Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

This is a delightful book everyone should take the time to read. If you have heard of Trevor Noah or seen him on tv, this book will leave you even more amazed when you learn about his upbringing and background.Trevor’s father is white, and his mother is black. Trevor was born in South Africa when apartheid was just coming to an end, but black and white people weren’t supposed to have children together. Trevor was, as the title says, born a crime.Trevor does a remarkable job retelling his personal history without any of it sounding cliché or boring. He jokes with us about traditions and foods and living arrangements, while casually leading us through some dark roads that are private and troubling. He even details some of his awkward attempts to date girls. But always he is teaching us about South African history in quick powerful jabs that directly correlate with specific events in his life.One of his favorite subjects throughout, because of his mother’s deeply religious stance on everything, is the curious nuances people had concerning faith in Christ and old superstitious habits. He often tested these boundaries with his mother and the older women who helped raise him. There are barely any men involved in his upbringing because of several factors, which he also discusses in the book.The first book he learned to read was the Bible. He read it in English. His mother wanted to make sure his first language was English. And unlike most people in South Africa, by attending different church services and events in so many different places, he learned to speak quite a few other languages.Because of the lighter color of his skin and his ability to speak many languages, he found he could blend into many groups without really becoming a member of any of them.The government, as a means of control, wanted everyone in groups. They continually forced people to register as white, black, colored, or Indian. And keeping people divided into groups by language was even more detrimental to change. And if you didn’t choose a group when in some government office, a clerk would look at you and decide which box you belonged in.At first his parents couldn’t even be seen in most public venues with him because of the color of his skin, even as a baby and small child. They hired others to walk with him as a caregiver and his parents couldn’t walk together or near him. If they went to cousins’ houses, even his grandparents, he’d have to stay indoors. They couldn’t let the authorities know he was mixed. In fact, his mother didn’t tell the hospital who his father was when he was born.The chief strength of this book, I believe, is how open and honest Trevor is about his relationship with his mother. They endured a great many things together. And although they never had much money or reliable transportation, she was determined to keep traveling to all these different churches. It was dangerous. There was a lot of violence on the road, but for his mother, all obstacles were the devil’s doing and Jesus would make a way.Trevor says in the book that “apartheid is sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution. It is called that because very little white blood was spilled. Black blood ran in the streets.”Trevor says his mother was hard on him, strict and disciplined. And he admits to being naughty and unruly, a real troublemaker. He talks openly about how he started pirating CDs and how he and his crew would hustle people in the streets with small loans paid with interest. His mother didn’t want him growing up believing there were any boundaries, despite all the obvious boundaries, so he used his creative energy to do things we would consider to be highly illegal. But as he says in the book, “crime succeeds because crime does the one thing the government doesn’t do: crime cares. Crime is grassroots. Crime looks for the young kids who need support and a lifting hand.” And he follows this up by saying “It’s easy to be judgmental about crime when you live in a world wealthy enough to be removed from it. But the hood taught me that everyone has different notions of right and wrong, different definitions of what constitutes a crime, and what level of crime they are willing to participate in.”In the streets, he spent time with teachers, clerks, business owners, bus drivers, gangsters, and crack addicts. There wasn’t a lot of difference between them. They all seemed to need each other as part of a simple ecosystem that operated under its own rules. He went to jail and he learned some valuable lessons from the people he grew up with in various cities and schools. He even gives us a sense of culture shock by talking about their perspective of history. For those in South Africa, names like Hitler and Mussolini didn’t carry the same ominous overtones they do to us, and so it wasn’t unusual to have acquaintances with these names, even friends. And there is one particular story about this in the book that will leave the reader’s mouth hanging open.For those raised in South Africa, they had other names they associated with genocide, like Cecil Rhodes.They weren’t taught history like the west. In fact, as he tells us, under apartheid, they didn’t learn any history, science, or civics. If you weren’t white, you were taught agriculture and hole digging. They didn’t expect the nonwhites to aspire to be anything but laborers.Trevor’s mother was lucky enough to have been raised in a mission school where a white pastor taught her English, allowing her later to learn how to become a secretary, which was unheard of for black women.There are so many interesting stories revealed in this book, including most harrowingly his broken relationship with his father and his stepfather, one of which ends in a violent, bloody situation that leaves the reader absolutely stunned.By the end of this book, I had tears in my eyes. Trevor had done such a great job of solidifying this wonderful bond he had with his mother, that the end of the book was a shock. It was not what I expected. It’s worth reading just to get to that great finish.This is truly a book about a son’s love for his mother.Giving your child a name that has a special meaning is important for families in South Africa. Trevor tells us that his mother once told him that she chose the name Trevor for him because it had no meaning in South Africa.“She wanted me to be free to go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.”“… don’t cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold onto it. Don’t be bitter.”I highly recommend this book. You will experience a great many emotions reading it. Five Stars!

