How many people would not have believed that such vicious slaughter could occur in today’s world? Slaughter exists everywhere in all times, but somehow those of us who haven’t experienced it up close constantly need to be reminded – but does the reminder truly prevent future massacres? That the Rwandan obscenity happened with the knowledge of the world’s leaders, yet no nation or group physically intervened to stop the machete blades leaves more questions about our human species than I can put into words, much less endure the pain to contemplate. And how can I dare to speak about the pain of such thoughts related to the pain of hundreds of thousands hacked to death? And yet cruelty and torture march along, as always, the world over. Shame, guilt, selfishness, inertia, what else…who is not guilty?

hallucinogenic and thoughtful account of the rwandan genocide and it’s strange aftermath… there are no heroes in all of this and the abyss is still hard to comprehend let alone envision. the first half is as upsetting as can be (and still thrilling – what a word to use – as we read about some of those who escaped among the depressing stories) and the magnitude of the tragedy. The second half – about the aftermath (duplicity, the waste of congo, the genocidaires, the return) is arguably even more depressing.

I finally managed to start this book, and it was well worth the wait. I’m half way through now and really enjoying Gourevitch’s writing although it is slow going…

Ahhh…at last I finished! Definitely an interesting perspective, but I found it dense and difficult to understand without a significant understanding of the topic beforehand. I recommend this to anyone up on the Rwandan genocide, but if you were just a self-absorbed teenager at the time (like me), do a little background research first!

Amazing and powerful and awful and important for people to understand and know about.

A present from Caitriona, for what she ruefully calls our genocide shelf. Gourevitch is a marvellous writer.

The story is fascinating, but difficult to read because it’s disturbing, and tends towards disjointed. Definitely worth reading, though.

Eminently readable; makes an incomprehensible tragedy easier to grasp.