What is the What

by Dave Eggers

“What is the What” is the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a young Sudanese whose harrowing experiences form the basis for the book, which is written as a novel, but is in fact a sort of autobiography.  Dave Eggers, a well-known American writer, put the events of Valentino’s escape and subsequent flight from Arab militiamen, his years spent in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, and finally his arrival in the US, into a narrative that is at once sober and poignant.

In general, our group liked the book, although of course since the events described are sometimes so horrendous, “liking” is a relative term.  One member described it as “an important book”.  The consensus was that we all learned a lot about the civil war in South Sudan and its causes, and of the plight of the 20,000 or so “Lost Boys” one of whom was Valentino.  Some found the book too long.   Since we had read “The Darling” earlier in the year and had been plunged into the terrible civil war in Liberia, it seemed to several of us that going back to another tragic African story required some effort.  In the light of recent events in South Sudan, however - newly independent since 2013, but already in the throes of another conflict - the general opinion was that this book was definitely worth reading in order to have some understanding of the history of South Sudan.

Christine