Gil Courtemanch wrote this book based in Rwanda during the time of the genocide. It is partly (?) based on true events, and the characters in the book are real people. As another reviewer points out however, you must bear in mind that the facts are real, but perhaps the thoughts of the characters are fictional.
It is the story of a journalist, Valcourt, who falls in love with a Rwandan woman, and his view of the events of the genocide. He loves Rwanda, and can't see himself living anywhere else. He talks about the people he sees by the pool in the hotel he stays in, some he sees with contempt others with scorn.
Friends of his are dying with AIDS and continue having sex in spite of the knowlege, and in ignorance of the disease. On the radio, Hutu propaganda abounds about Tutsi "cockroaches" and extermination plans. This is a heart-rending book, and every passage moves you emotionally from empathy to disgust as you watch love and hatred unfold in the world inhabited by this man. Rwanda does not love itself however, and there are disturbing passages in this book involving graphic depictions of rape, mutilation and murder as perpetrated by Hutus against Tutsis.
This is a window onto another world. There is no doubt that the media and news outlets highlighted the genocide to the "West". Films like Hotel Rwanda bolstered the vision of the terrible atrocities there, met by indifference from the UN. A book like this however, written from this viewpoint conveys some of the emotion, and more of the horror that the word "genocide" means.
As a book, as a story, this is a great book. There are events behind the headlines, and this book lets us know that. I recommend it, with the caveat noted above - this book is graphic in its description of inhumanity.
To find out more - I don't like to give too much detail - here are some random reviews I googled. The Publisher's page
Curledup.com
Observer
Another Blogger, with a personal interest
It is the story of a journalist, Valcourt, who falls in love with a Rwandan woman, and his view of the events of the genocide. He loves Rwanda, and can't see himself living anywhere else. He talks about the people he sees by the pool in the hotel he stays in, some he sees with contempt others with scorn.
Friends of his are dying with AIDS and continue having sex in spite of the knowlege, and in ignorance of the disease. On the radio, Hutu propaganda abounds about Tutsi "cockroaches" and extermination plans. This is a heart-rending book, and every passage moves you emotionally from empathy to disgust as you watch love and hatred unfold in the world inhabited by this man. Rwanda does not love itself however, and there are disturbing passages in this book involving graphic depictions of rape, mutilation and murder as perpetrated by Hutus against Tutsis.
This is a window onto another world. There is no doubt that the media and news outlets highlighted the genocide to the "West". Films like Hotel Rwanda bolstered the vision of the terrible atrocities there, met by indifference from the UN. A book like this however, written from this viewpoint conveys some of the emotion, and more of the horror that the word "genocide" means.
As a book, as a story, this is a great book. There are events behind the headlines, and this book lets us know that. I recommend it, with the caveat noted above - this book is graphic in its description of inhumanity.
To find out more - I don't like to give too much detail - here are some random reviews I googled. The Publisher's page
Curledup.com
Observer
Another Blogger, with a personal interest
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