what is the what by dave eggers

download

“Whatever I do, however I find a way to live, I will tell these stories. I have spoken to every person I have encountered these last difficult days, and every person who has entered this club during these awful morning hours, because to do anything else would be something less than human. I speak to these people, and I speak to you because I cannot help it. It gives me strength, almost unbelievable strength, to know that you are there. I covet your eyes, your ears, the collapsible space between us. How blessed are we to have each other? I am alive and you are alive so we must fill the air with out words. I will fill today, tomorrow, every day until I am taken back to to God. I will tell stories to people who will listen and to people who don’t want to listen, to people who seek me out and to those who run. All the while I will know that you are there. How can I pretend that you do not exist? It would be almost as impossible as you pretending that I do not exist.”

from What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers

Actually, that’s the last paragraph of the book. Sorry. Spoiler alert! (A little late). I retyped it because i thought it was so beautifully written, but I don’t know if it’s because it truly is beautiful, or if it was a resting point after such a long, grueling, but absorbing story. Eggers interviewed one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and wrote his autobiographies, but with a few liberties. They spent three years together on the phone, in person, interviewing, researching, all in the effort to humanize the problem of children orphaned by the civil war in Sudan, the poverty, the crazy existence of places on earth that is hundreds of years behind the U.S. in terms of development (by that, I simply mean roads, electricity, running water).

I’m generally not drawn to “issues” books and I am also not generally drawn to Dave Eggers. He’s too successful, which mildly disgusts me. He has written several prize-winning books, he started a trendy literary magazine and publishing house named after his mother’s maiden name (McSweeneys) and he started a really cool literary not-for-profit called 826 Valencia, which was replicated throughout the country. I tried to volunteer of the 826 in Brooklyn, and I couldn’t because IT IS TOO COMPETITIVE TO VOLUNTEER THERE. (I blogged about it years ago). But whatevs, my friend Alex J. read it and recommended it, so i read it.

It is a remarkable book. And to speak out of order, the idea of contributing a fictional book as a step in philanthropy is so wild. While Eggers is a pretty established writer, you only have like a few books in you over your lifetime; it takes years to write one, and to contribute one to someone else’s story seems generous. But the process behind this book is so unusual too — to extemporize when it feels right, to use facts when it feels right. I have no idea how you’d do it if it’s not your own story.

Valentino goes through such an insane ride — there’s a lot of coverage of his village being attacked and walking to another country (Kenya) with other refugee orphan boys and dodging rebel troops trying to recruit or shoot them, dodging wild animals during the walk and alligators during water crossing sections. That part is tough, but then when they see life outside of the refugee camps, it’s surreal how quickly the poverty and violence falls away. Everything is just a plane ride away. We’re all close, but not, so the book succeeded. It made me more aware of the plight of the Sudanese — at home, in camps, as refugees in the bewildering U.S. where they have no clue on how to make it, suffer from an inadequate support system, but meet Angelina Jolie and Jane Fonda even though they are dead broke. This guy has been through so much loss and hard times, and still, he has managed to maintain a positive outlook on life, he is hopeful. Valentino Achak Deng is an exceptional individual.

I wouldn’t say I have changed outwardly, no Bodhisattva Vow as of yet, but it is inspiring to read what he has survived on the days I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread. You know what? Whatever challenges I have, I got it made, I have multiple-blessings, and I am so goddamn lucky. Who knows why, but I best appreciate it. And isn’t it amazing when a book can make you feel that way?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.