Thoughts on “Born a Crime” - Caroline Tucker

Born a Crime is a huge transition from The House of Spirits. That was one of the first things I noticed. I knew that Born a Crime was going to be drastically different in terms of style of writing. But that can be expected because it is a autobiography of Trevor Noah’s childhood while The House of Spirits was magic realism. I am still in the mindset of reading a book with hidden messages.

Born a Crime made me smile a good bit. I loved the part where he talked about how his mother punished him by spanking him. Not that I like spanking, what I liked is how he made it sound like a joke. My favorite line was “She’d deliver it to you free of charge” (Noah 10). I got a good laugh out of that line. Also, I loved how he described their relationship as a “Tom and Jerry relationship” (11). That line instantly produced the perfect image to describe their relationship. It described the constant banter between the two and the constant running and clever plans to capture one or the other.

There were many times Born a Crime brought great laughs. I am really looking forward to learning more about Trevor Noah’s story. What was your favorite line?

P.s. I commented on Moriah’s and Rebecca’s posts

Comments

Joshua Evers said…
Trevor Noah’s attitude is the make it or break it element to the book. He is able to carry us through some difficult experiences with a few laughs and smiles. He certainly makes it easier for the reader to relate to him and what he experienced. Good post!
Luke Killam said…
Even though this is much more of a light-hearted read, it is still good to have a mindset that this text has "hidden messages," even if those hidden messages aren't necessarily of omens or mystery. In Born a Crime they take the forms of political messages, strategies, and ideologies (of Apartheid, the many laws, and Trevor's personal view), religious experiences (as was seen in his many humorous experiences, plus multi-church attendance), and many more that we'll probably see later on.

My favorite line was when they were forcing Trevor to pray to God to get the demon away, how Trevor didn't want to pray since he didn't want Got to make him go away!!