by Trevor Noah
This was a recent selection for my book club, one rather different from our usual fare, but I think we all enjoyed it more than I had feared. It's a fascinating glimpse into life in South Africa just before and after the end of apartheid. There are stories of love and abuse, mental illness and joyfulness, church and family, race and poverty.
The descriptions of how Christianity thrives and struggles in South Africa was interesting, and, according to members of my book club who are close to some African Christians (though not from South Africa), an accurate representation of the kind of blending of Christian beliefs with those of other religions.
My mother was--and still is--a deeply religious woman. Very Christian. Like indigenous peoples around the world, black South Africans adopted the religion of our colonizers. By "adopt" I mean it was forced on us.Despite his mother's devout faith, Noah is generally dismissive of her religion. That was difficult to read over and over, especially when there were misunderstandings of the Catholic faith from his time as a student at a Catholic school. It's not very different from what the secular culture reports in general about faith, though.
Noah's mother, a woman of courage and determination, forged her own path in the education she provided for herself and the childhood she created for her son.
When I look back I realize she raised me like a white kid--not white culturally, but in the sense of believing that the world was my oyster, that I should speak up for myself, that my ideas and thoughts and decisions mattered.Most amazingly, his mother raised him for a world that didn't yet exist. She raised him as if they already lived in a world without apartheid when there were not yet any indications that it was going anywhere. I thought that was a beautiful metaphor for how we should all raise our children. As Catholics, we should raise our children for the world that is coming, for the Kingdom of God.
Noah and his mother are flawed people in a flawed world. His book draws connections between the South Africa that formed him and the America we live in today. This wasn't my favorite book, but it was a good book club choice and one I'm glad I read.
This post contains my honest opinions. I have received nothing in exchange for it. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.
