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We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families by Philip Gourevitch
fragilelikejas's review against another edition
2.0
the positionally that this is written from is my main critique here, particularly the privilege of whiteness and the detached gaze in talking about the survivors and victims of the genocide that took place.
abbagold's review against another edition
4.0
What is it about New Yorker writers that makes them so good at writing nonfiction -- sometimes, in this case, the most horrifyingly real nonfiction -- and pulling something insightful, universal, and extraordinary out of it?
cee_em_hart's review against another edition
5.0
A really hard read. Heart wrenching, but important to get through.
lookingglasswar's review against another edition
4.0
Well-reported and moving. Gourevitch largely blames the inaction of the international community, and then its post-genocide support of Hutu-run militarized refugee camps. Written in 1999, it's a time capsule of thought on the conflict -- which is this book's limitation.
Paul Kagame, depicted here as a reformist VP, is now president and a much more ambivalent figure to the international community due to suspect elections, increased domestic repression, and suspected involvement in high-profile political assassinations. A new book from 2021 by Michela Wrong seeks to create a corrective to general positive pro-Kagame feeling -- and further complicates the issue by (critics say) both-sidesing the genocide.
Obviously, you can't tell from a single book almost a quarter century ago how political developments proceeded. So I went digging, and found that opinions are vastly divided on Rwanda today, largely split between Francophone and Anglophone spheres. Even once-heroic figures like Paul Rusesabagina have been accused of terrorism and espionage by Kagame.
I looked on Twitter to see what Gourevitch thinks today. He appears to take Kagame's word for Rusesabagina's alleged crimes and has longstanding feuds with Kagame-critical voices. There's also a very active Rwandan Twitter community that has various factions and hated characters within it, which I spent an evening investigating. A recent anti-Kagame op-ed in the NYT received quite a lot of pushback, for example.
It seems that the thing to do is to seek out more recent writing on Rwanda -- and see where those voices situate themselves.
I do think this is a useful book for a primer on the genocide but will seek out
1) primary sources that center Rwandans!
2) more recent long form reporting and analysis.
Paul Kagame, depicted here as a reformist VP, is now president and a much more ambivalent figure to the international community due to suspect elections, increased domestic repression, and suspected involvement in high-profile political assassinations. A new book from 2021 by Michela Wrong seeks to create a corrective to general positive pro-Kagame feeling -- and further complicates the issue by (critics say) both-sidesing the genocide.
Obviously, you can't tell from a single book almost a quarter century ago how political developments proceeded. So I went digging, and found that opinions are vastly divided on Rwanda today, largely split between Francophone and Anglophone spheres. Even once-heroic figures like Paul Rusesabagina have been accused of terrorism and espionage by Kagame.
I looked on Twitter to see what Gourevitch thinks today. He appears to take Kagame's word for Rusesabagina's alleged crimes and has longstanding feuds with Kagame-critical voices. There's also a very active Rwandan Twitter community that has various factions and hated characters within it, which I spent an evening investigating. A recent anti-Kagame op-ed in the NYT received quite a lot of pushback, for example.
It seems that the thing to do is to seek out more recent writing on Rwanda -- and see where those voices situate themselves.
I do think this is a useful book for a primer on the genocide but will seek out
1) primary sources that center Rwandans!
2) more recent long form reporting and analysis.
ndrooney's review against another edition
5.0
I was 3 when the Rwandan genocide happened. Even later in life, I still knew next to nothing about the reality of what happened in this small Central African country. Gourevitch has an astonishing piece of literary journalism here; I couldn't put this book down, despite the absolute atrocities he shared, because his writing is so compelling and so gripping. The truth of international ignorance is heavy, but so important to read. When we as a world say "never again," yet we turn a blind eye when "again" happens, where is our humanity?
theotheremily's review against another edition
3.0
This book had so many 5 star ratings that It makes me wonder what I am missing. After watching The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence, and Shoah I know genocide can be handled with sensitivity yet unflinching realness that helps illuminate the darkness. How can so many people be murdered by their machete-wielding neighbors in 100 days? This book really didn't answer that question. It does explain the aftermath and all of its complexities and documents the bungled international response. But for me it raised more questions than it answered.
pyonir's review against another edition
3.0
An important book about an important event in history. A lot of first hand accounts from those that were there.
However, it is, in my opinion, poorly written and poorly put together. There is too much, what I'd call filler, meaningless content that doesn't push the narrative forward. I found myself bored by some of Gourevitch's tangents and conversations that only served to glorify certain individuals.
Overall a book everyone should read...even if it's a struggle at times.
However, it is, in my opinion, poorly written and poorly put together. There is too much, what I'd call filler, meaningless content that doesn't push the narrative forward. I found myself bored by some of Gourevitch's tangents and conversations that only served to glorify certain individuals.
Overall a book everyone should read...even if it's a struggle at times.
litbitch's review against another edition
5.0
I walked out of Hotel Rwanda and straight into the bookstore to buy this, which I'd been fingering (no, not like that you lech) for years. Gourevich is clear and concise about the history of Rwanda, the conditions (fostered by the Dutch and others) that led to the factional "racism" (if you want to call it that: the racial classifications were designated by outsiders) that had been obvious for years, and the specific events that led up to one of the quickest, most effective, mass-participation genocides in history. He also details the events of that time, and the lingering effects a year later, when he visited the country. He remains an outsider, but does not avoid exploring the effect the story has on him. As much as I like journalists to be neutral, neutrality in this circumstance would feel like a lie. He does all this in an extremely compelling style. I rarely get engaged in history books, and while the drama of the subject certainly helped it was his thorough and personal exploration of the extremity of this event that made this book so compelling.
polatai's review against another edition
4.0
Damn. I don’t know who recommended this book to me as it was in my TBR but it felt like the appropriate moment to read it because *gestures vaguely* and I learned a lot like I vaguely knew that a genocide happened in Rwanda at the same time as the one in my country but not the particulars about the history. And as much as I hate in general the role of people in power doing interviews and benefiting from the people that suffer I think this was done well (I haven’t googled this book to see if I’m correct). But in this point in time the parallels between this book and real life are crazy and I couldn’t keep from nodding my head along to like the 5 chapters about the position the western world took during this genocide and the uselessness of foreign aid. Was there moments where I had to put the book down and breath? Yes there are horrible moments in the book. But guess? what that’s what genocide is.