[Christian]

We have posts on this book in other threads. I was about to add this post to one of those threads but thought I oughta just launch a dedicated discussion.

I blogged Dave Eggers' recent visit to Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C.

Has anyone else read "What Is the What"? I got the sense, at that packed Eggers appearance, that the book is finding a growing audience. The employee who introduced Eggers was a former store manager, and he said the initial hardback printing last year sold out quickly, leading to a lot of disappointed prospective customers who came in looking for the title. But they couldn't quite get the title right.

"Do you have the what?" they'd ask.

Or, "Where is the what?"

It's funnier when you hear someone say it.

This post has been edited by Christian: 07 November 2007 - 05:09 PM

[Christian]

I've got Dave Eggers' Zeitoun on my wish list, and am waiting to start a thread on it until after I've started to read it. In the meantime, Jonathan Demme has optioned the rights to the novel and will adapt it as an animated film.

In this article about Demme's undertaking, he mentions the impact What Is the What had on him:

Mr. Demme said he read the book soon after its publication in July, having been previously introduced by his son, Brooklyn, to Mr. Eggers’s reported novel “What Is the What,” about a young refugee from the Sudanese civil war. “He said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to read this book, it changed my life,’” Mr. Demme recalled. “And I read it, and it changed my life, too.”

Mine too.

[Greg Wolfe]

I found the novel to be compelling as an almost journalistic account of the Lost Boys of Sudan.

On the other hand, I didn't sense much depth or resonance beyond the reportage.

If you compare it, say, with Uwem Akpan's story collection, Say You're One of Them, I think you'll see what I mean. Akpan's stories, also told from the point of view of children, have a rich metaphorical resonance that places the horrors of recent African tragedies in a deeper human context.

But I admit that it would be hard to fully defend my position without a much lengthier analysis.

Certainly the Eggers novel is a gripping, moving read.

[Christian]

Thanks for the tip, Greg. I'm not sure Eggers' book "changed my life" beyond giving me a new way of looking at people I might not understand nearly as well as if I hadn't read the book. But that's pretty much the definition of good literature, or good storytelling, and maybe not worthy of "life-changing experience." I'm just grateful to see strongly positive reactions to the story, which has lingered in ways that other acclaimed novels often fail to do.

[Greg Wolfe]

Fair enough, Christian. I didn't use the "change my life" criterion but you're right -- a well-told tale can have deep meaning and impact without necessarily having all sorts of layers. The novel certainly remains vivid -- and moving -- in my memory!