caitthebookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
mandyist's review against another edition
5.0
The Bone Woman is an incredibly well-written and poignant book written by the forensic anthropologist Clea Koff. The author talks about her work on mass graves in Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo as part of UN International Criminal Tribunal investigations.
It is hard to describe this book - I feel like I have undertaken a very long and exhausting journey. Ms Koff described her surroundings so well I feel as if I actually visited hot, leafy forests in Rwanda and cold, grey landscapes in the Balkans. There were times when I had to put this book down and simply process the information that I was reading.
There is something about the human condition whereby we find it hard to imagine mass murder; we find it hard to comprehend the mechanics of taking the life of hundreds of people in one event; we find it hard to imagine that these were once people, to put a human face to the atrocity. In her book, Clea Koff does this for us - she paints a picture whereby the reader is finally able to comprehend and understand.
It is hard to describe this book - I feel like I have undertaken a very long and exhausting journey. Ms Koff described her surroundings so well I feel as if I actually visited hot, leafy forests in Rwanda and cold, grey landscapes in the Balkans. There were times when I had to put this book down and simply process the information that I was reading.
There is something about the human condition whereby we find it hard to imagine mass murder; we find it hard to comprehend the mechanics of taking the life of hundreds of people in one event; we find it hard to imagine that these were once people, to put a human face to the atrocity. In her book, Clea Koff does this for us - she paints a picture whereby the reader is finally able to comprehend and understand.
barnstormingbooks's review against another edition
emotional
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC of the re-release of this book.
The re-release of The Bone Woman is an interesting listen. Koff is a solid narrator of her story, and does an excellent job of both explaining, showing deference, but also a clear picture of what it was like to be a woman of African descent with relatives living in Africa to work with bodies in mass graves.
The re-release of The Bone Woman is an interesting listen. Koff is a solid narrator of her story, and does an excellent job of both explaining, showing deference, but also a clear picture of what it was like to be a woman of African descent with relatives living in Africa to work with bodies in mass graves.
Death, especially for Americans, is an interesting concept. Death as a source of entertainment (gladiators, action movies, plot drivers in dramas and almost every Disney movie…) seems to degrade the reality of death, especially mass death in a global context. Through sharing her experience Koff opens up those wounds. She discusses the science and processes involved, as well as the conditions of the camps the scientists stayed in, interactions with locals, the ever present threats of violence (mines or direct person to person) of working in an area that was recently a war zone, and the emotional toll this work takes.
Koff’s work in Rwanda, Bosnia and Croatia and Kosovo, was a disturbing but necessary reminder of how closely these genocides occurred and how quickly we forget, which is its own type of violence.
This is not an overly dramatic book, and Koff manages to tell her story in a way that makes her profession just that, a profession and a calling.
winniethegirl's review against another edition
4.0
Seeing the world the forensic anthropology through the eyes of a member of the profession is intriguing. Learning how their humanity mingles with their experiences as they give victims of genocide justice and their families peace of mind only increases my love for the field of anthropology. I don’t think this is the job for me but I admire those who work in it. The inner workings of gravesites and how daily operations can change depending on who is working and/or who is visiting was also fascinating. This book felt like an autobiography of Kidd’s life from January 1996 to July 2000 as she traveled to different sites from genocides and mass murders and how those experiences shaped her life both professionally and personally. Having learned about some of the conflicts that included these acts of “ethnic cleansing”, I loved seeing a personal side to the story and how those eliminated so intentionally are still cared for by those like Koff seeking to give them justice.
thefangirldiaries's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
5.0
This book played a significant role in my education and career choices. It inspires my work with decedents and their families.
lyrrael's review against another edition
3.0
I was expecting to invalidate a lot of the complaints about Clea Koff's book, but I was more and more disappointed as the book progressed. Gone was the wisdom of her experience, missing was the self-discovery and introspection, only barely existent was her experience of the people around her who had survived the horrors, and the writing that replaced what had begun to glimmer in the first few chapters was that of a hardened, unhappy woman who seemed stressed out and angry at her coworkers.
This does not mean that the book was completely worthless to me, and for that reason I give it three stars. I think it is an extremely important book, one that examines one step of the process by which someone guilty of genocide comes to justice, and one that pays ample tribute to the remains of the people who cry out for justice.
I hope Clea has found more peace, both with her coworkers and with herself, in the four years since the last part of the book. I did feel as though I was there, experiencing every part of it with her, and she did an ample job of keeping the jargon of her profession to a manageable level -- which was something that had worried me prior to reading the book. She really is a wonderful writer on the face of it, but just needed to focus a bit less on the problems that happened within each mission.
This does not mean that the book was completely worthless to me, and for that reason I give it three stars. I think it is an extremely important book, one that examines one step of the process by which someone guilty of genocide comes to justice, and one that pays ample tribute to the remains of the people who cry out for justice.
I hope Clea has found more peace, both with her coworkers and with herself, in the four years since the last part of the book. I did feel as though I was there, experiencing every part of it with her, and she did an ample job of keeping the jargon of her profession to a manageable level -- which was something that had worried me prior to reading the book. She really is a wonderful writer on the face of it, but just needed to focus a bit less on the problems that happened within each mission.