Scan barcode
A review by serendipitysbooks
Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Kibogo is an intriguing novel which focuses on Ruzagayura, a great famine which occurred in Rwanda between 1943 and 1944 . The story looks at its causes, its impact, and, most especially, the reactions and responses to it, and is told in four parts. Each has a different focus yet they all overlap, retelling parts of the same story from different perspectives, adding some details while omitting others.
I found the storytelling fascinating. Rather than worrying about which version was right it was more productive to consider them all as being true, to think about the truth as being found somewhere between them all; and to realise that truth can be a remarkably subjective concept .
The other aspect of the story that really captured my attention was the intersection of colonialism and evangelism, the way the Catholic church was so active in the process of colonisation, buttressing and in turn being buttressed by Belgian colonial powers. This had a devastating impact on Rwandans - the audacity of both church and state arriving uninvited in the home of other people and telling them what to believe and how to behave never fails to stagger me. What is especially interesting, and can be clearly seen throughout the four sections of this book, is the way Rwandans interacted with the church - taking some aspects of its teachings, trying them out for size, combining them with their own pre-existing beliefs, resisting or rejecting others outright. They, like colonised peoples everywhere, were not passive receivers of church teachings who unquestioningly accepted what they were told. In this book we see all these factors play out and interact as Rwandans struggled to deal with the impact of a famine that may have been caused by drought but which was definitely exacerbated by the dictates of the Belgians.
I found the storytelling fascinating. Rather than worrying about which version was right it was more productive to consider them all as being true, to think about the truth as being found somewhere between them all; and to realise that truth can be a remarkably subjective concept .
The other aspect of the story that really captured my attention was the intersection of colonialism and evangelism, the way the Catholic church was so active in the process of colonisation, buttressing and in turn being buttressed by Belgian colonial powers. This had a devastating impact on Rwandans - the audacity of both church and state arriving uninvited in the home of other people and telling them what to believe and how to behave never fails to stagger me. What is especially interesting, and can be clearly seen throughout the four sections of this book, is the way Rwandans interacted with the church - taking some aspects of its teachings, trying them out for size, combining them with their own pre-existing beliefs, resisting or rejecting others outright. They, like colonised peoples everywhere, were not passive receivers of church teachings who unquestioningly accepted what they were told. In this book we see all these factors play out and interact as Rwandans struggled to deal with the impact of a famine that may have been caused by drought but which was definitely exacerbated by the dictates of the Belgians.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry and Colonisation