Born a Crime

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah  288 pp.

This memoir has been blogged about by Linda, Patrick, Kara, and Christa. Read their takes on the book and they pretty much covered everything I would have. I also listened to the audiobook which was read by Noah. I found the degrees of racial division during the South African Apartheid to be very interesting.  The relationship of Trevor Noah's black mother and white father was a crime which explains the title. But he was neither black nor white and thus fell into the category of "colored" which included people of mixed race, Indians, and Chinese. Japanese, however were "white". As a colored boy, he was discouraged from associating with blacks. This is racism at its most convoluted.  The story of his early life makes it even more remarkable that he is now the television personality we are accustomed to.

Born a Crime

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, 288 pages

In this wonderful memoir, comedian and Daily Show host Trevor Noah recounts his experiences growing up in South Africa. The son of a black woman and a white man, Noah was literally a crime when he was born during Apartheid, and spent his early years seeing his father only in private and walking a distance from his mother as they went about their daily business in public. Because of race, Noah never fit easily into any groups, something that is touched on throughout the stories of his youth and teen years.

This was a fascinating look at young life in Apartheid and its aftermath, with wonderful insights into the many cultures of South Africa. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by Noah, and it was particularly fantastic, given his ability with languages and accents. Highly recommended.

The Mandela Pot

The Mandela Plot by Kenneth Bonert, 466 pages.
Bonert's novel (mostly) takes place in 1980's Johannesberg. Botha is still president, but De Klerk is on the horizon. Sanctions are in place but they don't intrude too far into the life of the protagonist, Martin Helger. Martin is around 14 when the book opens, 17 during the bulk of the story and in his 20s in the weirder ending chapters. Martin doesn't have many friends, and this seems like an almost standard, bittersweet story of an awkward young man trying to connect to other, albeit set in South Africa as apartheid begins melting down, but as the book takes some odd turns. Martin makes some choices as the book progresses that could endanger him and his family. His infatuation with an American student leads him to cross path with a member of the security forces, a man with reason to hate Martin's father. And a scene from early in the book is slowly revealed as the book progresses and shows Martin to be someone other than a misguided young man. The plot device used to deliver us to an unexpected end, and Martin's changing relationship with his brother seemed a little forced to me and changed my opinion of the book.

God is Not a Christian

God is Not a Christian: And Other Provocations by Desmond Tutu  256 pp.

In 1993 I heard then Archbishop Tutu give a dynamic talk at the United Church of Christ International Synod in St. Louis. I have been enamored of this dynamic, if tiny, man ever since. This book is a collection of some of his most powerful speeches and sermons of the last 40 years. They include the apartheid struggle in South Africa, the fall of the Berlin wall, genocide in Rwanda, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and gay civil rights. The basis of all his writings is the philosophy of Ubuntu or the fact that every human being has worth. There's a lot to think about and applaud in this little book.