Customer Reviews

Rwanda Means the Universe: A Native's Memoir of Blood and Bloodlines

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A gripping, personal account of growing up in Rwanda and the Rwandan genocide. Ms. Mushikiwabo's memories are at turns heartbreaking and charming, her country's history intriguing, and the statistics unfathomable ("State executioners and local volunteers...catching and dispatching more than three times as many people as al Qaeda did when it dropped the World Trade Center. That's not how many they killed altogether. That's how many they killed every day - ten thousand a day...for one hundred days."). Childhood stories bring Ms. Mushikiwabo and her family to life, making them your family, your friends. This is an engrossing read that starkly reminds us simultaneously of the cruelty of human nature and the spirit to survive unimaginable sorrow.

The information in this book is extremely important. I also appreciated the historical context given by the author. Those things said, I was disappointed in the textbook nature of the book. This was, unnecessarily I believe, an extremely difficult read. There were scores of English words I've never seen before. This, in addition to French and Kinyarwanda. I was also disappointed that the historical context was not presented more clearly.

The book was a tough read, that you couldn't speed through to totally comprehend. I did like the detail of the book, but there seemed to be alot that could have been cut out due to irrelevance.
Overall though, I would recommend reading the book if you want to get a grasp on the history behind the terrible Rwandan genocide.