Customer Reviews

Left to Tell (EasyRead Large Bold Edition): Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

5 star:		(454)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As a survivor of the genocide of Rwanda, this book reminded me of my own ordeal during the genocide. At first I was angry with Immaculee when I read the summary of her book, how can she forgive? Then when I started reading the book, I understood, I couldn't put it down, I couldn't stop crying, so many feelings that I thought existed only during that time, came back, I felt a lot of thirst, my mouth dry as well, my heart beating very fast...however at the end of the book I felt that something great have happened to me, a HEALING. I felt an excitment to live and to dream again, to stop living in the past, it reminded me that we are all God's children and that there's always HOPE.

Thank you Immaculee, God worked through you!

Immaculee's crucial book "Left to Tell" is beyond an account of the perils of genocide she survived by the Grace of God in Rwanda; Immaculee herself is a Grace of God for humanity.

Her story reaches the core of my being, as it will anyone who has a heart. But it is not just her story that is simultaneously so unfathomable yet so compelling, it is the love and forgiveness she radiates to all who were the killers of her very own family.

Both she and her precious book serve as an example from On High. The Christ-like forgiveness and compassion, the mission to help orphans left alone from the genocide of their parents, and her message of becoming one with God amidst our darkest hours, is indeed a sainted mission.

I applaud Immaculee; her courage in painstakingly detailing her accounts that ultimately created this book; her mission, and the purest love she radiates that is a profoundly bright light doing nothing less than bringing the Light of God into the hearts of humanity.

Let us join her to help the orphaned children. Visit orphansofrwanda.org for ways to help. Thank you, Immaculee, for sharing how God's Love can triumph and transform. Thank you for your profound book and for being a Grace of God.

Barbara Rose, Ph.D. author of If God Was Like Man, Know Yourself and If God Hears Me, I Want an Answer!

Left to Tell is one of those books that I feel so grateful to the author for taking the time to write, for it offers improvement to us all. It is heart-touching, edifying, and life transforming. It tangibly teaches us, through the author's very real life trials, that there is more to life than we normally see, a divine element, and that life only becomes what it was meant to be when we bind with the spiritual in the depths of our human hearts.

In a way, Left to Tell reminded me a little bit of another fabulous book, Embraced by the Light. But in Embraced by the Light, Betty Eadie had to die to experience another reality. In Left to Tell, author Imaculee had so many thousands die around her, including her dearest family members (I write this weeping), to ultimately discover the truly beautiful Divine Reality that is always with us, if we would only call to It sincerely and passionately enough.

The story in Left to Tell is a tragic story that is still being played out today. Humanity is still plagued by groups of people who feel determined to wipe out other groups of people. The spiritual disease is the same, only the names and labels change. Read Left to Tell and you will learn that the only way to go is Love, and the only thing to offer is forgiveness. You will also learn that no matter what travesty hits you, no matter your age or situation in life, through faith in God's power, you can craft the life He intended for you. Left to Tell is indeed a beautiful book that is highly recommended. And I do thank the author for her sharing.

Many authors try to solve the mystery of suffering by examining it purely through a theological grid. Others attempt to understand evil only through the framework of personal experience. Immaculee Ilibagiza combines both. Her devout faith in a good God along with her hell-on-earth, paradise-in-her-soul approach makes "Left to Tell" a unique and rewarding book.

Every honest person admits that they want to discover God amidst the good and the bad of life. We all ask the questions that Ilibagiza addresses. "Where is God?" "How do I forgive evil?" Few are forced to probe such questions in the midst of such soul-numbing devastation.

Through her candid autobiography of suffering, heaven and hell meet, paradise and prison convene. Through her riveting account of their encounter, readers bump up against the reality that the infinite love of an all-wise, but often mysterious God, can provide hope to the hurting, release from rage, and faith during the darkest night of the soul.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction."

