Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood is an autobiography written by the comedian Trevor Noah. It was published by John Murray in 2016 and I downloaded it for a mere 99p on my Kindle. I'm usually not one to be interested in the autobiographies or biographies of "celebrities" but having laughed at a few of Noah's sketches in the past (particularly when he started out) and the bargain Amazon tempted me with, I thought I'd give it a chance. And I'm glad I did. The book is 304 pages long and is divided into three parts and a total of 18 chapters, many of which are preluded by passages that provide context to the following events.
When I messaged my sister telling her a little about the book and how I was finding it, she commented on how it's funny how people can write autobiographies before the age of 40 now. She has a point, and yet I don't think Noah was misplaced in taking out the time to write this piece because it's about more than Trevor Noah the personality. I will explain what I mean. Of course Trevor Noah describes his experiences growing up in South Africa but he does this with plenty of insight into South Africa's history, tribal reputations, linguistic histories, as well as his family environment and his mother's dedication in raising him. This means that we learn about the history of a nation and the richness in just a part of its society and are then given a human side of how living through these complex social structures affects people and smaller communities. As well as a historical and social narrative, Noah's other major influence was his mother and this relationship is one of the main reasons I value this book.
Noah recognises that the world in South Africa is quite particular in its culmination of influences and its apartheid regime in relation to many Western countries' experience of the world. Thus, he makes a sincere effort to provide appropriate analogies along the way, which also function as reminders that the West isn't "clean" of certain sins but rather have their own forms of injustice that may well have been highlighted in the apartheid as being "more severe". He isn't afraid to bring up and discuss real, pertinent issues concerning white (light) privilege, male privilege and patriarchy, domestic violence and injustice towards women as well as reasons for crime and criminality and the breeding of hate and racism in a society. These are not problems that are South African problems alone nor are they "the Black man's problems" but rather issues that concern everybody individually as well as collectively.
Having lived in both Britain (born and raised) and Germany (at present), I would like to provide a minor correction to Noah's comparison to the teaching of the apartheid to South African children post-apartheid to the education Germans provide about the Nazis and Britons about the Empire. He rightly remarks that German students are made aware of the events of the Holocaust and share a public shame at this part of their history, but I felt the description of the British teaching of colonialism is slightly misplaced. I don't recall ever being formally taught about colonialism in school and even any reference to the slave trade was cursory and primarily focused on America. Britain hardly feels regret or shame about the Empire and consistently hides or avoids mentioning the huge injustices it committed and the attitude is rather that of "ah yes, the Empire was a big thing we had, and now don't- but now we have the Commonwealth".
In terms of writing style, the book is captivating and fluid. It's a pleasure to read and includes a fair share of humour with its tales of rather amusing and ridiculous events. However the emotions aren't always high and frivolous but varied and sometimes rather upsetting and serious. Noah manages to balance the emotions for it never to be too dark or pitiful nor simply comic. His narrative is personal and intelligent.
Now, I have to say that I love Mrs. Noah, Trevor Noah's mother. She, for me, is the real star and hero of the book. Coming back to my sister's remarks about someone under 40 writing an autobiography, I felt that it was an excuse rather to write about his mother. For me Trevor Noah, the child, was probably too boisterous but generally a decent lad however what I really savoured was Mrs. Noah and her rich personality. She is such a strong, brave woman and repeatedly shows her dedication to motherhood and her principles and values. Her strength of character and physical capacity to chase a little boy like Trevor left me in awe and hope. I'm not going to say I condone all methods practiced but there is much to learn in this book about raising a child and developing a meaningful relationship with your child. Mrs Noah is about instilling values and dedicated so much to simply opening the eyes of her child. She reminds us of motherhood and its sacrifices, its pains and joys, and how to foster a positive, healthy outlook to life even in the face of adversity. Her faith is her core and her faith is what elevates her. I can't say I wouldn't be happy to meet her myself!
To conclude I wanted to mention something concerning the sincerity of the book. I may be naive and blind to ulterior motives but while I recognise that Noah suffered a difficult childhood in so many ways, I didn't feel that this book was written in a bid to seek sympathy or to victimise the comedian. Nor was it, for me, a rags to riches story of hope and dreams. To a large degree I have to say that I'm glad of Noah's material success as far as it allowed me to learn firstly about his mother, secondly about the history and experiences of a segment of South African society and thirdly that he is in a position to discuss and denounce ongoing injustice in the world today. I'm rather tempted to write an essay for my seminar on the book, but we'll see what happens. Finally, I find that Noah's personal experiences are so varied, having engaged with such a variety of people from so many different backgrounds and social classes and this is naturally a great asset to him in his work.
