| View Larger Image | Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak | Paperbackby Jean Hatzfeld (Author), Linda Coverdale (Translator), Susan Sontag (Translator)
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| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Picador | | Page Count: | 272 Pages | | Publication Date: | April 18, 2006 | | Sales Rank: | 54,109th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780312425036
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
During the spring of 1994, in a tiny country called Rwanda, some 800,000 people were hacked to death, one by one, by their neighbors in a gruesome civil war. Several years later, journalist Jean Hatzfeld traveled to Rwanda to interview ten participants in the killings, eliciting extraordinary testimony from these men about the genocide they perpetrated. As Susan Sontag wrote in the preface, Machete Season is a document that "everyone should read . . . [because making] the effort to understand what happened in Rwanda . . . is part of being a moral adult." |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 19 reviews)
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A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW by JUDITH A. CHIDESTER (New Mexico, USA)  3 Stars
December 07, 2008
Having lived in Rwanda for four years during the peaceful days, I am always interested in any writings on this. I have read Bob Gribbin's book about the period after the genocide and found it full of substance and information. I find this book of interviews (double-spaced and in larger print) easy to read and interesting. I don't know how much the normal reader would glean of the mentality of the Rwandan people or their lives from this.
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Machete Season by Aaron Baker Cole  4 Stars
August 05, 2008
Hatzfeld's book is a welcome addition to the published works on the subject of the Rwandan genocide. It would have benefitted by Hatzfeld making use of his access to the prisoners by actually asking probing questions, but such was not his method. A brief histoty of European influence on Rwanda and it's native peoples would also have been welcome, although from my reading neither this information nor any other lends a believable explanation for the Rwandan genocidal chaos of 1994.
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Brilliant by B. Mandel (DC)  5 Stars
July 06, 2008
I love the way the book was presented (a stylistic choice suitable to the topic and not at all structurally flawed as another reviewer suggests).
If you are expecting to come away with some definitive answers about the genocide... think again, as it is not the purpose of this book. The beauty of this book is that is illuminating, but somewhat open. Hatzfeld does not spoon feed the reader and he keeps the book's focus on the voices of the men he interviewed. There is a rawness about the process of human self-reflection and this book captures it, laying bare the truths and lies people tell themselves while recounting their role in the past. The human psyche is fascinating, and what people choose to share is as interesting as what we see them refuse to share. For example, some passages reveal a shocking frankness -sometimes as much a shock to the speaker as the reader. Yet, some passages reveal a distance, a cold detachedness... a refusal or incapability of the soul to either publicly or privately connect and unburden. All this said, Hatzfeld acknowledges that beyond inner turmoil, legal and other reprecussions influence what is shared and what is not.
This is a MUST READ for those who study genocide and mass violence. It is recommended for all interested others who have the maturity, respect, and the stomach to handle it.
For those not familiar with the Rwandan genocide: If you are looking for an excellent book that will help you understand a little something about what happened and why see "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch. Read Gourevitch first and Hatzfeld's book afterward. You can't understand and fully appreciate this book properly -and its significant contribution -unless you have some background knowledge of the genocide.
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The Murderers Speak by Michael L. Slavin (New Jersey) 4 Stars
March 17, 2008
The author interviewed in prison a group of friends,a seemingly ordinary crosssection of Rawandan Hutu farmers, who willingly and enthusiastically participated in the brutal extermination of their Tutsi neighbors. The book draws parallels with previous genocides such as perpetuated by the Nazi's and others thruout history. The killers seemed to look upon the massacres as pretty much of a job. With an added benefit often of rape and plunder. An incredibly disturbing, but true story. An interesting sidenote was the significant role played by radio broadcasts in inciting the mobs. Also, how The Church and U.N. and the rest of the world pretty much left the victims to their fates. Amazing as it may seem there were virtually no instances in which Hutus tried to save Tutsis who had been former friends. This whole dark blot on history must not be forgotten.
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500,000 not 50,000 by Bio Bettie (Göteborg, Sweden) 4 Stars
March 15, 2008
There's a blazing typo in the editorial Booklist review. Approximately 500,000 to over 1,000,000 human beings, not the stated 50,000, were murdered in the Rwandan massacre.
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