Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: The title might be redeployed as the title of this review

The title's teasing proverb might be redeployed as the title of this review. "What is the What", is an uneven effort. On the pro side; This is a desperate, African adventure story with a noble and honest hero (perhaps too noble in some of his confessions). To it's credit, I also thought that the majority of the dialog seemed to capture an authentic African voice and banter. Further, at times, the author's attention to detail is truly riveting. On the con side; just as often, the authentic English African translation is a little stiff and dispassionate. I believe this very good book could have used a very hard edit. It is spread too thin, attempting to capture too much of the Lost Boy's journey and struggle.