'What is the What: The autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng' by Dave Eggers

Like “How many licks does it take to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop?”, the world may also never know the answer to the question “What is the what?” The question refers to a Sudanese religious fable that is told by the father of Valentino Achak Deng, the subject of What is the what. In the fable, the Dinka (indigenous people of southern Sudan) are given a choice by God to receive either cattle or the what as a gift. Not knowing what the what is, the Dinka choose the cattle, and this pleases god, because it shows that they are able to be content with the known rather than desiring the unknown.

The source of the title, though it is brought up numerous times in the book, isn’t really the central action of the book. Valentino Achak Deng is one of the Sudanese Lost Boys who escaped Sudan and was eventually able to move to the United States. There are two story lines in the book: the present day, Valentino is being robbed in his home in Georgia, and a flashback to his boyhood experiences. There are parts of the book that made me cry and terrified me, but there were also points that made me laugh out loud. But I suppose that is one of the makings of a really good tragedy – the inclusion of a little laughter. Maybe that is the what.

The book is described as an autobiography, but Dave Eggers did write the story and used a bit of creative license as I understand it. I don’t suppose there is a way to tell a story like this without having it be heartbreaking and horrifying; I can’t imagine how one person could have suffered as much as Valentino. But the book manages to be optimistic and hopeful, despite all that life has done to him, Valentino manages to be admirable and resilient.

'Don't Sleep There are Snakes' by Daniel Everett

Lately, I’ve been becoming increasingly interested in off-grid living; relying as little as possible on public and government programs and funds to support oneself. With this in mind, reading Don’t Sleep There are Snakes has been enjoyable and thought provoking. Author and linguist Daniel Everett has been regularly spending time with the Pirahã population of the Amazon since the 1970’s. This book, discusses not only the linguistic implications of what has been learned from Everett’s work, but also the lifestyle and values of the people being studied. Of course, the reader will see that the culture of the Pirahã is crucial to the linguistic conclusions that Everett has drawn, but even if it weren’t, it’s just so darn interesting.

Since I’m not an expert in linguistics (and one doesn’t have to be to enjoy this book), I’ll have to take Everett’s word for it when he writes that his conclusions are controversial and unusual. Instead I’m inclined to focus on the lifestyle and the anecdotes that illustrate their personalities. After reading this book, I’m impressed with the comfort and contentedness that the Amazonian people have in their lives. They have certainly achieved something that I can only hope to attain.
A favorite passage from the book:
They [the Pirahãs] have no craving for truth as a transcendental reality. Indeed, the concept has no place in their values. Truth to the Pirahãs is catching a fish, rowing a canoe, laughing with your children, loving your brother, dying of malaria. Does this make them more primitive? Many anthropologists have suggested so, which is why they are so concerned about finding out the Pirahãs’ notions about God, the world, and creation.

But there is an interesting alternative way to think about things. Perhaps it is the presence of these concerns that makes a culture more primitive, and their absence that renders a culture more sophisticated. If that is true, the Pirahãs are a very sophisticated people. Does this sound far-fetched? Let’s ask ourselves if it is more sophisticated to look at the universe with worry, concern, and a belief that we can understand it all, or to enjoy life as it comes, recognizing the likely futility of looking for truth or God?

In Conclusion, it is a wonderful book, one that I certainly recommend.

‘The Bridge of San Luis Rey’ by Thornton Wilder

I always enjoy unusually formatted books and movies. Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey is the story of a Peruvian bridge that collapses, killing the five people who are crossing at the time. Brother Juniper, a local friar, takes it upon himself to investigate the lives of the five people who perish. If he can discover the secrets of their lives, he can understand the reason that they were chosen by god to die. The book is broken up into sections that tell the stories of the people who die, with Brother Juniper’s story acting as an introduction and conclusion; the reader learns that the lives were connected by more than just the bridge collapse.

Obviously, Brother Juniper’s mission is problematic for a number of reasons. One of the fundamental aspects of most well-known religions is that the great majority of people aren’t supposed to know the motives of whatever supreme leader the religion happens to worship. Of course, people try to understand their god’s motives anyway, which leads to another problem: you can rationalize anything if you try hard enough. However dubious Brother Juniper’s investigation and results may be, it is interesting to try to look at these lives through his point of view; trying to understand why a particular person would have been selected to die.

The premise of the book reminds me very much of the evangelical religious figures who try to justify natural disasters by referencing the so-called sins of the affected area. From lesbianism to voodoo, every area that is struck by tragedy is sure to have at least one shortcoming. If people keep looking hard enough, they may be able to justify all death, and the result may end up being the same as Brother Juniper’s.

‘The Privileges’ by Jonathan Dee

The Privileges is the story of one family that enjoys spectacular financial success. The book begins with the marriage of a very young and attractive couple shortly after college and follows them for approximately the next 25 years as they have a family and become gradually wealthier. There are many moments that made me feel as though I were standing on the edge of a cliff – how successful can people be without suffering some great disappointment? This may be the trick that kept me reading; a constant, paranoid feeling that things always go wrong. But maybe I’ve just read too many books.

I always expect books about money and wealth to end by reaffirming what all middle-class people are taught to believe – that money isn’t everything, money will be your undoing, love and friendship is far greater. Though the characters in this novel do place a good deal of importance on family, this isn’t the message that I took away from this book. Instead, when I finished this novel, I was left with the feeling that wealth should be comforting and endless. You’ll still get older, and you’ll still lose loved ones, but if you have enough money, you won’t have to suffer in the same ways that other people do. Having enough money means being attractive, being comfortable, and enjoying the ability to make people do whatever you want.

‘Moby Dick’ by Herman Melville

Obviously, Moby Dick is a great American novel. The obsessed captain Ahab has sworn vengeance on the infamous whale Moby Dick. As many already known from the first line of the book, Ishmael tells the story of the best known whaling voyage of all time (albeit a fictional voyage) from the viewpoint of a member of the ship’s crew.

So many people, including many English majors that I have known, haven’t been able to push themselves through Moby Dick, and understandably so. It is a dense and complex book that few feel compelled to read if they aren’t assigned to do so by a professor. I won’t deny that the book is difficult, or imply that I fully comprehend every obscure reference that Melville has made, but on the whole, I’m glad to be familiar with the book. In truth, I may have benefitted from the graphic descriptions of the processes of whaling more than the narrative, and my final opinion of the novel may be that the work is of greater importance as a historical reference than entertainment fiction. Of course, I grew up playing the ‘Save the Whales’ board game, so it’s hard to imagine how Melville would feel about my perspective.

Even though the reader grows attached to some of the characters on the ship, I think my final sympathy lies with Moby Dick. The sailors think of him as a ruthless beast, but he is really just famous for preventing people from murdering him. I don’t think I’d mind having a reputation for not letting people kill me either.

'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls' by Steve Hockensmith

The first Pride and Prejudice and Zombies book had the advantage of being able to use Jane Austen’s own language and storyline – just add zombies. The prequel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, does not enjoy this same advantage. The author, Steve Hockensmith, created the story using many of Austen’s characters, without Austen’s famous wit to animate them. Oh well.

That said, those who enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies will probably enjoy Dawn of the Dreadfuls. The book is fun and zombie-filled; including more of those sexual references and innuendos that would surely make Austen blush (or worse). In my humble opinion, it wasn’t quite as good as the first, but really, people who read these books aren’t really looking for good writing. Or at least, hopefully they are not.