Born a Crime – A (rare) book review

“The genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other. Apart-hate is what it was. You separate people into groups and make them hate on another so you can run them all.”

I visited Africa numerous times; I love the continent, the people, the colors and the beauty, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never really understand Apartheid.

“Born a Crime” is one of the best biographies I have read. This book surprised me -and that’s not so easily done. It’s about South Africa, about apartheid, poverty, domestic abuse and so much more. The writing is brilliant, there were moments when I had to stop reading because I needed to digest what I had just learned, and there were moments when I smiled or laughed out loud.

Trevor Noah, who I didn’t know before I read his book, is a South African comedian, actor and TV host and turns out, he is a very gifted storyteller and writer as well. I consider his book on of the rare treasures I found by accident. I bought the audiobook first and enjoyed Trevor’s voice, especially when he talked in the different dialects he grew up with. He cleverly narrated his own book and made me fall in love with him, his Mother, and his story.

Two weeks ago I bought the printed version, I wanted to read it one more time, in case I missed something.

Trevor Noah is COLORED. He has a (black) African mother and a (white) Swiss father. His existence is the evidence for his parent’s crime. Had the police discovered them, his parents would have been sent to jail, and Noah sent to an orphanage.  His parents could not be seen together with him, and his mother often had to pretend he was not her child. He spent much of his early life hidden away, indoors.

Being a white person who was born in Europe, I got so much insight from this book. My reality is very different. Trevar Noah helped me to understand the world I live in a little bit better.

And now, “Go order the book,” you can thank me later. 🙂