the US), and the ability for Eggers to effectively write in a voice from perhaps the most disparate background possible.

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BR12 said on Jul 18, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

2 people find this helpful

"What is the What" is the fictionalized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan, who fled from his country during the second Sudanese Civil War and eventually (re)settled in the USA.
I finished reading this book last night, and started again at the first page thi ... (continue)

"What is the What" is the fictionalized autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan, who fled from his country during the second Sudanese Civil War and eventually (re)settled in the USA.
I finished reading this book last night, and started again at the first page this morning.
My review of "What is the What" is as follows: you should read it. Seriously.

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titilayo said on Feb 4, 2008 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

"sometimes the teeth can accidentally bite the tongue, but the solution for the tongue is not to find another mouth to live in"
(sudanese proverb)
http://www.valentinoachakdeng.com/

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isabella said on Jul 2, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

A masterpiece. Loved it!

To read my review on this book in Spanish, click on the following link: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-is-wha…
It took me a long time to finish reading this book. Not only because it is very long, but also because it is very good, and I wanted to enjoy the most ... (continue)

To read my review on this book in Spanish, click on the following link: http://lunairereadings.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-is-wha…
It took me a long time to finish reading this book. Not only because it is very long, but also because it is very good, and I wanted to enjoy the most of it, so I did not rush to go through the pages as many other times (I shall confess).
This is the story of Valentino Achak, a sudanese refugee, who lives in the United States, and who despite all the horrors he had to endure back in his war-torn country, never loses his ability to be surprised by the brutality and the violence of the human beings. He is assaulted in his own house by some African-American criminals who steal his few possessions and give him a good beating. He goes to the hospital, and spends 12 hours in the waiting room because nobody cares about his condition. He has to go back to work or he will lose it, so he goes and nobody seems to care about what happened to him. Finally, he ends that day writing an email to his friends asking them to send him their phone numbers because his phone has been stolen.
This is what happens in the whole novel, but in between of all these happenings, Achaks remembers his life from the time he was a little kid to the time he arrived into the United States as a sudanese refugee. I must say that this book is -in my opinion- a masterpiece. It captures Achack's life and mind with so much reality that the reader is always on the verge of strong emotions driven by whatever the character is experiencing, either intense pain or intense joy. I cried, laughed and was upset on the writer's whim. I smiled to Achak's candor and was angry with the injustice with which the world treats him. Reading this book has been a great experience for me, and I would really and sincerely recommend it to any person that wants to enjoy the reality of the worlds with all its beauty and ugliness, and with no makeup.
***
I like this a lot because it shows how any depressed neighborhood can be more violent and disrespectful that any war-torned country.

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ariadna73 said on Nov 3, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

I would have to say that I enjoyed this novel as much as The Infidel. It is the story of Achak Deng, one of the lost boys, who was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven, treking hundreds of miles on foot through many life threatening situations to find freedom. I highly reccomen ... (continue)

I would have to say that I enjoyed this novel as much as The Infidel. It is the story of Achak Deng, one of the lost boys, who was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven, treking hundreds of miles on foot through many life threatening situations to find freedom. I highly reccomend this novel! Also check out his website www.valentinoachakdeng.org. He is an amazing human being who has struggled through adversity, survived many hardships, and has devoted his life to the humanitarian efforts of Sudan.

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Jamie Gemuend767 said on Aug 28, 2008 | Add your feedback

A story that makes you think that you are lucky enough to live your live, and to treasure what you own.

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S.E. said on Feb 23, 2008 about the Others edition | Add your feedback