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Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » Strength in What Remains

Strength in What Remains

6 Ratings: 2.5

A nonfiction book by Tracy Kidder

This book by Tracy Kidder is the true account of how "Deogratias," a young medical student born in Burundi, survived the genocide of Rwanda and Burundi in 1994. Table of Contents: Flights -- Gusimbura

Tags: Books, Nonfiction, Biographies, Genocide, Strength In What Remains

Author: Tracy Kidder

Genre: Biography

Publisher: Random House

Date Published: August 25, 2009

1 review about Strength in What Remains

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Hard to read, harder to put down

Jul 6, 2009

by S_Kay_Murphy

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Whenever there is some horrific historic event such as the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, we exclaim to ourselves about the magnitude of the crime, counting the dead in huge numbers... because it's easier that way... because it is less painful to distance ourselves by thousands, to say, 'My god, 100,000 people died in this area alone' than to consider the baby screaming, crawling across his dead mother's body or the young girl dragged off into the jungle and later... much later... killed.

In Strength in What Remains, Tracy Kidder has given us the story of one man, one single individual, who lived to tell of the horror. Reading the book is not easy. But it is necessary if we are to confront the truth of it so that we can honor the dead... and understand the living. Kidder's style is intense and fluid; he is a writer's writer. I highly recommend this fully absorbing read, especially in light of the fact that genocide continues, even as I write these words, in some part of the world.

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DonnaL1 July 06, 2009

Sometimes we have to read these type of books to understand the truth. Reality is often an ugly but necessary part of life. You bring up a good point here...that we often count the dead in huge numbers, so impersonal, when one of those dead could very well be our brother, sister or a spouse. When that happens, it becomes ever so personal rather quickly! I'll put this book on my list.

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