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ricksilva's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Immaculée Ilibagiza gives her harrowing account of surviving the Rwandan genocide of 1994. This wasn't an area of history that I knew much about, and although the author chooses to focus on the personal aspects of the story, she still does an excellent job of setting the stage and giving sufficient background for me to get an idea of the historical context.
The story itself is intense, as the author describes her time hiding in a tiny cramped room while mass-murderers repeatedly searched for her and the other Tutsi women who had joined her in seeking refuge under the protection of a local pastor. There is no shying away from the horrors unfolding around their refuge, sometimes happening at their very doorstep.
While the author, a devout Catholic, is clear in crediting her faith in getting her through the horrors of the killings, as well as helping her to find inner peace and a life beyond the war, her voice never comes off as preachy. She takes comfort in her own path, and works through the process of survival, grief, and finally forgiveness.
This is a powerful piece of writing on an important and dark chapter of history.
The story itself is intense, as the author describes her time hiding in a tiny cramped room while mass-murderers repeatedly searched for her and the other Tutsi women who had joined her in seeking refuge under the protection of a local pastor. There is no shying away from the horrors unfolding around their refuge, sometimes happening at their very doorstep.
While the author, a devout Catholic, is clear in crediting her faith in getting her through the horrors of the killings, as well as helping her to find inner peace and a life beyond the war, her voice never comes off as preachy. She takes comfort in her own path, and works through the process of survival, grief, and finally forgiveness.
This is a powerful piece of writing on an important and dark chapter of history.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Genocide, Death, Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Rape
angelamichelle's review
4.0
Not a literary masterpiece, but a unique look at how to create a relationship with God. I've haven't stopped thinking about it. I think it has changed my own prayers and ways of thinking about God. I reviewed it on my blog: http://presseddownandshakentogether.blogspot.com/2008/11/left-to-tell-discovering-god-amidst.html
kanejim57's review against another edition
5.0
"How many years - how many generations - would it take before Rwanda could recover from such horror? How long for our wounded hearts to heal, for our hardened hearts to soften?... In order to help heal others, as I knew God wanted me to, I needed the perspective that only space and time could provide. I had to first heal myself to be able to assist the others:..."
This book left me both breathless and tearful. It is an amazing story of an amazing woman, who survived for 91 days in a small bathroom with seven other women to escape the brutality of a Holocaust in 1994 Rwanda.
It is a story about faith, and the intense description of the embracing and use of that faith when the voices of hate, rage, and fear were driving her toward despair and hopelessness.
It is a story about determination that sets her on a course toward healing and marking a path in which she seeks to be a change agent of hope and reconcilation.
Immaculee Ilibagiza's story is gripping and well written and what strikes me is her deep Christian faith and deep determination to not let rage and vengence win in the fate of brute evil.
You will find this book intense and emotion and description. But you will also find in this book a hope that is bound up in a faith that is embraced, tested and refined in the darkest moments of one woman's life.
I give this book a strong 5. It is a great read and one that you should read.
I believe that this book would be a valuable book for reading in classes on African History, philosophy, relgion, psychology, and ministerial training. I think that High School seniors and up would find this book a challenging and important read.
I am glad I read it.
Note: I read this book on my iPad with my Nook app and bought it for my Nook library.
This book left me both breathless and tearful. It is an amazing story of an amazing woman, who survived for 91 days in a small bathroom with seven other women to escape the brutality of a Holocaust in 1994 Rwanda.
It is a story about faith, and the intense description of the embracing and use of that faith when the voices of hate, rage, and fear were driving her toward despair and hopelessness.
It is a story about determination that sets her on a course toward healing and marking a path in which she seeks to be a change agent of hope and reconcilation.
Immaculee Ilibagiza's story is gripping and well written and what strikes me is her deep Christian faith and deep determination to not let rage and vengence win in the fate of brute evil.
You will find this book intense and emotion and description. But you will also find in this book a hope that is bound up in a faith that is embraced, tested and refined in the darkest moments of one woman's life.
I give this book a strong 5. It is a great read and one that you should read.
I believe that this book would be a valuable book for reading in classes on African History, philosophy, relgion, psychology, and ministerial training. I think that High School seniors and up would find this book a challenging and important read.
I am glad I read it.
Note: I read this book on my iPad with my Nook app and bought it for my Nook library.
kanejim57's review
5.0
"How many years - how many generations - would it take before Rwanda could recover from such horror? How long for our wounded hearts to heal, for our hardened hearts to soften?... In order to help heal others, as I knew God wanted me to, I needed the perspective that only space and time could provide. I had to first heal myself to be able to assist the others:..."
This book left me both breathless and tearful. It is an amazing story of an amazing woman, who survived for 91 days in a small bathroom with seven other women to escape the brutality of a Holocaust in 1994 Rwanda.
It is a story about faith, and the intense description of the embracing and use of that faith when the voices of hate, rage, and fear were driving her toward despair and hopelessness.
It is a story about determination that sets her on a course toward healing and marking a path in which she seeks to be a change agent of hope and reconcilation.
Immaculee Ilibagiza's story is gripping and well written and what strikes me is her deep Christian faith and deep determination to not let rage and vengence win in the fate of brute evil.
You will find this book intense and emotion and description. But you will also find in this book a hope that is bound up in a faith that is embraced, tested and refined in the darkest moments of one woman's life.
I give this book a strong 5. It is a great read and one that you should read.
I believe that this book would be a valuable book for reading in classes on African History, philosophy, relgion, psychology, and ministerial training. I think that High School seniors and up would find this book a challenging and important read.
I am glad I read it.
Note: I read this book on my iPad with my Nook app and bought it for my Nook library.
This book left me both breathless and tearful. It is an amazing story of an amazing woman, who survived for 91 days in a small bathroom with seven other women to escape the brutality of a Holocaust in 1994 Rwanda.
It is a story about faith, and the intense description of the embracing and use of that faith when the voices of hate, rage, and fear were driving her toward despair and hopelessness.
It is a story about determination that sets her on a course toward healing and marking a path in which she seeks to be a change agent of hope and reconcilation.
Immaculee Ilibagiza's story is gripping and well written and what strikes me is her deep Christian faith and deep determination to not let rage and vengence win in the fate of brute evil.
You will find this book intense and emotion and description. But you will also find in this book a hope that is bound up in a faith that is embraced, tested and refined in the darkest moments of one woman's life.
I give this book a strong 5. It is a great read and one that you should read.
I believe that this book would be a valuable book for reading in classes on African History, philosophy, relgion, psychology, and ministerial training. I think that High School seniors and up would find this book a challenging and important read.
I am glad I read it.
Note: I read this book on my iPad with my Nook app and bought it for my Nook library.
meme_too2's review
5.0
This was an amazing description of what happened in Rwanda. I admire these strong people who come out of such horrors. Everyone should read books like this, so we can know what is happening and help wherever possible.