4/13/2024 0 Comments Audio book of born a crimeWhen they had to name the worst person in history, he wasn’t on their radar. The other insight we all loved was how Hitler was more or less unknown to black South Africans. He had the tools to use his skills and become successful when he hadn’t been able to before because of supplies, not ability. But if they don’t have to tools to do that new skill, they’re no better of than they were before. Yes, you can teach someone to do something. We did like his insight into the ‘teach a man to fish’ metaphor. They sounded like smart hustles, almost cheating the system. Trevor’s criminal enterprises didn’t sound quite so criminal from the way he described them. But she did stop Trevor from making the biggest mistake he could have and ending up in jail! She believed in making mistakes and she made some of her own. She fought so hard to keep that marriage and family afloat that she almost ‘settled’ into the misfortune that came to her. She’s portrayed so favorably that it’s hard to imagine her making a mistake and marrying Able. She was very strong and well equipped to raise a son as outspoken and naughty as Trevor. Patricia was an amazing character in this book. We wondered if there was a risk of him being spoiled because of this treatment, but it sounds like his mother wasn’t about to let that happen. Not being punished the same way, being an honored guest at events, all these things because of his skin color was so strange. We were surprised at how differently Trevor was treated in his mothers’ village. He was able to address the culture he lived in better this way. Trevor’s decision to group his stories by theme did help explain what appeared to be a very complex culture. I had trouble figuring out when Andrew was born and when apartheid ended because of it. Many of us were a little thrown off by the non-linear storytelling at first. Another had heard that he was popular back in South Africa as well and I was glad to hear that. A few of our readers had seen him live and said he was wonderful. Trevor talks about how language is used to unite people and the audiobook was even more powerful hearing him speak all the languages that he learned to be a chameleon. We wondered which ones were ‘real’ or if Trevor was protecting his friends! The audiobook won the Earphones Award for the awesome narration. One member read along to the audiobook and noticed that a few names were different. It just seems so crazy to us that it worked for so long! The white minority had divided the oppressed blacks into ethnic groups and encouraged separatism between the groups, so they wouldn’t unite and rise. It was crazy for us to see how divided people were. It seems like things got worse before they got better. Many of us had the misconception that after Mandela was released from jail, things got better but that was clearly not the case. Many of us knew next to nothing about this difficult history. We all learned a lot about South Africa, its’ history, and apartheid from this book. This one covers his early adulthood, from late teenage years to his stardom. Noah is also working on a second book, Place of Gold. I was surprised to hear that there will be a movie adaptation of this book in the works! The role of Patricia has gone to Lupita Nyong’o and Noah is on as a producer. My book club met up last week and we talked about a book I loved, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.
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