“Born a Crime” by Trevor Noah

This memoir was a selection by my book club, and I went into it pretty blind. I’d seen Trevor Noah speak a few times and knew he was sharp and funny and politically astute. But I didn’t know what to expect from BORN A CRIME.

I liked Noah’s voice from the getgo — straightforward, real, unassuming with a humorous undertone, and amazingly matter of fact about the atrocities he endured while growing up in South Africa in the time of apartheid. It was against the law for whites and blacks to marry and procreate when Trevor Noah was born of a black woman and a white man, thus the “born a crime”, and then, after the “bloodless revolution” (bloodless because no white blood was shed), it wasn’t against the law anymore, and the transition was wrenching and a constant upheaval and Trevor Noah’s day to day existence.

Noah’s stalwart attitude made sense the more I read about his mother, who dropped my jaw with her fierce determination, her complete unwillingness to follow any rules but her own, and her unrelenting Christian faith. She gave herself no breaks, and gave her son even fewer. Like many “characters”, Noah’s mother was over the top, and in many ways, so was Trevor. I found their relationship fascinating, marveled at their ability to vehemently disagree without fear, admired them both.

Noah’s voice is so uncomplaining that I felt almost disconnected from him, as I imagine he felt a good bit of the time. But then, reading a chapter about his relationship with girls, titled, “A Young Man’s Long, Awkward, Occasionally Tragic, and Frequently Humiliating Education in Affairs of the Heart, Part 1: Valentine’s Day”, I felt more in touch with his fear and pain and even more admiration for his willingness to immerse himself in situations so out of his element they made me wince.

I finished BORN A CRIME not particularly happy that it ends when Noah is eighteen. I want more–which is a great tribute to the book and to Trevor Noah, whom I’ll now follow with affection and respect and some curiosity as to how he relates to women. BORN A CRIME is an informative, amusing, thought-provoking glimpse at some remarkable lives and an eye opening, personal look into apartheid, and an all around good read about a good man who rose “above his raising” but stayed true to his complicated roots.

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