I didn't have many expectations going into "Born a Crime," which is maybe the right approach for a memoir. I knew only that Noah had become the host of "The Daily Show," and I was rooting for him as a relative unknown stepping into some big shoes. He seemed funny and charismatic, and I knew he was South African, but after reading "Born a Crime," I'm so much more impressed by its author. One expectation I had for the book was that it would be funny, which it is in many parts. Noah's writing style is not just conversational but natural; he is obviously a born storyteller. But he also structures the book in such a way that it builds and builds. Every story has a purpose, even the hilarious story of how, as a boy, Noah decided to poop in his kitchen. It's a story that ultimately depicts not only the poverty of his upbringing but also the superstitious nature of those around him. A refrain in "Born a Crime" is that when people have nothing, they must rely on faith. For Noah, that was always faith in his mother; for his mother, it was faith in God. It's truly a miracle that Noah has succeeded to the degree he has. I've read a lot of memoirs that left me wondering why the writer felt compelled to share his/her story, but there was none of that here. It begins with the title. Noah's birth, to a black mother and white father, was literally a criminal act in apartheid South Africa. His whole life growing up, Noah is an outcast. He doesn't seem to fit in with any group. And he grew up in abject poverty. Some of us think we have an idea what it might be like to be poor, but Noah lived it. At times his family ate goat eyeballs, worms, and scraps meant for dogs to survive. When he stayed with his grandmother, they shared a latrine with other families. I feel fortunate to have found this book but especially to have read it during a period of racial unrest in America. Noah experienced and witnessed severe racism in the era of apartheid and the period following its end. Each of his chapters begins with a brief discourse on race and its broader implications. Noah has gained such a nuanced understanding of the topic. One of his stories--about how a black dance group he helped form with a star dancer named Hitler went to dance at a white Jewish school--was almost unbelievable for the way it mixed history with racism and classism. But the real heart of "Born a Crime" is Noah's mother. She is a free spirit and independent thinker, and it's obvious that her determination is what drives Noah to break the cycle of poverty and racism, to avoid paying what he refers to as the "black tax." Noah gives examples from his own experience to show that poor black people need more than just some moral support. As he writes, if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach him to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. But it also helps to give him a fishing pole. That really stuck with me. In South Africa, blacks were graduating high school, but if they didn't look the right way or talk the right way, they still couldn't find work. In this book, we see the unfairness of the police state and the criminal justice system--most powerfully, as it applies to Noah's mother, who tries to have her husband arrested repeatedly for physical abuse, to no avail. This problem leads to a shocking conclusion to "Born a Crime." Again, all I can say is that I can't believe Noah survived the circumstances of his own upbringing, and I thank him for sharing his life in this powerful book. It's a story that needed to be told. My only complaint is not really a complaint, but the book runs from the author's birth to his early twenties, when he is still a rising comedian in South Africa. I'd love to see a sequel showing how Noah came the rest of the way from up-and-comer to host of "The Daily Show." I'm sure that's another journey well worth taking.

This is 4 1/2 stars for me. An excellent book and very interesting read about a boy growing up in South Africa who is mixed race. He doesn't really fit anywhere as he's not black, he's not white and he's not part of the mulato group either. I loved hearing how that society functioned and everything he ran into. I didn't realize that South Africa is so tribal - even amongst the natives there are different tribes that have prejudices and attitudes towards each other. Overall a great read and an exciting book. It's very enjoyable and eye opening as Trevor Noah brings a nice perspective. I loved his mother - she is someone I'd love to meet as she is so interesting. Reminds me that people are like diamonds with many faucets to them.

My daughter was reading this for her grade 12 English assignment. Then I bought the book & recommended it to several friends, one who submitted it as a read for her Book Club. It's a very well written, poignant story about Trevor's life in South Africa with moments of immense humor, as well. I absolutely LOVED it!!!

With humor and grace, Trevor Noah describes what things can happen to you when the regime considers your existence a crime. Apardheit Sounds to someone who never delt with it, lik sadistic whites that are drunk on power. But its very complicated, because the natives were seperatet and given different priviliges to. The sheer will to survive and the training that growing up running is, let Trevor live to this das which we all are, or at least should be thankful for.

correcto

Älskar

I just devoured this book. Funny, moving, interesting. An amusing biography, beautifully written, with a sense of humour typical of the comedian Trevor is. Also, I didn't know much of the reality before, during and after Apartheid and this book reveals a lot about it from the point of view of the oppressed. But it is also a story about what true education is, about the importance of freedom and Independence. It's a hymn to life and motherhood