Speak Rwanda: A Novel [Paperback]

Julian R. Pierce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2000

Speak Rwanda is the powerful story of ten people—Hutu and Tutsi, civilians and soldiers, mothers, politicians, and orphaned children—as they attempt to survive one of the most disturbing massacres since the Second World War; but the novel is not a story of war, instead it documents the experiences of the people who lived before, during, and after such an event. Through their individual voices we come to fully understand the moving and complex truths that existed behind our newspaper headlines.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since 1994, several books of nonfiction, and now Pierce's debut novel, have tried to comprehend how an estimated one million Tutsi men, women and children came to be slaughtered by their Hutu neighbors in a chilling episode of modern genocide. Pierce, who has worked and traveled in Africa, divides his unbiased novel into the short internal narratives of 10 different figures from all sides of the conflictATutsis and Hutus, murderers and victims, refugees and good SamaritansAwhose lives are threaded together by chance and violence. Characters include Silas Bagambiki, a local Hutu petty official who sees slaughter as a way to consolidate power; Augustin Makizimana, a foolish young Hutu who is drawn quickly and unthinkingly into committing atrocities; and Innocent Karangwa, a Tutsi boy who escapes Bagambiki's militia only to become an opportunistic war urchin in Rwanda's capital of Kigali. In the midst of this graphically violent history, a few characters are able to preserve their moral centers, among them Hutu nurse Agn?s Mujawanaliya and the Tutsi Uganda-born guerrilla Capt. Stephen Mazimpaka, who, by falling in love with each other at the book's end, serve as an example of Rwanda's best hopes. Despite Pierce's painstaking depiction of small-scale politics and his plain-spoken and informative incorporation of local color, the flatness of his prose and the identical, unnuanced voices of the characters make it difficult for this well-intentioned novel to match up to such works of nonfiction as Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This heart-wrenching and exceptional first collection of linked stories powerfully captures the horror of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and gives an all-too-human face to the headlines. Ten charactersAmen, women, and children, Hutus and Tutsis, victims and murderersAtell their individual stories. From the first massacres and flight to refugee camps to a tentative peace and the struggle to return home, each witnesses the madness, sorrow, and faint hope of a nation drowning in centuries-old hate. Pierce's graphic accounts of atrocities are harrowing, as are his descriptions of life in camps filled with disease and starvation. He gives each character, even the despicable ones, a depth and uniqueness that balance the terror, creating a universal story of tragedy and survival. While recent events will spark interest, the strong story, involving characters, and good writing make this a novel that will last. Recommended for all libraries.AEllen Flexman, Indianapolis-Marion Cty. P.L.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (November 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312276796
• ISBN-13: 978-0312276799
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,075,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting novel that thrusts you into the Rwanda nightmare, September 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Speak Rwanda (Hardcover)

A well written novel that propels you directly into Rwanda's slaughter. Mr. Pierce uses his impressive knowledge of the people, land and issues to take the reader into a world of brutality, horror and death.

Using a well balanced approach, both killers and victims speak their thoughts as the rampage continues. A provocative and fascinating account of a time of hatred one hopes will never recur.

5.0 out of 5 stars NO REVIEW TITLE IS HIGH ENOUGH PRAISE FOR SPEAK RWANDA., September 19, 2009

By 

REESE ELLA HOWARD "Ella" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speak Rwanda: A Novel (Paperback)

I don't know where to begin or end. I can only say that I've never read a more touching yet horrifying story that is similar to a true crime novelization. Though very different from Norman Mailer's "The Executioner's Song", and a great deal shorter, it is the only report of actual crime written as a novel that is, to my mind, equally good. This is a story of heinous cruelty, unreasoning hatred, the power of love, and triumph over evil. Each character is carved in marble--or crystal--and I could not let go of any of them long after the blockbuster ending. Though they are fictional, they all ring only true.

I would very much like to see more of this author.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speak Rwanda, September 13, 2000

By 

Bonita Evans (Montclair, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Speak Rwanda (Hardcover)

Mr. Pierce has spent a long time in Africa among the people. I have spent a long time in Africa among the people also. His book is brutally honest in its approach. it is fictionalized truth, written in a manner which explores the souls of men and the inanity of tribalism. Pierce draws the reader into the barbarous depths of the human heart in its abysmal quest for power. More books about AFRICANS in Africa should be written. Bravo! I could not put it down.