I was up until 2:30 in the morning because I could not put this book down...
well except for the times that I was sobbing for several minutes at a time.
But even though this book is an unflinching account of
the some most heinous brutality in world history, it is amazingly
uplifting.

Some one else's review discribed Immaculee as a Grace of God.
And that she is. I'm not religious but I am spiritual, and even
though Immaculee is a devout Catholic, her spiritual revelation
transcends any religion. Her message of a love and forgiveness
so vast it is nearly incomprehensible, points the way to the only
way to recover from the mass insanity of the world today.

Immaculee, thank you for sharing your story, thank you for
how your book will make a difference in so many lives that
will touch the world. I want to share this book with everyone
I know.
This is one of the most important books I've ever read. In my life.
God Bless you Immaculee.

This beautiful, but heartbreaking true story by Immaculee Ilibagiza brings a nation's horror right down to a personal level. So much of our world seems in an endless cycle of murder and revenge; Ilibagiza experienced unimaginable terror and personal loss, but emerged with a strong faith and a willingness to forgive.

In sharing her story, she gives hope, not only to her torn nation, but to the whole world. This is one of the finest stories of this genre since THE HIDING PLACE by Corrie Ten Boom or THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.

This book is both timely in its relevance and timeless in its truth. It's well-written, but not an "easy" read. It's a book to ponder, to absorb, to weep with, and ultimately to learn from. Take this journey from despair to hope.

We often speak of the power of love, but we forget (or at least undermine) that hate is sadly, just as powerful. You get a sense of this as you read "Left to Tell". Before the book came out, I had heard Immaculee Ilibagiza speak at a radio station and I'd also read a lot about her online. When I heard the book was out, the most natural thing for me was to get it and read it. I devoured it in two nights, and it touched me in a way I didn't think possible.

Virtually all her family members were butchered - by neighbors, former classmates, teachers, and family friends. Only her brother Aimable, who was studying in Senegal at the time of the genocide survived. Ilibagiza was hidden for months in a tiny bathroom in the paster's house with several other Tutsi women. The killers came in the dozens and ransacked the room multiple times, but never bothered to move the wardrobe that hid the bathroom's entrance. In the bathroom hiding with them was also a brave seven year old girl, who kept silent the whole time. They were fed scraps and leftovers to avoid any suspicion since most of the people who lived in that house were unaware of their presence. She lost half her body weight by the time she left the bathroom. Immaculee gives an incredible (almost unimaginable) account of how she forgave those who killed her family, how her faith was tested and strengthened countless times, and how she has achieved inner peace.

Immaculee is now married and lives in the States with her husband and children. She said she would not tell her children what happened - they would read it for themselves when they grew up. I only understood what she meant when I finished reading the book.

What an account of heartbreak and faith. It is one of the best I've ever read. Immaculee Ilibagiza's story is both simultaneously heartbreaking and tremendously hopeful for humanity to find love and God, even amidst a holocaust.

This is an incredible book written by an incredible woman who is shining a light for all. It makes you wonder about the small things people get upset over and puts it all in great perspective. I'm in full agreement with the reviewer who called her a grace of God. It is only God's love shining through Immaculee that can make an impact as important as this for humankind. A Profound and life changing book and person.

"Left to Tell" is a gripping, moving story about one woman's survival story through the Rwanda genocide. What makes this book different than "Hotel Rwanda" and other similar books is that a major portion of the book is devoted to the author's time spent hiding in a bathroom, praying and meditating and coming closer to God. It is very similar to Victor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning". A very quick, influential read that I am sure you will appreciate. Highly recommended for all.

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza is an awe inspiring account of her survival of the Rwandan Holocaust of 1994. She was a college girl forced to hide in a 3 by 4 foot bathroom with many other women for 3 months while Hutu terrorists hunted daily for her. During these months she lost half her body weight. Yet during this ordeal she experienced amazing spiritual insights as she greatly deepened her Christian/Catholic faith. This is a book about survival, but it is also a book about love and forgiveness. This is truly a must read.