Synopsis: At the heart of this soul-wrenching novel is a true story of courage and endurance in the face of one of the most brutal civil wars the world has ever known. Valentino Achak Deng is just a boy when conflict separates him from his family and forces him to leave his small Sudanese village, joining thousands of other orphans on their long, long walk to Ethiopia, where they find safety - for a time. Along the way Valentino encounters enemy soldiers, liberation rebels and deadly militias, hyenas and lions, disease and starvation. But there are experiences ahead that will test his spirit in even greater ways than these...

Harrowing, but a 'must read'.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

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If it's a 'must read' for you, it's at least a 'must try' for me. Thanks BookCrosser!

The story of the Lost Boys, woven into a beautiful and heartbreaking novel. The Lost Boys are children of the Dinka, from the south of Sudan. When political changes brought war and destruction to their villages, they fled and made the long trek to Ethiopia, where the survivors are concentrated in refugee camps.
The What in the title refers to a Dinka story of creation, in which the first Dinka were given the choice between cattle and the What. The war makes the Dinka think again about that choice...
Thanks again BookCrosser!

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And the end makes me think of the old Dylan-song: A hard rain's gonna fall.

travels as a bookring to
AnnevO
Wandering
Monalisaa
rroos
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Bookguide

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

in the mail to AnnevO

Book arrived safely. but will have to wait a bit.

This book surely left an impression. I didn't know that much about the situation in Sudan. The narrative is sometimes quite in-your-face, sometimes quite poetic. I learned a lot by reading this book, even though it was a struggle sometimes.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Dit boek gaat per post naar wandering.

Got it, thank you!

Finished at last. I took some time due to work travelling and because I can only read so much horrible stuff a day...

What an impressive story. Like AnnevO, I learned a lot about the quite recent history of conflict in Sudan. While reading I kept wondering why on earth people do these horrible things to other human beings? There is no answer to that, I guess. I'm just glad I know a bit more about what's going on on this planet.

The switching back and forth between current events and past events did not enhance the book for me: it could just as well have been told chronologically. Near the end of the book I even noticed that I hadn't seen the current events coming up lately, and as if the writer heard me the next part started with current events. The story has enough worth of its own without putting in writers' tricks to make it more interesting or stylistic.

My favourite character is William K. for providing the walking boys some hope and sense of purpose by making up stories about what wonderful things lie ahead. I'd like to think at least some of them did not give up partly because of him.

The book will be handed over in person on Friday to monalisaa. Have a good read!

Edit for future reference: the link to the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation.

Received the book from wandering yesterday. As I just have decided not to finish another book of this writer (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) because I don't like the way it is written, I wonder whether I'll like this one better. To be continued ;-)

Well, I didn't finish this book either. Like in "A Heartbreaking Work..." I found Eggers' style in this book verbose, and on top of that I found the tone of voice of the storyteller/main character quite arrogant. A pity, because the subject of the story, as far as it is about the troubles in Sudan, is really interesting.
Thanks anyway for sharing this book, Plinius.
Today or tomorrow I'll send it to rroos.

Found it in the mail last week. Thanx!

I found the book very difficult in the beginning and I almost wanted to put it away, but a side of me truly wanted to read this book. Luckily, Plinius didn't mind that I took care of it a little longer. I just finished the book and I am happy that I did finish it. You almost cannot imagine what Valentino has been through. Heartbreaking (reminds me of the other book of this author...). Dave Eggers wrote it down beautifully. Thank you so much for sharing this book!

I'm going to ask Olifant if the book is welcome there. Olifant doesn't want to be in the ring anymore, I'll ask Miertje now.

Finally, the book is going to continue its journey. Bookguide is next on the list. I hope you'll enjoy this one! Thanx for sharing this special book...

Arrived safely today in my letterbox. I'm reading books about Africa during (and after) the FIFA World Cup 2010, held in South Africa, so this one will slot into my theme very nicely. Thank you BookCrosser and Plinius for the chance to read this book, and thank you Rroos for sending it on.

This book took longer to read than I had expected, but it gripped me from beginning to end. It didn't linger on the horrific sights and experiences which Achak / Valentino / Dominic was subjected to, but described them in a matter-of-fact way. There were many descriptions of Achak's friends, and it was wonderful to see how people organised themselves into functional societies, even amidst the deprivation of the refugee camp. It was interesting to hear Achak's opinions on the international aid community, and it does make me think about refugee camps and the treatment of refugees. It must be terrible for them to have to be dependent on international aid, unable to farm or keep animals, simply because they are collected together in an inhospitable region where nobody else would want to live. It also makes me wonder what will happen to the Lost Boys in the coming years. Will they be able to integrate into American society, or will they ever be able to return to their own country? Why are so few women sent to America, and why do even refugees who are highly motivated, eloquent and intelligent such as Achak find it so difficult to get into university? A very thought-provoking book!

Time to send this book back to Plinius. Thank you for the chance to read it.

Update 29th October: Sorry for keeping the book so long. It's on its way, together with Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe.

This book has been released as part of the following BookCrossing challenges:
- The Ultimate Challenge - read and release books, with extra points for a monthly theme
- Pages Read Challenge - read a self-set target number of pages in 2010. My goal is 24,000.
- 2010 Movie Books Challenge
- BX Top 100 Challenge? - try to read and release as many as possible of the BookCrossers' 100 top reads
- Set It Yourself Challenge

thank you Bookguide!