Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
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Summary
Written by the host of The Daily Show, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah audiobook is a compilation of eighteen personal essays that go from hilarious to heart-breaking. They deal with hard topics like subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times or being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, and with everyday situations, like dating during high school.The birth of Trevor Noah Trevor Noah was a criminal act in the society his family lived in. As he is the son a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, the union of his parents was punishable by five years in prison in apartheid South Africa. Because of this, Trevor spent a big part of his childhood indoors, as he was hidden from the government by his mother. All of that finished with the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, when he and his mother could start enjoying freedom and getting new opportunities.
The stories of this audiobook are the representation of a young boy who had to struggle with poverty and fear, his evolution and the relationship he has with those he loves, specially his mother, who is her unconditional companion that was always determined to save him from a life of violence, neediness and abuse.
“The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime New York Times bestseller about one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed”.
Review
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah audiobook reunites eighteen essays about his life during the final part of apartheid in South Africa. As he was born from a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, something that was illegal in that moment, Noah spent most of his childhood indoors, because his mother was afraid that people noticed the difference in the color of their skin and though that she had kidnapped a kid.The essays, which are not in chronological order, cover a wide variety of important topics about his life and the society he lived in: religion, education, colonialism, being different, gender roles, racism and many more. It is the story of a boy who had a hard time fitting in because he was not white enough to be considered as “white” but he was not black enough to be considered as “black”, and the fight of a mother that wanted to give the best to his son and take him out of poverty.
The book has the humor that characterizes Noah and you will find yourself laughing out loud in certain parts, but as it cover serious issues, you will feel frustrated, indignant and sad with some of the things they had to go through. This is also an educational story that tells you a lot about apartheid and the way people of color dealt with it.
One of the best things about this audiobook is that is read by Trevor Noah himself, and if you already know him from The Daily Show, you can definitely expect a brilliant job behind the recording of the book. Funny parts will be even more hilarious and serious parts will touch you even deeper.
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood audiobook is highly recommended for everyone. It is a story about fear, pain, racism and maturity, but above all, it is a story about the unconditional love of a mother for her son.
Questions
If a black woman gave birth to biracial kids in the apartheid era of South Africa, would she be allowed to raise them?
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood tells the story of how a woman managed to raise and give a life full of love to her child even if it was born from an illegal relationship.
Are there any interesting novels about apartheid that are not so dense?
Although Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is not exactly a novel, it deals with the topic of apartheid from the personal experience of its author and his mother. It describes how society and everyday life were in that time.
Is it racist of Trevor Noah to say that Africans beat their children and suggest they are more violent than Americans?
As Noah’s opinion is not based on presumptions and stereotypes, and he is not saying that this happens only because of the race of people, it is not racist. It just comes from his experience.
What are your top ten non-fiction audiobooks?
Born a crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is read by the comedian Trevor Noah, its author, and it is hilarious to listen to. You learn a lot of new things about South Africa from the perspective of someone that belongs there. All of these while enjoying the details of this childhood.
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