Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence
I'm reviewing this for The Dreamcage so I'll put my review in here when it has gone up.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Not nearly as powerful as Cockroaches. Mukasonga chooses her mother as this memoir's focal point, and, in some moments, that works wonderfully and evocatively, but, in many others, it becomes less about her mother and more so the everyday practices and rituals of Tutsi life in exile. This causes this book to feel more like a supplemental epilogue to Cockroaches for those readers who seek more anthropological information about Tutsi life rather than the narrative memoir style of Mukasonga's debut. While I recognize that this way of life has been eradicated, and, as such, it's recording is a necessary means of memorializing a lost culture, it had tendency to bore instead of excite.
Still some beautiful prose though (from the prologue):
"Mama, I wasn’t there to cover your body, and all I have left is words – words in a language you didn’t understand – to do as you asked. And I’m all alone with my feeble words, and on the pages of my notebook, over and over, my sentences weave a shroud for your missing body."
Still some beautiful prose though (from the prologue):
"Mama, I wasn’t there to cover your body, and all I have left is words – words in a language you didn’t understand – to do as you asked. And I’m all alone with my feeble words, and on the pages of my notebook, over and over, my sentences weave a shroud for your missing body."
challenging
informative
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced