If you didn't know Dave Eggers wrote this book, you wouldn't know he wrote this book. In other words, he stepped aside and let the main character speak through him into the book, telling his story of the Sudanese civil war, genocide, his experience in refugee camps and in the US as a resettled Lost Boy. It's heartbreaking without being at all manipulative. This might not be the most enjoyable book I read this year, but it's definitely one of the most important. ( )

If you didn't know Dave Eggers wrote this book, you wouldn't know he wrote this book. In other words, he stepped aside and let the main character speak through him into the book, telling his story of the Sudanese civil war, genocide, his experience in refugee camps and in the US as a resettled Lost Boy. It's heartbreaking without being at all manipulative. This might not be the most enjoyable book I read this year, but it's definitely one of the most important. ( )

If you didn't know Dave Eggers wrote this book, you wouldn't know he wrote this book. In other words, he stepped aside and let the main character speak through him into the book, telling his story of the Sudanese civil war, genocide, his experience in refugee camps and in the US as a resettled Lost Boy. It's heartbreaking without being at all manipulative. This might not be the most enjoyable book I read this year, but it's definitely one of the most important. ( )

What do you look for in a good book? Great descriptions? Many different characters? Or even a different point of view? Well, What is the What had all of those things. This book written by Dave Eggers is very unique. It has many different characters such as; Achor Achor, Moses, William K, and Dut Majok joined Valentino Achak Deng on his journey through life. His story is told extremely well because of the details and description. I felt as if I was a character in the story because the story felt real. What is the What is about a young Sudanese boy who was forced out of his home because of the horrific civil war. He has to walk hundreds of miles and relocate various times. All of this is happening while Achak has no clue if his family is alive, or if he will ever return home. Achak and the thousands other boys who faced what he faced are called the Lost Boys. This book is even more interesting because it is told from his point of view.
Many of the characters were friends because of the hardships that they had shared. They were seen as a group because they had a common set back, but many of them in fact did not have much in common. One reason they couldn’t find shared interests is that they were from all over southern Sudan, were the rituals and customs were varied depending on where you were from. My favorite character was Dut, because he was always doing things for the good of the group. Even though sometimes the boys didn’t understand Dut’s reasoning, the recognized that without him they would not have survived.
Throughout the book it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong for Achak did. There were only a few times in the book where I felt happy and excited. One of these was when Achak finally got to speak to his father again. This was my favorite part because even though at first the call didn’t get through, Achak kept hope. This made me feel that I shouldn’t give up on things just because they don’t work out at first. Many things that Achak did in this book made me feel this way because it seemed like the book was more about Achak’s struggles than his rewards.
The only part of the book that I didn’t like was the beginning of the chapters. Achak would start out the chapter by talking about his life today, but then suddenly transition into his story. In some ways this was good and in others bad. Sometimes this made the story have a better flow to it while other times it didn’t. Even though both parts of the story were good separately, at some points they did not go together. This was what caused the book not to flow in certain parts.
I thought that What is the What was a great book. It never got boring or lost the intensity that made it so great. I enjoyed reading about Achak growing and learning more about himself, and the world. This book was made even better because of the unique point of view. I had never read a book written by a young Sudanese man, or seen the world from his eyes. This book was just that, and was fascinating because of it. What is the What showed that if you never give up and fight for your dreams they will come true. ( )

Everyone should read this book. It is a (barely) fictionalized biogrophy - told in the voice of Achak - a Sudanese Refugee. It is beautiful and tragic and alive and hopeful. A new favourite.
It is so well told as a novel, and yet the most unbelievable parts of this young man's story are completely true. There is a website you can read, after finishing the book, to stay a part of this story- Achak's and Sudan's- as it continues. I have been working with Sudanese refugees for years, and this book gave me a very intimate glimpse into some stories and the cultures and experiences of refugee life. It is very touching, sad but beautiful and important. There is some hopefulness in the end. ( )