| View Larger Image | We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda | Paperbackby Philip Gourevitch (Author)
| List Price: | $15.00 | | Price: | $10.20 | | You Save: | $4.80 (32%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Picador | | Page Count: | 356 Pages | | Publication Date: | September 01, 1999 | | Sales Rank: | 13,313th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780312243357
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.In April 1994, the Rwandan government called upon everyone in the Hutu majority to kill each member of the Tutsi minority, and over the next three months 800,000 Tutsis perished in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the war in Rwanda, a vivid history of the tragedy's background, and an unforgettable account of its aftermath. One of the most acclaimed books of the year, this account will endure as a chilling document of our time. |
Amazon.com Review
"Hutus kill Tutsis, then Tutsis kill Hutus--if that's really all there is to it, then no wonder we can't be bothered with it," Philip Gourevitch writes, imagining the response of somebody in a country far from the ethnic strife and mass killings of Rwanda. But the situation is not so simple, and in this complex and wrenching book, he explains why the Rwandan genocide should not be written off as just another tribal dispute. The "stories" in this book's subtitle are both the author's, as he repeatedly visits this tiny country in an attempt to make sense of what has happened, and those of the people he interviews. These include a Tutsi doctor who has seen much of her family killed over decades of Tutsi oppression, a Schindleresque hotel manager who hid hundreds of refugees from certain death, and a Rwandan bishop who has been accused of supporting the slaughter of Tutsi schoolchildren, and can only answer these charges by saying, "What could I do?" Gourevitch, a staff writer for the New Yorker, describes Rwanda's history with remarkable clarity and documents the experience of tragedy with a sober grace. The reader will ask along with the author: Why does this happen? And why don't we bother to stop it? --Maria Dolan |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 228 reviews)
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The book to read if you're reading only one by Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States)  5 Stars
November 25, 2009
To many Americans, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 came out of nowhere -- one more of those incomprehensible "tribal" conflicts that Africa is known for in the popular imagination. But the genocide had many and tangled roots -- ethnic, colonial and religious. Through a series of in-depth essays and interviews with participants, Philip Gourevitch lays out the whole sorry mess. We meet the Hutu head pastor who many say oversaw the slaughter of his Tutsi sub-pastors and their flocks. We experience the longstanding government sponsored hate radio that fired up simmering ethnic hatreds and announced the start of the genocide. We feel the terror of Tutsi families fleeing the "genocidaires" or facing them -- their neighbors and friends -- as they threw the grenades and swung the machetes that ended their lives. Through the book, we get a sense of the story behind the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by Paul Kagame, now Rwanda's president. The RPF are about the only good guys in the story, a fairly disciplined Tutsi army in exile fighting to protect its own. Damningly, we also see the impotent reactions of the US and UN as they pulled away from the genocide, letting it run its course. Then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright does not come off well in these accounts. Nor does US President Bill Clinton. Nor does Kofi Annan, then in charge of UN Peacekeeping Operations. All refused to acknowledge the genocide, or (in Annan's case) actually played into the hands of the murderous government in Kigali. Gourevitch also records the horrifying state of post-genocide UN refugees camps -- full of Hutus fleeing Tutsi retribution as well as well-armed, fanatical genocidaires. There are no easy answers to demobilizing an armed population after an event of that magnitude and ferocity. Importantly, Gourevitch provides details about Rwandan history for the last couple of hundred years, to and neyond the time of European colonial misrule that planted the seeds of the recent conflict.
I was especially interested in parallels between the misuse of media in Rwanda and the recent US tendency to air hateful and divisive views. The Rwandans had the explicit goal of stirring up hatred to facilitate the coming genocide, and the US example seems mostly ratings- and profit-oriented. But tweak the realities a little and our own "civilized" hearts could rise to the level of widespread madness and murder that occurred in Rwanda, and before that in Europe and many other places in the world. Primate DNA + cultural license can lead to many horrifying results.
There are many books about the Rwanda genocide, but this is the best at describing the actions of so many of the actors. If you only plan to read one book about Rwanda, let it be this one. Gourevitch has shined a welcome light on the seemingly irrational actions of those in "darkest" Africa.
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outstanding reading by L. Holtz (seattle) 5 Stars
November 10, 2009
I was late to read this book on Rwanda, having read many others first.
This one is written so beautifully that you enjoy reading sentences
just because of the way they are put together.
I will look for anything else written by this author now just because
of his gift for writing.
After that, this is the best book I have read on Rwanda and the most
comprehensive.
I didn't find it to be stories so much as the written result of his
post-genocide investigation.
I am completing this book now and am grateful that this author chose
to share his gift with us all.
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Ominous Title, Important Subject, Excellent Book by Little Me (Katy Texas USA) 5 Stars
September 23, 2009
You will have a remarkably better understanding of the Rwandan genocide after you read this book. Gourevitch has done humanity a great service with this fine piece of investigative journalism. The book could have been called "The Slaughter: 100 Days of Hutu Power", but it goes beyond the killing. It successfully puts the puzzle together by looking at the ignition points, outlining the historical context of Rwandan society, debunking the misconceptions, and fingering the enablers. The book also explains various mopping-up efforts and events in the aftermath of genocide, and illuminates the subsequent (and still significant) situation across the border in the eastern Congo.
The abatement of genocide, its causes and consequences, and finding justice afterwards continues to humble the better angels of humankind. Like Bosnia and Darfur, Rwanda illustrates the abysmal results of misguided policies and half-hearted efforts put forth by powerful nations (like the US and France) and international organizations (like the UN). The subject is enormous and will probably surface again in our ever more crowded and cranky world. If we could only nip it in the bud. If not, we will ultimately come face to face with the gruesome monster again.
If you are interested in this horrific subject, I also suggest reading these books:
The impotent UN: Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda
Treatise on genocide: A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (P.S.)
Bosnia torn apart: Love Thy Neighbor: A Story of War
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"power largely consists in the ability to make others inhabit your story of their reality" by C. Gilbert (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 5 Stars
August 22, 2009
Very difficult book to review, at least for me. Difficult subject. Gourevitch keeps an excellent balance between the personal stories and the political context of the Rwandan massacre. He provides sympathetic and balanced commentary as to the root causes-- unpeeling them like an onion rather than pointing fingers.
Can you say well done about a book like this? Important to read, in any case. The world failed once as a witness. Read as a companion to The Key to My Neighbor's House.
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A heart wrenching account by Jane N. Kambalame (Washington, DC) 5 Stars
July 29, 2009
The first time I saw this book, I was so lazy to pick it up because I thought it was too long. Fortunately, I came across an audio version in my local library. This is the best account of events in Rwanda on issues surrounding the genocide. There have been stories written about personal experiences which I have read but nothing beats Gourevitch's description of events in the country.
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