You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
651 reviews for:
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Philip Gourevitch
4.33 AVERAGE
651 reviews for:
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
Philip Gourevitch
4.33 AVERAGE
The only thing that might be a greater disappointment and horror than the brutal genocide itself in Rwanda during 1994 was the botched and fumbled international response to those very victims in need. A harrowing story brought to light in beautiful and direct writing.
I don’t know how to tell someone how to prepare for the emotional toll this read will probably take. That being said, I think it is an important and educational read. We hear not only stories from those in Rwanda but also his personal struggles with facing this as an outsider. The Rwandan genocide was something I’ve heard about before but not in this gruesome and heartbreaking detail. He talks to survivors and killers alike and we hear how they both try to come to terms with what happened. Asking the survivors to just go back and live like nothing was wrong was especially difficult to read, multiple stories mention how the survivor is now forced to live in close proximity with someone who killed their family and quite literally ruined their life. We hear about how the killers encouraged group participation so everyone would be guilty and then were able to deny culpability by claiming to be following the rules. Honestly, its an easy book that will make you loose faith in humanity. Would def encourage breaks throughout, I personally believe the least I can do is acknowledge these stories but they take their toll.
Very very well done, but I’d like to go back and reread it in hard copy (vs audiobook.) so many characters and places that it would be easier to see it (and probably take notes.) But it was well-researched, well-written, and completely heart-wrenching.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
I will commend Philip for not making a spectacle out of the tragedy and delving into gory details just for the sake of satisfying the reader's morbid curiosity, focusing instead on events leading up to, and the impact of, the genocide. The criticism of the involvement of 'The West' in Central African politics, and their direct support for the Hutu Power movement that lead to the genocide in Rwanda, were particularly interesting to read about.
That being said, the interviews don't flow well and are repetitive. I found it quite hard to follow or even be interested in a large chunk of the interviews, as they were often dull and disjointed monologues. Philip's philosophical musings were also out of place, and ultimately I think his lack of experience with Rwanda prior or even during the genocide make this for a disappointing read.
That being said, the interviews don't flow well and are repetitive. I found it quite hard to follow or even be interested in a large chunk of the interviews, as they were often dull and disjointed monologues. Philip's philosophical musings were also out of place, and ultimately I think his lack of experience with Rwanda prior or even during the genocide make this for a disappointing read.
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Important and well-written book that everyone learning about genocide should read. A scathing and just critique of foreign aid and the outcomes of international intervention in complex conflicts that is a good reminder in our current age of the political nature of intervention.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
An absolute kick to the gut as it should be. Direct, visceral, and painfully matter-of-fact. No book makes me hate or fear people more. I think that's a good thing.
Written without empathy or any desire to elucidate. Gourevitch is more interested in putting himself in the centre of the story, and for that reason alone, he can shove it up his ass.
Every non-ignorant person must have heard about Rwandan genocide. It is very recent, 1994, the Internet had already existed (albeit very much in its infancy). We knew around eight hundred thousand to a million people were butchered (most by machetes) in a span of a hundred days (a killing rate more efficient than the Jewish extermination by the Nazis). But how many of us understands what really happened? It happened at a 'distant' Africa, even more remote Rwanda (which most people – myself included – would not know where this tiny country is if not for this tragic history), and people often simplified matters in their head – it's just extreme racism where an ethnic majority killed the ethnic minority. And when it's finally over, everyone should just move on, bring the genocide participants to justice, and build back the nation.
What happened there was gruesome and unimaginable. One question I could not get out of my head: Which one is worse – to kill, or to be killed?
Strictly speaking, this dilemma is only for the ethnic majority Hutus, and I cannot even comprehend the psychological terror the Tutsis faced, let alone the pain and death. (Death by bullet was even a luxury and people paid good money for it.)
The heroism depicted in such trying times is truly awe-inspiring. From Paul Rusesabagina (potrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda), who always laughed when he refused to cave in to the soldiers demands while offering them alcohol, down to the small heroes who risked their lives upholding their principles not to murder. Even smaller 'heroes' who killed some so that they'll not be suspicious when they're hiding some in their homes.
