Tag: Memoirs

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Our current theme is song inspirations, where we were given a random song from a random genre and had to pick a book based on the song.  For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah

Publishing Info: One World, June 2016

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Song Inspiration: “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard

Book Description: The memoir of one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

Kate’s Thoughts

This wasn’t my first time reading Trevor Noah’s memoir “Born a Crime”, as I read it around the time it came out, but it was fun revisiting it for book club for a couple of reasons. The first was that we always have pretty good conversations during our meetings, and I was interested to see what people had to say. The second and more pressing was that when I last read this book it was before I was a mom, and now that I am a mom I was curious to see if that would change my perceptions of the novel. And it did, for the most part.

One of the strongest aspects about this book is how Noah presents his childhood in South Africa in the waning and post-years of Apartheid, and how he finds humor, vulnerability, and introspection in his story of being a biracial child in a system that criminalized his very existence. He doesn’t hold back on describing how discriminatory, oppressive, and horrible it was, but as a comedian he also is able to pull out humor, whether it’s dark humor or just the general humor of growing up and the moments of joy and happiness he did have (as let’s be real, even in horrible societal situations, there is still joy and life to be lived). I still found this to be a really good and accessible take for the unfamiliar on Apartheid, South African colonialism, and the ways those things interacted and whose effects are still being felt today.

And yes, it was different reading it this time through the lens of being a mother. Noah was clearly very influenced by his fiery mother, who did so much and sacrificed so much and stood up to SO MUCH to keep Noah safe amongst a lot of hardship, danger, and heartache. I loved reading the various anecdotes that he had about her, and while I think that she and I are VERY different people with very different approaches to parenting (a lot of this has to do with my privileges as a white woman with a white child in the U.S.), Noah makes it clear that the choices that she made were rooted in the racist society that they were living in, and were just the reality of their situation. It’s moving, heart wrenching, hopeful, and humorous all at once, and his love and respect for his Mom jumps off the page as they both navigate hardships and triumphs.

“Born a Crime” is a great memoir that I enjoyed reading a second time. If you haven’t really taken the jump into memoirs but are curious to do so, this is a good one to start with, as it has a lot of depth, heart, and, yes, humor.

Serena’s Thoughts

I also really enjoyed this one! I made sure to get the audiobook version, as it was too much to resist getting to listen to Noah himself narrate this story. He’s a wonderful voice actor and really brought the text to life in a way that added to the already powerful stories. As Kate said, this book is a tricky balancing act between humor and tragedy. Being a comedian, it’s clear that Noah’s approach to his story was to lean into his own talents and career in this way. But the story also covers some truly horrific incidents of his past and the realities of life in South Africa during this time. There were definitely scenes that were difficult to get through, but then Noah always managed to balance these with a well-timed, more comedic anecdotes. In this way, the reader is better able to absorb the entire tale without getting bogged down in only the darker moments.

Also like Kate, it was interesting reading this book from the perspective of motherhood. There truly is a new level of terror that comes form having a child. Yes, you have much new responsibility. But it also quickly becomes clear just how little control you truly have over them and their lives. You can do the best job in the world and still not control for what goes on around them or, even, the choices that the child ( or adult child) will make as they grow up. And, of course, this is coming from a parent who lives in one of the most wealthy, safe countries in the world. Very different than the challenges Noah’s mother faced trying to raise her son in a part of the world that was very dangerous for him. Her decisions were often of the sort that are difficult to understand from parents in the U.S. who do not face the conditions she was living under, but I think that’s part of what makes it an important read. Yes, apartheid is now over, but there are many parts of the world where parents face similarly dire situations every day.

Overall, I thought this was a very effecting read. The ability to balance the heavier notes of his life while also bringing out the humor to be found in every day situations was truly impressive. I definitely recommend this read for anyone who enjoys memoirs!

Kate’s Rating 8: At times a very funny but also very emotional and personal memoir about a young man growing up in very difficult circumstances, and being raised by a mother whose strength enables growth, change, and, ultimately, liberation for both of them.

Serena’s Rating 8: The ability to pair laugh-out-loud humor with truly harrowing tales of the past has to be rare indeed; Trevor Noah makes it look easy!

Book Club Questions

1. Much of Noah’s story explores a very specific point in South African history. How familiar were you with this history? What did you learn that was new?
2. Noah’s mother plays a huge role in his life, with her approach to parenting very much shaped by the dangers her son faced in the world. What stood out to you about Noah’s family life?
3. The story is framed with one very important aspect of Noah’s life, with his mother and his step-father. How did the bookended style of this this tale affect your experience of the book?
4. Noah is an excellent comedian, however the book also touches on very dark themes and scenes. How well did you thing these different tones stood out to you? Were there any stories that stood out as especially humorous or dark?
5. Identity plays a big role in this book, and Noah touches on this in many ways, including how language shapes us. Do you find yourself speaking in different ways in different situations? Did you relate to any of these anecdotes?

Reader’s Advisory

“Born a Crime” is included on the Goodreads lists Best Audiobooks Ever and Best Memoir / Biography / Autobiography.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch” by Melinda Taub

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing bookclub running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Our current theme is “Around the World”, in which we each picked a continent and had to match a book that takes place there and/or is written by an author from that continent.

