Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

69 reviews

bookishchelle's review

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Snippets of Trevor Noah's life in South Africa as mixed children before & after the apartheid. Funny, emotional, and filled with little bits of information about what it is like living as mixed child and the differences of rights of his mother, African and his father who is white.  We also get a look at how his mother survived an abusive relationship with his half-brother's father. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

maddiearthur's review against another edition

emotional funny informative tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Blood and Antisemitism

Minor: Rape

kiwichill's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This was one of the best memoirs I have ever read.  I have never seen Trevor Noah on TV, I'd never heard of him.  I just kept seeing this book come up in Facebook groups etc.  At times shocking and disturbing,  other times humorous,  it opened my eyes to what life is like in South Africa, both during apartheid and after.  Poverty, domestic violence, crime, racism and government laws that support these ideals are a way of life over there. Noah's mother must be commended for the strength of character and resilience she displays.  I recommend listening to the audiobook as it is excellent 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tayrod4594's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This memoir is absolutely stunning. It's an unflinching, honest portrait of South Africa, of how the various influences might combine to create a man whose greatest quality is his empathy. He makes no bones about the harsh realities of poverty, racism, domestic abuse, and crime; however, he doesn't position himself or his loved ones as victims or martyrs. It's simply the reality, and humor and hope are an ever-present thread weaving together his history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Police brutality, Car accident, and Alcohol

gwenswoons's review

adventurous challenging dark funny informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Liked this a lot - lots of beautiful storytelling, tons of deep history about South African apartheid told in really personal ways, and an unusual balance of comedy and vivid, traumatic, clear information that Trevor Noah does so well. The structure, for me, wasn’t totally successful - I think the word “Stories” in the title is key, and it’s definitely built more like vignettes - to my reading, it was often not entirely successful from the extent of the non-sequitur - than like a traditional memoir (I’m not a major memoir reader anyway, so I was ok with this! But the timeline leaps and unrelated stories sometimes felt like they could have been built into a slightly more effective arc). I listened on audio, and can’t recommend it enough - he’s obviously such a great narrator, so funny, so inflected and beautiful (and, so amazing hearing him switch between different languages in different stories - I loved!!). Can’t imagine reading this NOT on audio! I’ll def read more of his books as he writes them 💜

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

brown_nat's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, and Classism

elyssajoh's review

dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

nicdic's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring sad fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty

ckavella's review

adventurous funny inspiring fast-paced

5.0

This book explores important realities of race, class, culture, identity, and family through the eyes of a boy coming of age in South Africa. It is insightful, hilarious, informative, and empathetic!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

mondovertigo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Excrement, and Fire/Fire injury