How can one possibly call a book about genocide great? Well, this particular book was indeed informative and powerful. It was tragic and极其悲伤的. At times, it made me so angry that I had to put it down for fear that I would throw it across the room. The politics involved in the events described in the book had me so frustrated that I just wanted to scream in frustration.

I must add some of the most powerful statements made in this book. In May of 1994, the author happened to be in Washington visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Amid the crowd, the author tried to read a local newspaper but was stopped by a photograph on the front page. It showed bodies swirling in water, dead and bloated, so numerous that they clogged the stream. The caption explained that these were the corpses of genocide victims in Rwanda. Looking up, the author saw museum staffers arriving for work, some wearing label buttons inscribed with "Remember" and "Never Again." The museum was just a year old, and at its inaugural ceremony, President Clinton had described it as an investment in a secure future. However, as it turned out, the West's post-Holocaust pledge that genocide would never again be tolerated proved to be hollow.

The book also highlights the role of the UNHCR. According to its mandate, it provides assistance only to refugees who have fled across an international border and can prove a well-founded fear of persecution. But in the case of the Rwandan refugees, no attempt was made to screen them, as it was considered too dangerous. This meant that taxpayers in countries that funded the UNHCR were feeding people who were expected to harm them if their right to charity was questioned. The Hutus, many of whom were directly involved in the genocide of the Tutsis, were protected by the UNHCR.

The world powers made it clear in 1994 that they did not care to fight genocide in central Africa, yet they had no convincing explanation for why they were content to feed it. Never before in modern memory had a people who slaughtered another people been expected to live with the survivors in the same tiny communities. There were many more powerful insights in the book. Truly, it is a great book that makes one question the actions of those, like the UN, who discuss doing something about genocide but in the end fail to come to any conclusions. In this world, doing good is necessary, not just denouncing evil.

A first-hand examination of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 offers a profound and harrowing insight into one of the darkest chapters in recent history.

It presents a collection of survivor stories that vividly capture the horror and trauma endured during that fateful period. The article also provides a thorough look at the country in its aftermath, up until 1998, showing the long and arduous process of recovery and rebuilding.

An excellent aspect of this examination is the view it offers of the international community's role in the genocide. It highlights the inaction that allowed the violence to escalate unchecked and the debacle of humanitarian aid, which unfortunately wound up providing support to many of the Genocidaires.

However, it must be noted that the article does not seem to be as comprehensive in its explanation of the causes of the genocide, as well as the organization, planning, and execution. While these aspects were addressed, they perhaps could have been explored in greater depth to provide a more complete understanding.

Overall, this examination earns a rating of 3.5 stars for its valuable contributions in shedding light on the Rwandan genocide, despite its limitations in certain areas.

Gruesome. Horrific. Visceral. Disturbing. And even harrowing. These are the adjectives that flood my mind when I recall this book.

I truly wish it had been fictional, rather than a cold, hard reality.

However, the truth is that nearly a million humans were brutally hacked to death by other humans within a span of 100 days. Picture an organized ethnic cleansing with 10,000 murders each day. That's more people than 11 Airbus A380s can carry.

It's staggering. Even after reading the book, I find it utterly incomprehensible how we, the human race, can act in such a way. What makes it worse is the inaction of the Western world, which witnessed these macabre events unfold but chose to largely ignore them. Sadly, the roots of the conflict seem to have been planted during the colonial era, leading to the purge in 1994. Even more unfortunately, since this conflict didn't occur in the Western world, it seems to have largely escaped notice.

What makes this book even harder to read is that Gourevitch doesn't treat the victims as mere numbers or statistics. Through his interviews and beautifully crafted prose about the survivors, he tells not just one but many stories of death, destruction, rape, and horror.

My only criticism is that there isn't enough focus on female survivors, and there's no description of the horrors of rape and sexual violence they endured. Indeed, at times, rape seems to be mentioned only as a 'tool' to humiliate the men. Unfortunately, women (except Odette) don't seem to get much mention in this otherwise well-researched book.

Perhaps it would have been great if Gourevitch had chosen to explore more deeply the history of colonialism and how 'apartheid' led to the events of 1994.

Nevertheless, it's a great book with a lot of perspective. I can't say I 'loved' it, but it definitely deserves 4.5ish stars.

Adam is waiting for a book with this rating and such a title to provide a captivating account about one of the most horrific genocides in human history that remains largely forgotten and unknown. However,

the author's pen is not good. Regarding the deep reasons and events, especially why people suddenly lost their minds? What happened that neighbors killed each other, friends lost their minds and became killers, and in approximately one million people were massacred in less than a hundred days? Yes, we all know that half of it is the fault of imperialism and colonialism, but what other reasons did the ordinary people have to turn almost one hundred and eighty degrees? They lived side by side in the morning and then became spiritual killers and rebels in the afternoon? It is extremely lacking in social, psychological, and historical perspectives! The insight it provides into the reasons for the start of the genocide is at the level of a Wikipedia page!! The author prefers to go up on the podium and use flowery words and criticize the demands of the United Nations and whoever else from a top-down perspective! He doesn't even allow the victims themselves to tell their stories. At first, I thought this book would be like the Chernobyl Diaries or The War of the Worlds, but whenever someone comes to tell their memories of the crime, the author jumps in the middle and inserts his own words, which is very annoying and reduces the depth of the horror and atrocity that has come before, making the text worse, more tiring, and more boring. Worst of all, a group of people (especially Paul Kagame!) are elevated to the heavens as if they are saints, and half of each chapter of the book is dedicated to praising these individuals!!

In short, everything this book presents about Rwanda can also be read on Wikipedia, and your time won't be wasted with this book. The first quarter of it is just painful, and the rest is just the author going up on the podium.

The recent Holocaust Remembrance Day, with the motto #weremember, serves as a solemn reminder. However, as Gourevitch astutely pointed out, while it is a memento, humans seem to be unteachable, and history unfortunately repeats itself. His book is filled to the brim with information, making it a rather challenging read. Moreover, the realities described are completely foreign to us. Nevertheless, we firmly believe that this is an extremely important book.

Rwanda, a small nation in the heart of Africa, had a population consisting of Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa (a pygmy group making up 1%). Despite sharing a common language and recognizing a ruler, the colonizers managed to create chaos. They introduced Christianity and their eugenic theories, measuring heads and dividing society into two groups that despised each other. The Tutsi were considered the higher caste, with traits similar to whites, lighter skin, and occupations like shepherding. The Hutu, on the other hand, were seen as the lower caste, with darker skin, a large flat nose, and working as growers.
The Germans and Belgians first installed compliant Tutsi in the Rwandan government. Later, following the example of the Flemish majority's rebellion against the Walloon minority's government, the Belgians incited the Hutus to rise up against the Tutsi, whom they claimed were exploiting them. The media also played a role, with inflammatory speeches that, starting around 1957, set the stage for the massive massacre in 1994. This massacre began with the assassination of pro-Hutu president Juvénal Habyarimana. Journalist Hassan Ngeze's disgusting anti-Tutsi propaganda was reminiscent of the Nazi J. Streichera, who was even despised by his colleagues.
The UN simply stood by, reluctant to interfere in Rwanda's internal affairs. When they finally did arrive, their camps were controlled by génocidaires who profited from the situation and prevented people from leaving. Instead of protecting the population, the Hutu militias of Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi continued the killings. Neighbors killed neighbors, and yet, when it was all over, the two groups were expected to live peacefully side by side. The Rwandans who returned from exile to rebuild their country could not tolerate the survivors and their constant reminders of the horror they had endured.
The author highlights the fates of several brave individuals, such as Tutsi doctor Odette Nyiramilimo, Hutu hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (who hid refugees), and moderate Hutu reporter Thomas Kamilindi. Sadly, although the situation has changed over the years, Rwanda is now led by absolutist president Paul Kagame. He came from Uganda with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and stopped the genocide. However, he is currently imprisoning regime opponents, like Paul Rusesabagina, who was brought back from the US for supporting democracy in Rwanda.

bt, Val

The distilled reality of the Rwandan genocide is a harrowing and deeply disturbing subject.

Philip Gourevitch's writing about some of the incidents is truly remarkable. His words have the power to cut deep, right to the marrow.

He vividly描绘s the horror and brutality that took place during that dark period in Rwandan history.

Through his detailed accounts, we are able to gain a better understanding of the magnitude of the tragedy and the impact it had on the lives of countless people.

Gourevitch's writing not only informs but also evokes strong emotions, making us feel the pain and suffering of the victims.

It serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of never forgetting such atrocities and working towards a more peaceful and just world.

His work is a testament to the power of words to bring about change and raise awareness about the horrors of genocide.

Some things I learned from this book:

In the early 1990s, militias known as interahamwes were established based on football fan clubs. Young leaders, who wore "flamboyantly coloured pajama suits and robes" and rode motorbikes, gave speeches at interahamwe rallies. The members of interahamwe also "went on retreats to practice burning houses, tossing grenades, and hacking dummies with machetes."

Kinyarwanda, the Rwandan language, is the second most widely spoken African language.

During the genocide, clouds of birds of prey and carrion birds in the sky over massacre sites were helpful to survivors hiding in the bush as they served as a map of "no go zones."

Hutu Power pop stars like Simon Bikindi performed songs on the radio that incited hatred and killing.

At least once, Hutu killers refrained from directly killing a baby and instead gave it a grenade to play with. (Fortunately, the baby did not explode the grenade before being rescued.)

France continued to sell arms to Rwanda throughout the genocide. China also provided weapons, and the Rwandan army imported a large number of Chinese machetes before the genocide began. Many of these machetes were freely distributed to housewives, office workers, and unemployed men.

The city of Kigali was designated as a "weapons-free zone," but people could openly buy "affordable priced" Kalashnikovs and grenades displayed in the city market.

The 1994 genocide was the largest, but it was preceded by many similar smaller attacks, especially in the 60s and 70s.

Organized buses transported militia members, who were high on drugs from looted pharmacies, to different areas to carry out massacres.

It is crucial to understand these facts to prevent such atrocities from happening again and to promote peace and harmony in the world.

A captivating book delves deep into the genocides that took place in Rwanda in 1994 and explores its far-reaching aftermath. The author's writing is truly outstanding, as he demonstrates an obvious empathy for the people who endured such a horrific tragedy. He manages to look inside the psyche of both the victims and the perpetrators, in a situation that was nothing short of anarchy. Essentially, an entire country seemed to go crazy, with a psychosis that was built on a solid foundation of Western influences and prejudices. This book really brings home a plethora of issues regarding foreign policy on the world stage and the general apathy of Europe and America towards Africa. It is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in understanding the complex and often overlooked history of this region.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to watch the movie The Salt of the Earth. It is a biography of Sebastiao Salgado, a photographer whose work I truly admire. The images of the Rwanda genocide in the movie have haunted me ever since. Before that, I didn't know much about this event. But what really stuck with me was the photographer's expression and his eyes when he was talking about what he had witnessed. He was clearly haunted by it. (It's no wonder that after that experience, he gave up journalistic photography and turned his focus to Antarctica and Amazonian tribes).

So, when I came across the angry title We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, I knew I had to read the book. I had always wanted to know more about what was behind Salgado's haunting. And make no mistake, this is indeed an angry book. Gourevich does an excellent job of balancing several elements: anger, atrocity, despair, and heroism, without falling into easy sensationalism or the categorization of good and evil. (Although he seems to be a Kagame fanboy, I'm not sure I can really blame him. His political ideas were very interesting). He allows the story to unfold through interviews with all sides and provides poignant historical and contextual analysis when necessary. He is also adept at giving a brief background on colonialism and post-colonialism in Africa to tie everything together.

I started reading the book with a huge question mark WHY, and I'm not sure I got a definite answer. But perhaps, like in the case of the Holocaust, the WHY is less relevant and the HOW is what truly matters.

Oh, and don't forget to watch The Salt of the Earth. It's a truly great movie.

The only thing Odette said about her life as a medical student was rather astonishing.

“In Butare once, a professor of internal medicine came up to me and said, ‘What a pretty girl,’ and he started patting my bottom and tried to set up a date even though he was married.”

This memory seemed to just pop out of nowhere, with no obvious connection to what came before or after. Then Odette quickly moved on, skipping ahead to her graduation and marriage.

Yet, for that brief moment, the image of her as a young student facing such an awkward and uncomfortable sexual advance hung in the air between us. It almost seemed to amuse Odette, but it also made me realize all the things she wasn't telling as she recounted her life story. She was keeping all those details that had nothing to do with Hutu and Tutsi to herself.

Later, I met Odette several times at parties. She and her husband were very sociable and understandably popular. Together, they ran a private maternity and pediatrics practice called the Good Samaritan Clinic. They were known as excellent doctors and fun people, warm, vivacious, and good-humored. They had a charmingly affectionate ease with each other, and it was clear that they were living full and engaging lives.

But when we met in the garden of the Cercle Sportif, Odette spoke as a genocide survivor to a foreign correspondent. Her focus was on the threat of annihilation, and any moments of reprieve in her story, like fond memories, funny anecdotes, or sparks of wit, came only in quick flashes, like punctuation marks.

This made perfect sense to me. We are all shaped by how we imagine ourselves and how others imagine us. Looking back, there are these distinct tracks of memory. There are the times when our lives are most sharply defined in relation to others' ideas of us, and then there are the more private times when we are freer to imagine ourselves.

My own parents and grandparents came to the United States as refugees from Nazism. They had stories similar to Odette's, of being hunted because of who they were or what they believed. Near the end of their lives, both my paternal grandmother and my maternal grandfather wrote their memoirs, and both ended their accounts right in the middle of their lives, with a full stop at the moment they arrived in America. I don't know why they stopped there. Maybe nothing that came afterward ever made them feel so vividly alive.

But listening to Odette, it occurred to me that if others have so often made your life their business, then perhaps you will want to protect the memory of those times when you were freer to imagine yourself as the only truly and inviolably your own.

It was the same with nearly all the Tutsi survivors I met in Rwanda. When I asked for stories of how they had lived during the long periods between bouts of violence, the answer was always vague: in normal times we lived normally. After a while, I stopped asking because the question seemed pointless and perhaps even cruel.

On the other hand, I found that Hutus often volunteered their memories of life's daily dramas before the genocide, and these stories were, as the Tutsi survivors had said, normal. They were just variations, in a Rwandan context, of stories you might hear anywhere.

So remembering has its own economy, just like experience itself. And when Odette mentioned the professor's hand on her bottom and grinned, I saw that she had forgotten that economy and strayed in her memories. And I think we were both glad of it. A professor had misjudged her, and she had expected more restraint from a married man and her teacher. They had each other wrong. But in life, people have the strangest notions as they interact with each other. And in the "good years" and the "normal times," that's not the end of the world.

5 stars

My dislike of this book truly places me in the minority.

In fact, I seem to be the first person on Goodreads to rate it less than three stars.

Gourevitch writes about the genocide that took place in Rwanda and Zaire in the mid-1990s, both as it was happening and afterwards.

I thought Gourevitch demonstrated a talent for powerful writing and'storytelling' (for lack of a better term).

I also liked reading about a conflict and a place that I knew very little about.

Finally, I appreciated the philosophical ideas raised in the book regarding law, recrimination, and genocide.

But at the end of the day, I did not enjoy three-fourths of this book, and I believe that is because Gourevitch covered far too much with far too little backstory.

In my opinion, this is almost an academic book for those already familiar with the conflict or the region.

It goes beyond simply describing the conflict and delves into deeper questions about its implications.

In doing so, he skims over much of the backstory and writes about ideas and people that only an audience already educated on the subject can engage with.

Having zero background on Rwanda and not being a scholar of conflict studies, I really felt frustrated and lost interest.

For example, he starts the book with the genocide by the Hutu power movement but then quickly switches gears to the Hutus being in refugee camps to discuss the implications of that.

I was so confused as to how or when they ended up there and would have liked that backstory before proceeding to the implications of this.

Overall, while there were aspects of the book that I liked, the lack of sufficient backstory made it a difficult read for me.

This book is possibly one of the best I've read on Rwanda. It is horribly depressing, yet horribly great.

It is an absolutely wonderful work. I rank it second only to "The Age of Genocide" by Samantha Power. That book is possibly the ultimate work on genocide due to its breadth, scope, and wonderful history.

However, this book about Rwanda is perhaps the best one I've read. I have read it again and again.

The author has done an excellent job of presenting the complex and tragic events that took place in Rwanda. The details are vivid and engaging, making it a must-read for anyone interested in learning about this important topic.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a powerful and thought-provoking read on Rwanda.