Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood - Book Review

"In society, we do horrible things to one another because we don't see the person it affects, we don't see their face. We don't see them as people, which was the whole reason the hood was built in the first place, to keep the victims of apartheid out of sight and out of mind. Because if white people ever saw black people as human they would see that slavery is unconscionable. We live a world where we don’t see the ramifications of what we do to others because we don’t live with them. It would be a whole lot harder for an investment banker to rip off people with subprime mortgages if he actually had to live with the people he was ripping off. If we could see one another’s pain and empathize with one another, it would never be worth it to us to commit the crimes in the first place." - Trevor Noah ❤️

'Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood' is a very lighthearted, happy book. It is written in simple language and narrated with endearing expression. He talks about many serious issues and problems that a child growing up during apartheid would have encountered, about the problems with his society and the struggles his mother had to face as a black woman in the 80s, all with a hint of humour and a genuinity that makes you love him instantly. I expected to have far less context with this book, for it is set in a different continent and in a different time than I grew up, but boy was I wrong!  How much I related to it, just goes to show that we are a big world full of people looking so different from each other but all suffering the same humanity. 💕🌍

I had been wanting to try audiobooks for a long time now (thanks to Stephanie Huston for the inspiration). So when I decided to read Trevor's book, I immediately got it in the audio version. I absolutely adore his modulations and accents. He is my favourite comedian, host and go-to source of laughs, so this book was a delight to my ears and soul. I cannot recommend it enough. 🤩