What Is the What: A Novel by Dave Eggers

Goodreads: What Is the What

Series: None

Published: 2006

Source: Purchased

Summary: Dave Eggers novelizes the autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  Fleeing from his village of Marial Bai, Achak crosses Sudan on foot with thousands of other displaced boys.  They face armed militia, government soldiers, lions, hunger and thirst to before settling for a time in Ethiopia.  Eventually driven out by a new government, Achak survives another long trek to find safety in the refugee camp of Kakuma in Kenya, but begins to wonder if he will have to remain there the rest of his life. 

Review: What Is the What covers a lot of weighty subjects, moving from Deng’s present-day hardships in the United States to his previous suffering in Africa.  The book thus links the two cultures, commenting subtly on the evil inflicted by men on each other no matter where they come from.  Deng obviously hopes his story will encourage his readers to take a closer look at the way they treat others and especially at the unintended effects their apathy can have.  His story, at its heart, is about listening to others and finding the common factors that connect us all.

The story begins in Deng’s present-day apartment in Atlanta, where Deng works hard in hopes of one day attending college and then giving back to his beloved Sudan.  However, even as Deng flashes back to his painful childhood, describing his flight from his home village and the death of loved ones, his disillusionment with America comes increasingly to the forefront.  Despite his willingness to work, he can find only low-paying jobs.  He struggles with his community college classes while he attempts to find another college to accept him.  Worse of all, evil and tragedy follow him to this new country, so that he becomes again a victim of violence and suffers the loss of more loved ones.

Convinced that God no longer cares, Deng struggles with his faith as he tries to come to terms with all the suffering he has witnessed and experienced.  He moves fluidly from his present to his past, connecting events and persons in his effort to make it come alive for his listeners.  He notes that he cannot help this, his telling of stories.  He must speak out, even when no one pays attention.  His concern seems to be that so much pain stems from silence; people do not understand the way in which their decisions affect others.

Despite the doubts he voices about his faith, however, Deng speaks with an optimism both inspiring and compelling.  He works through his personal tragedy, turning to others who can help him, and does not abandon his God even when he feels God must have abandoned him.  His hope in the face of unimaginable suffering makes the book a profound testimony to the power of the human spirit to overcome suffering.