Ahmed Fittiani Fittiani itibaren Gümürdülü Köyü, 01920 Gümürdülü Köyü/Ceyhan/Adana, Türkiye
I'm not normally a fan of Dave Eggers, but this book left me completely transformed (and I don't say that lightly). The story of Valentino Achak Deng is impossibly heartbreaking and incredibly important. Focusing on the diaspora caused by the Second Sudanese Civil War (the precursor to Darfur), What is the What is at times confusing, funny, and devastating. Above all, it is thought-provoking and reminds us all of the responsibility we have to our fellow man.
I read the book before I watched the film. As with most - if not all - of his books, one has to "plow through" some of the more obstruse prose which tends to fill up some space. They do add to the story, but the way they're written, hmm. A visionary, his books dealt with many themes which only became obvious after his death. Importantly, numerous themes were covered in each book, each lending a unique background to the plot.
** spoiler alert ** At first, I thought Corrine was kind of funny, but after a while the spoiled little princess act got old. She was horrible to everyone and somehow she got real friends. It all felt a little too quick of a turn around for her. One day she's completely self centered and the next, she's a new woman. Overall, I liked it though. The writing was good and kept me reading long after I should have been in bed. That might have just been my own obsessiveness though... Not sure if this really counts as a "spoiler", but I marked it as one, just in case.
This was a really fun book to read. It is amazing to learn how much the little white stuff has dramatically changed the world.