For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile” by Isabel Allende

Publishing Info: Harper, May 2003

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate owns it;

Continent: South America

Book Description: Isabel Allende’s first memory of Chile is of a house she never knew. The “large old house” on the Calle Cueto, where her mother was born and which her grandfather evoked so frequently that Isabel felt as if she had lived there, became the protagonist of her first novel, The House of the Spirits. It appears again at the beginning of Allende’s playful, seductively compelling memoir My Invented Country, and leads us into this gifted writer’s world.

Here are the almost mythic figures of a Chilean family — grandparents and great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends — with whom readers of Allende’s fiction will feel immediately at home. And here, too, is an unforgettable portrait of a charming, idiosyncratic Chilean people with a violent history and an indomitable spirit. Although she claims to have been an outsider in her native land — “I never fit in anywhere, not into my family, my social class, or the religion fate bestowed on me” — Isabel Allende carries with her even today the mark of the politics, myth, and magic of her homeland. In My Invented County, she explores the role of memory and nostalgia in shaping her life, her books, and that most intimate connection to her place of origin.

Two life-altering events inflect the peripatetic narration of this book: The military coup and violent death of her uncle, Salvador Allende Gossens, on September 11, 1973, sent her into exile and transformed her into a writer. The terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, on her newly adopted homeland, the United States, brought forth from Allende an overdue acknowledgment that she had indeed left home. My Invented Country, whose structure mimics the workings of memory itself, ranges back and forth across that distance accrued between the author’s past and present lives. It speaks compellingly to immigrants, and to all of us, who try to retain a coherent inner life in a world full of contradictions.

Kate’s Thoughts

I am sorry to say that while Isabel Allende has been on my reading list for a long time, I haven’t actually picked up any of her novels. So “My Invented Country” was my first interaction with her as an author. In terms of the history of Chile, I did have a small familiarity with the Pinochet government/dictatorship, as in high school we learned about him. But all of my experience reading about him was through an American lens, which is problematic enough on its own without even adding in the fact that the CIA was the one to help put him into power in the first place. So I went into this wanting to get familiar with Allende, and to see a perspective on Pinochet through a Chilean’s eyes.

“My Invented Country” is a collection of recollections of Allende’s childhood in Chile, and what her life was like when she had to flee after Pinochet came to power. She also makes a lot of connections to how her childhood influenced her books, with a lot of references to “The House of the Spirits”. Given that I haven’t read her other books, I didn’t feel like I was getting as much from this book as one who had read them might have. Along with that, it took a long while to actually get to the information about Pinochet and what that dictatorship did to the country. By the time we did get to that, however, I really liked seeing her insights and how complicated it was in society, and even within her own family. And it’s undeniable that Allende’s writing is gorgeous. The way she described the people in her life, the people in Chile, the landscapes and settings, I felt like I was there and getting a full view.

So while I probably didn’t get as much from “My Invented Country” as I might have, it has encouraged me to actually pick up some of Allende’s books in the near future.

Serena’s Thoughts

I have to echo a lot of what Kate already said. I had heard of Allende before, but of all the subgenres of fantasy, “magic realism” is probably my least preferred. So while her books have been on my radar for a while, I’ve never actually gotten around to reading any of them. And, like Kate said, that might have helped my reading experience with this.

In many ways it was clear that Allende was directing this book almost exclusively to her fans. There were a lot of references to her previous books, and this type of insider knowledge is just the sort of information I would gobble up if one of my favorite fantasy authors wrote a biography of this sort. It was also clear in the overall tone of the book. The writing was often light and witty, obviously tailored to be appealing to even the most strident “only fiction” readers out there who may be new or less used to memoirs. I think she was very successful in this regard, as I would fall in that category of readers who rarely picks up memoirs, and I found her writing to be very engaging.

On the other side of that coin, however…I also know very little about Chilean history, and I had been looking forward to learning more. Like Kate said, it takes quite a while to really get into the more informative aspects of the story, and here the writing style worked a bit against what I was looking for. She had some very good insights here and there, but all too often the actual deeper analysis of the time, people, and political upheaval was only briefly skimmed over. She would often continue to throw in the light, airy commentary amidst all of this. And while still entertaining, I was left wanting more.

Overall, while this may have not been the best introduction to Allende’s work, it did confirm that I enjoy her writing style itself. Her books will remain on my reading list, and I hope to get to one of them soon!

Kate’s Rating 7: Her writing is gorgeous and I really liked the information about the rise of Pinochet, but having not read other books by Allende I feel like I didn’t connect as much as I could have.

Serena’s Rating 7: Struck an awkward balance between a great writing style but one that seemed to, at times, work against the more informative take on the country and times that I was looking for.

Book Club Questions

1. Had you read anything by Isabel Allende before reading this book? Did you see the connections that she made between her life and her other writings?
2. How familiar were you with the history of Chile before reading this book? Did you feel like you got a sense of the history and the people who live there? Why or why not?
3. What kinds of parallels can you draw between Allende’s childhood and your own childhood?
4. Did this book make you want to visit Chile someday? Why or why not?
5. Allende talks about moving from one place to another, and how having two homes an sometimes make you feel like you don’t quite fit in perfectly in either. Have you ever experienced anything similar?
6. If you haven’t read anything else by Allende, did this book make you want to explore her bibliography more?

Reader’s Advisory

“My Invented Country” is included on the Goodreads lists “Chilean Literature”, and “South America: History and Culture”.

Find “My Invented Country” at your library using WorldCat, or a local independent bookstore using IndieBound!

Next Book Club Book: “Picnic at Hanging Rock” by Joan Lindsay