Born a Crime: A Review

Adetan Opemipo

Title: Born a Crime: stories from a South African childhood

Author: Trevor Noah

Publisher: Spiegel and Grau
ISBN: 9780399588174

Trevor Noah’s ‘Born a Crime’ takes the reader on a journey of rather funny stories of the childhood living of the South African comedian. Each story serving the reader with varying degree of humour and jest. The book, divided into three parts with several chapters tells stories at different stages of Trevor Noah’s childhood and teenage years. Living with his single, adventurous and extremely religious mother in township Soweto. At a very tender age, Trevor already knew what it felt like to be segregated racially even amongst the races who were segregated at the height of apartheid in mid-70’s South Africa. Incidentally young Trevor was filled with innocent mischief that would leave both the readers and characters wondering what was marauding his juvenile mind while he wrecked the havoc he became renowned for. He gives the reader a well-nigh feeling of defying authorities with his liberal and rational ideals, but he never really called them out. The author let the reader espy the humorous side of his childhood doused with apparent but esoteric phrases of wry witticism. A reader who fancies the many other comic works of the author would accept the hilarity. However, a reader with less sentiment towards the author and the book would most definitely be left in an enigma when it comes to deciding if the whole book was meant to be a mirthsome autobiography or a work of fiction.

Comments

Improving the Nigerian reading culture

Adetan Opemipo Hi . I’m sure you guys are now accustomed to the genre of posts that we make on this blog. This is not by chance or incontinence; we have found the need to encourage people to cultivate a healthy reading culture in order to help reduce the number of illiterate persons in Nigeria, which recent statistics say is over 40 percent of the population. I will neither review a book today nor compose a welcome back post 😊, What I want to talk about is the reading culture we have (or don’t have) in Nigeria. Nigeria is a blessed country occupied by individual minds of great capacity and potential. This is evident in the vast number of first class graduates that are produced by Universities in the country. Notwithstanding, I do not care much about academic books when discussing cultivating reading habit because going to school to get a degree has been anointed by our parents and elders as the sure road to success. Don’t misunderstand my point, what I’m sayi

The Last Black Unicorn: A Review

Opemipo Adetan Author: Tiffany Haddish The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish is an autobiography of the author, filled with so many comic stories and moments of sobriety and candour. The author portrays the incredibly harsh life she lived previously and amid her ascent to fame. Every day she lived seemed to be a battle due to the maltreatment she suffered from her mother who loved her but was mentally deranged and the various beaus she had. The author employed a very interesting use of language in the book which would be considered a little bit ghetto in the corporate world, but it wouldn’t go without notice that the author herself stated many times in the book that she could not read until ninth grade in high school. However, the diction enabled the writer convey her message in the clearest and most explicit manner possible. The rawness of the language seemed to connect the mind of the reader with the endless plights of the author. Furthermore, it is clear that the a

Search This Blog