The first-half of this book describes the genocide, and the latter half on its aftermath, the 'refugee' camps, and how it precipitated the First Congo War. How the international communities were almost equally responsible for the genocide and the conflicts that pursued, not only for our refusal to prevent it, but also by feeding it. The humanitarian aids to the 'refugee' camps were actually empowering and arming the génocidaires, and the innocent refugees were not so much refugees, they were more of hostages, of human shield to the génocidaires. But the humanitarian aids are supposed not to be partisan, must not choose sides in this political conflict, they can only provide food and shelter. But as the book mentioned about humanitarian aid and relief,
A good, commanding book on this topic. If I had any recommendation to improve, first, to sound less partial or biased. The author speaks rather too favourably towards General Kagame, leader of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the rebel movement who tookover the capital Kigali and brought the end of the 100-day genocide. I myself seemed to agree a lot with Kagame's thinking, but the book sounds a little one-sided when he is overwhelmingly more quoted than the other side of the story. Second, the book is completed in 1998, and since then, the First Congo War had precipitated the Second Congo War. The book could update, even if only one chapter, how the genocide aftermath had fared beyond the first four years. The author also had considerable philosophical rants, but still bearable. But those are not the reason why it is not five stars – the reason it is only four stars is I find it rather tedious to finish this book. Don't get me wrong, the book is well-written, very chronological, easy to follow, easy to understand and comprehend, but because of that, the climax is somewhere in the middle (I myself am not very sure where is the climax, is it the genocide itself, or RPF capturing Kigali hence ending the genocide?), and the plot flattens out through the aftermath. It is not easy to write a non-fiction with an exciting climatic plot, but I've read a few before, but I'm not a writer, I don't know how to recommend this book to be.
---
On 26 April 1993 the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was opened to the public, dedicated to prevent genocide. In less than a year, the world witnessed a real genocide. The tagline "Never again" is merely a hope, it can very much happen again. But will we be strong enough to intervene, or will we just watch just like we did back then?
What happened there was gruesome and unimaginable. One question I could not get out of my head: Which one is worse – to kill, or to be killed?
"But let's say someone is reluctant. Say that guy comes with a stick. They tell him, 'No, get a masu (a club studded with nails).' So, OK, he does, and he runs along with the rest, but he doesn't kill. They say, 'Hey, he might denounce us later. He must kill. Everyone must help to kill at least one person.' So this person who is not a killer is made to do it. And the next day it's become a game for him. You don't need to keep pushing him."
Strictly speaking, this dilemma is only for the ethnic majority Hutus, and I cannot even comprehend the psychological terror the Tutsis faced, let alone the pain and death. (Death by bullet was even a luxury and people paid good money for it.)
The heroism depicted in such trying times is truly awe-inspiring. From Paul Rusesabagina (potrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda), who always laughed when he refused to cave in to the soldiers demands while offering them alcohol, down to the small heroes who risked their lives upholding their principles not to murder. Even smaller 'heroes' who killed some so that they'll not be suspicious when they're hiding some in their homes.
The first-half of this book describes the genocide, and the latter half on its aftermath, the 'refugee' camps, and how it precipitated the First Congo War. How the international communities were almost equally responsible for the genocide and the conflicts that pursued, not only for our refusal to prevent it, but also by feeding it. The humanitarian aids to the 'refugee' camps were actually empowering and arming the génocidaires, and the innocent refugees were not so much refugees, they were more of hostages, of human shield to the génocidaires. But the humanitarian aids are supposed not to be partisan, must not choose sides in this political conflict, they can only provide food and shelter. But as the book mentioned about humanitarian aid and relief,
Even if not taking sides were a desirable position, it is impossible to act in or on a political situation without having a political effect.
A good, commanding book on this topic. If I had any recommendation to improve, first, to sound less partial or biased. The author speaks rather too favourably towards General Kagame, leader of Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the rebel movement who tookover the capital Kigali and brought the end of the 100-day genocide. I myself seemed to agree a lot with Kagame's thinking, but the book sounds a little one-sided when he is overwhelmingly more quoted than the other side of the story. Second, the book is completed in 1998, and since then, the First Congo War had precipitated the Second Congo War. The book could update, even if only one chapter, how the genocide aftermath had fared beyond the first four years. The author also had considerable philosophical rants, but still bearable. But those are not the reason why it is not five stars – the reason it is only four stars is I find it rather tedious to finish this book. Don't get me wrong, the book is well-written, very chronological, easy to follow, easy to understand and comprehend, but because of that, the climax is somewhere in the middle (I myself am not very sure where is the climax, is it the genocide itself, or RPF capturing Kigali hence ending the genocide?), and the plot flattens out through the aftermath. It is not easy to write a non-fiction with an exciting climatic plot, but I've read a few before, but I'm not a writer, I don't know how to recommend this book to be.
---
On 26 April 1993 the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was opened to the public, dedicated to prevent genocide. In less than a year, the world witnessed a real genocide. The tagline "Never again" is merely a hope, it can very much happen again. But will we be strong enough to intervene, or will we just watch just like we did back then?