Boganmeldelse: 'Born a Crime' af Trevor Noah

Born a crime is a story written in 2016 about the life of Trevor Noah. The book first places us in another world, in South Africa, between the 80s and 90s, a colonial, racial and economic system very different from what we see. Trevor Noah recalls his difficult childhood in apartheid South Africa. Born a crime Trevor explains the life lessons that have led him to the person he is today. In the way, he not only explains the socio-political historical context that gave raise to apartheid and its repercussions on black population that, but also tells us about his first experiences in love, at work and in religion among others thanks to a mom who educated him as an adult from a young age. Trevor Noah managed to fulfil his dreams. Trevor dedicates this book to his mom, a strong, independent, and intelligent women.

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What did you think of the novel? Did you enjoy it, and why or why not?

In general, I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought it was a hard and emotional story, but the story of Trevor (the main character) is told with a lot of irony and a lot of humour. I also think it was a very beautiful tribute to the authors mother, Patricia. A well-deserved tribute to an intelligent strong woman with character, who knew to function in an unstable and violent world, and who fought for her family. Both she and her son Trevor are survivors, who managed to get ahead in situations that were not easy, mainly because of her skin colour, but also because of other forms of discrimination. An aspect that I really liked is each chapter is introduced by an introduction where he explains some situations in the country, such as the sophisticated system of discrimination based on skin colour in apartheid, which turns everyone against everyone. Or about the educational system. Trevor Noah knows how to play with the readers emotions and throw balls with effect when you least expect it. Some anecdotes are surreal, other curious, but they always make you think. Trevor draws a lesson from all of them. Most of them resolve around racism, improvement, friendship, and love. P.249 “In society we do horrible things to each other because we don’t see the people they affect. We don’t see their faces. We don’t see them as people. That was the very reason the neighbourhood existed: not to have to see or think about the victims of apartheid. Because if white people ever saw black people as human beings, whey would realize that slavery was unjustifiable.”