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The misery is what

February 1st, 2008 Lisa - Central

I had read so many good reviews about Dave Eggers‘ What Is the What, - and who didn’t just adore Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - that I grabbed the book, despite slight misgivings about the subject matter.  I should have listened to my gut.  Not that it’s a poorly-written book, or that it’s not an amazing story.  But these days I have such a difficult time reading about man’s cruel treatment of each other in the form of a novel (or a movie for that matter).

Eggers distilled hours of conversation with Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee, into a story.  As a 7-year-old,  Valentino survived civil war in his country, escaped by walking countless miles with a pack of boys to Ethiopia, and, after more walking, spent years in a refugee camp in Kenya.  Eggers fictionalized the story and has done a remarkable job in finding the voice of this young African man.

Valentino (Eggers uses the same name for his character) narrates his story from Atlanta, where he has finally settled.  He trustingly opens the door to a woman asking to borrow his phone, and ends up robbed, beaten and tied up with a phone cord.  For the rest of the book, Valentino tells his story, in his head, to the people he encounters that day: his captors, indifferent police and hospital staff, members of the health club where he works.

He tells of the happy life he had in Marial Bai with his shopkeeper father and his many wives and children; of the raids by the Islamic militias that destroyed his town and dispersed his family.  Of his escape by running through the night as fast and as far as he could.  Of joining a group of boys, the Lost Boys, walking across the deserts of 3 countries to find safety, battling hunger, thirst, disease, soldiers and wild animals.  Of watching family and friends perish by one or the other of those threats.  It’s a horrifying story.

But he makes it to the refugee camp, where he distinguishes himself as a good student and leader.  And he gets his chance to emigrate to the U.S. as one of the Lost Boys who were given entry into the country in the ’90s.  But here’s what’s most depressing.  He gets to our land of hope and plenty and then, even with generous sponsors and mentors, still cannot attain his goals of a college education and return to Sudan. Life is so hard for the poor here in our country, just trying to make a living takes up most of his time and money.  The Washington Post quotes this line that sort of sums it up: “I am tired of needing help.  I need help in Atlanta, I needed help in Ethiopia and Kakuma, and I am tired of it.”  All he’s asking for is to be able to take care of himself, and even here he can’t do it.

Somehow, though, Valentino maintains a lovely spirit of generosity, kindness and hope through it all.  And I suppose that’s the point of the book.  Aside from educating us on the horrors happening in Sudan also known to us as Darfur.

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction