This is not an easy book to read.

But Gourevitch takes a tragedy that the vast majority of the world knows very little about - the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis in 1994 - and he delves into it thoroughly, humanizing it along the way.

This is indeed a story about genocide, about war and politics. However, it is more importantly a story about the people who endured the horror of genocide and those who lost their lives.

Gourevitch seems to talk to anyone willing to share their story: survivors of the genocide, military officials, humanitarian aid workers, politicians, and even accused and confessed murderers. He attempts to make sense of how such a large-scale atrocity could occur and how it could be so easily overlooked by the rest of the world.

He condemns the UN and Western nations rather severely, but long before you reach the end of the book, you are convinced that they deserve every bit of condemnation he gives them and more for their failure to intervene in one of the most devastating human tragedies of the 20th century.

This is not a book that can (or should) be read hastily. It is terrifying, educational, mind-boggling, gripping, infuriating, and above all,极其悲伤. It also offers a fascinating look into a darker side of humanity - not only those who committed the genocide but also those who, through inaction, allowed it to happen.

It is important, well worth reading, and highly recommended.

This was truly fantastic.

It was a remarkable blending of superb writing and outstanding journalistic skills, which managed to tell both the individual and national stories of the Rwandan genocide with great vividness and detail.

As I was reading, I found myself constantly marking sections in my book that I wanted to quote from. However, in the end, I had marked more than 20 passages, such was the wealth of valuable information and powerful accounts within the text.

The book answered all of my own questions regarding how the genocide happened, why international governments or agencies failed to step in and provide assistance in a timely manner, and what took place in the aftermath.

It is truly essential reading for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of this tragic event and its far-reaching implications.

Highly recommended.

Decimation refers to the act of killing every tenth person within a population.

In the spring and early summer of 1994, a heinous program of massacres took place in the Republic of Rwanda, which led to decimation on a large scale.

The means of killing were rather low-tech, mainly carried out with machetes. However, it was executed at an astonishingly fast pace.

Out of an original population of approximately seven and a half million, at least eight hundred thousand people lost their lives in just a hundred days.

Rwandans frequently mention a figure of one million deaths, and they might very well be accurate.

The rate at which the dead accumulated in Rwanda was nearly three times that of the Jewish dead during the Holocaust.

This tragic event stands as the most efficient mass killing since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It is a dark chapter in human history that should never be forgotten.

In this work,

Philip Gourevitch uncovers the terrifying reality of the genocide in

Ruanda between the Hutus and Tutsis, a historical atrocity so brutally efficient that it decimated almost one million lives in just one hundred days.

Gourevitch masterfully weaves together first-hand accounts of survivors with a sharp political analysis, creating a vivid and harrowing portrait of a society torn apart by ethnic hatred, international indifference, and the dark complexities of human nature. This disturbing exploration not only serves as a moving testimony to the resilience of those who endured unimaginable suffering but also raises vital and disturbing questions about our collective guilt and the moral imperatives of bearing witness to the darkest hours of humanity.

Immersing oneself in these pages is to face the painful truths and profound lessons that emerge from the ashes of the Rwandan tragedy, and to challenge our faith in justice, memory, and the world's response to evil.

The book is almost written like journalistic chronicles, with very colorful characters interspersed on both sides. It is not an easy read, and it hardly explains what triggered this massacre. At times it becomes very repetitive and lacks rhythm. Moreover, as you progress through the reading, it is advisable to supplement its pages with newspaper news from that time, as the historical event catches me very far away and with almost no knowledge.

Although it is not a masterpiece of narrative literature, it has managed to convey to me and stir my guts on certain occasions about how

the West acted regarding this event, or the cruelty of human nature. For all these reasons, I give it between 3.5 and 4 stars.

Well-reported and moving, this account by Gourevitch is truly remarkable.

He largely attributes the tragedy to the inaction of the international community and its subsequent support of Hutu-run militarized refugee camps after the genocide. Written in 1999, it serves as a time capsule of thoughts on the conflict, which, however, also presents a limitation of the book.

Paul Kagame, portrayed here as a reformist VP, is now the president and has become a much more complex and ambivalent figure in the eyes of the international community. This is due to suspect elections, increased domestic repression, and suspected involvement in high-profile political assassinations. A new book in 2021 by Michela Wrong attempts to correct the generally positive pro-Kagame sentiment and further complicates the issue by, as critics claim, taking a both-sides approach to the genocide.

Obviously, one cannot determine how political developments have progressed from a single book almost a quarter century ago. So, I delved deeper and discovered that opinions on Rwanda today are widely divided, mainly between the Francophone and Anglophone spheres. Even once-heroic figures like Paul Rusesabagina have been accused of terrorism and espionage by Kagame.

I turned to Twitter to see what Gourevitch thinks today. He seems to believe Kagame's claims regarding Rusesabagina's alleged crimes and has long-standing feuds with voices critical of Kagame. There is also a very active Rwandan Twitter community with various factions and despised characters within it, which I spent an evening exploring. For example, a recent anti-Kagame op-ed in the NYT faced significant pushback.

It appears that the best course of action is to seek out more recent writing on Rwanda and understand where those voices position themselves.

I do believe this book is useful as a primer on the genocide, but I will also look for

1) primary sources that center on Rwandans!

2) more recent long-form reporting and analysis.

Wow.

While I am reluctant to claim that I "enjoyed" a book about genocide, I must admit that this is one of the most captivating books I have read in a long while.

It is difficult to determine which is more terrifying - the genocide itself or the astonishing indifference (and in some cases, complacency) with which the international community reacted.

Every chapter contains at least one section that made me exclaim, "I'm sorry, WHAT??" and reread it repeatedly out of pure dismay and astonishment.

It is alarming to think that in the post-Holocaust era, the phrase "Never again" failed to impel the United States to take more decisive action to halt the massacre in Rwanda.

Even more difficult to come to terms with is the fact that all of this was unfolding during my lifetime, and I was completely unaware of it as it was happening.

In my pursuit of knowledge and awareness, this book has provided me with a fascinating foundation upon which to conduct further research.

Phillip writes passionately, vividly, and with a great deal of empathy, which is perhaps the most important thing when dealing with such topics. This book, unlike most others, I couldn't read in one go. There were too many shouts of "what?" and "how?" There was too much frustrated closing of the Kindle, angry stomping off to another room, and unsuccessful attempts to describe to my partner what I had just read.

It's brilliant.

The detailed and engaging writing style of Phillip makes this book a truly captivating read. Each page seems to unfold a new mystery or a thought-provoking idea that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The use of strong emotions and the inability to simply breeze through the book in one sitting only add to its allure. It forces the reader to stop, think, and really absorb the content.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring complex themes with a fresh and engaging perspective. It challenges the reader's preconceptions and leaves them with a newfound appreciation for the power of good writing.

Much like The Rape of Nanking, there is an element of morbid fascination in learning about a massacre. Gourevitch himself appears to be aware of this when he states:

I assume that you are reading this because you want a closer look, and that you, too, are appropriately troubled by your curiosity. Perhaps, in examining this extremity with me, you hope for some understanding, some insight, some glimmer of self-knowledge -- a moral, or a lesson, or a clue about how to behave in this world; some such information. I don't rule out the possibility, but when it comes to genocide, you already know right from wrong. The best reason I have come up with for closely examining Rwanda's stories is that ignoring them makes me even more uncomfortable about existence and my place in it.

Phillip's writing is precise, and although often objective and fact-based, you can sense the anger at the injustice simmering beneath the words. I experienced a lingering distaste at many points in the book, reflecting on the futility of the actions taken, the helplessness of the victims, and the remorselessness of the perpetrators. This reminded me of the feelings I had when learning about the Japanese cover-up of Nanking in school textbooks, the excellent documentaries about Indonesian kill squads in "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence", and, to a lesser extent (perhaps due to extensive exposure in popular media and the sense of justice that one feels was achieved), Auschwitz.

My plan from here is to perhaps watch "Hotel Rwanda" again, but also to watch "Kinyarwanda" (2011) and "Munyurangabo" (2007) to see with my own eyes and gain a bit more understanding.

After every genocide, the international community bands together and screams "never again" repeatedly.

From the Armenian genocide to the holocaust, we see the writing in the sand yet we do nothing to stop it. The world seems to turn a blind eye until it's too late.

The Rwanda genocide, unfortunately, does not get as much attention as the holocaust. This is partly due to the sentiment: "Africans are always killing each other." Such a generalization is not only unfair but also masks the true complexity of the situation.

This book sheds light on the historical context of the genocide and how extremists used the culture of obedience and high poverty rates to pit neighbor against neighbor. It reveals the underlying factors that led to this tragic event.

Gourevitch shows how complex the situation is and acknowledges the stories of the survivors and the perpetrators. By doing so, he helps us to understand the human side of the genocide and the impact it had on the people of Rwanda.

Gourevitch has also helped to shed light on Rwanda as a country and Africa as a continent. He challenges the negative stereotypes and shows the world that Africa is a place of great beauty and diversity.

Hopefully, people will read this book and will be able to dispel the notion that "Africans are savages." We need to look beyond the headlines and understand the true nature of the events that took place in Rwanda. Only then can we truly say "never again."

The human being is truly a piece of trash and those who decide are just a damn cancer.

This is an extremely tough and shameful book. It makes one reflect on the darker aspects of humanity. The author's words cut deep, revealing the harsh reality that sometimes we are not as noble and kind as we pretend to be.

The description of the human condition as "trash" and the comparison to "cancer" is a powerful and disturbing metaphor. It forces us to face the fact that our actions and decisions can have a profound and negative impact on the world around us.

Despite its harshness, this book also has the potential to inspire change. By confronting the truth about ourselves, we can begin to take steps to improve and become better people. It is a wake-up call that we cannot afford to ignore.

The West's post-Holocaust pledge that genocide would never again be tolerated proved to be hollow.

Despite all the fine sentiments inspired by the memory of Auschwitz, the problem persists.

Denouncing evil is a far cry from actually doing good.

This book provides a profound and personal perspective on the Rwandan genocide and the numerous failures of the international community.

The personal accounts shared by Gourevitch vividly illustrate the brutally violent aspects of the genocide and the consequences of repatriating those who actively participated in the systematic killings of Tutsis.

I initially picked up this book with the intention of acquiring some general historical knowledge, but I am now departing with much more than that.

It has opened my eyes to the true horror and complexity of the situation, and has made me question the effectiveness of our collective efforts to prevent such atrocities from occurring again.

It serves as a powerful reminder that we must do more than simply condemn evil; we must take active steps to promote peace, justice, and equality in the world.

It's truly a challenging task to assign a rating to a book of this nature.

The writing is of remarkable quality, filled with丰富的 information. However, it delves into such a dark and depressing subject matter that at times, it becomes extremely difficult to persevere.

The account of the events that unfolded in Rwanda during the 1990s, encompassing genocide and politics, is of utmost significance. I am deeply grateful to the writer for taking the time to conduct interviews with numerous individuals involved, which has enabled the creation of this book.

I found Gourevitch's comparison of modern central Africa to late medieval Europe, in the absence of the channels provided by colonialism, to be both fascinating and highly appropriate, as far as I can discern.

One day, I would very much like to witness central Africa with my own eyes and gain a first-hand understanding of its complex history and现状.