What’s the Premise?
Born a Crime is the story of Trevor Noah and his extraordinary path from Apartheid South Africa to the Daily Show talk show host. Trevor was truly born a crime, to a white Swiss father and a Xhosa Black mother, their union was at the time punishable by five years in prison.
Hidden away from the world until South Africa’s liberation, Trevor and his mother set forth in the world where they could live openly and freely.
Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy and the relationships he forms on his way to becoming a mischevious young man.
A collection of stories that is compelling, hilarious and deeply affecting, it tells a story of a young man trying to find his way in a damaged world.
Verdict?
This book has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now, somehow I have never had the time to dedicate to it. My love of podcasts finally made me sign up for an audible subscription and the audio version of Born a Crime, was my first purchase. I am happily that person who would own a paper and audio version of the same book.
I didn’t really know much about Trevor Noah before reading his memoir to be honest. I vaguely knew about him being a presenter and talk show host in America. But having never watched him or read anything by him before, I went in completely blind.
Simply put, I absolutely loved this audiobook, read by Trevor himself, it is perfectly narrated. I felt like I was right there with him through every emotion, one minute I was laughing out loud the next I was gasping at some of the everyday atrocities of life in South Africa.
Seeing post-apartheid life in South Africa through the eyes of a child was still harrowing at points, even through the humour. If you ever want to get a better understanding of what life was like in South Africa during this time, it is a great start, but what I really took away from this book was the relationship between Trevor and his mum and her undeniable strength.
Covering pretty hefty topics such as religion, gender roles, education, colonialism, at the heart of it Born a Crime is a personal tale of love and friendship. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone, possibly the most interesting and entertaining memoir I have listened to, it is definitely one to get on audio.
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