Helpful Score: 2
This is the powerful, important, and disturbing story of a med student who escapes the genocide in Burundi/Rwanda, arriving in New York City with $200 and fluency in French rather than English. Kidder is a wonderful writer, but the only way I could keep reading the horrific parts was knowing that Deo's life does improve. Kidder does a good job of summarizing and explaining the African conflicts in an evenhanded way, and I wish we got to know more of Deo's continuing story. Is he back in med school now?
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent! This is the 2nd Tracy kidder book I've read and I'm finding him to be wonderful writer. He has a way of making non-fiction read like a good novel. difficult subject matter,not for the faint of heart, but highly recommended just the same.
Helpful Score: 1
An inspiring and true story of survival and achievement.
Deo, once a medical student in Africa, manages to escape the genocide in Burundi
(adjacent to Rwanda) with a little help and a lot of luck. He immigrates to NYCity with only $200 in his pocket, no job, an inability to speak English as well as frequent flashbacks to his violent past.
Deo starts life in America by sleeping in Central Park and relies on the kindness of strangers for help. The former medical student gets a job as a delivery boy and
learns English by spending his spare time in bookstores. He advanced to the point where he is admitted into medical school in the U.S.
Deo eventually returns to Africa in order to build a medical clinic and heal his own mind.
I highly recommend this book as well as Tracy Kidder's earlier works of nonfiction,
especially 'Mountains Beyond Mountains' which you may want to read prior to 'Strength in What Remains' as the books are somewhat related.
Deo, once a medical student in Africa, manages to escape the genocide in Burundi
(adjacent to Rwanda) with a little help and a lot of luck. He immigrates to NYCity with only $200 in his pocket, no job, an inability to speak English as well as frequent flashbacks to his violent past.
Deo starts life in America by sleeping in Central Park and relies on the kindness of strangers for help. The former medical student gets a job as a delivery boy and
learns English by spending his spare time in bookstores. He advanced to the point where he is admitted into medical school in the U.S.
Deo eventually returns to Africa in order to build a medical clinic and heal his own mind.
I highly recommend this book as well as Tracy Kidder's earlier works of nonfiction,
especially 'Mountains Beyond Mountains' which you may want to read prior to 'Strength in What Remains' as the books are somewhat related.
Helpful Score: 1
Amazing book. Certain parts are haunting.
This book, nonfiction, is the story of Deo Niyizonkiza, who escaped a Burundian civil war and genocide, and, amazingly, found his way to New York. He revisits his childhood, his arrival to the U.S., and his return back to Burundi. The book includes a most uplifting epilogue.
I can't say enough about the impact this book will have upon your soul. I believe this book is necessary for the exposure it brings and helps to educate readers as to the world around them.
Deo is the recipient of the 2014 Dalai Lama Unsung Hero of Compassion Award.
I can't say enough about the impact this book will have upon your soul. I believe this book is necessary for the exposure it brings and helps to educate readers as to the world around them.
Deo is the recipient of the 2014 Dalai Lama Unsung Hero of Compassion Award.
Interesting story of surviving and living after genocide.
I have been fascinated with Africa lately. I want to know so much about the continent, the people, their trials and their tribulations. This was the story of a young man named Deo who escaped the ethnic genocide in Burundi in the 1990's to unfortunately find himself homeless in the United States. We learn how he escaped from his country, what he had to endure in America and his resilience to overcome such obstacles. We also get to see how this affected him as he returns to Burundi with Mr. Kidder. This is a story that is heartbreaking and heartwarming. How he survived to become a successful member of society is extremely inspiring.
The book did get bogged down a few times with a few too many details but overall it is a very good and enlightening read.
The book did get bogged down a few times with a few too many details but overall it is a very good and enlightening read.
I loved this book. It is very powerful and I learned a lot about Burundi and the conflict there.
One of the things I like about this book is it doesn't over simplify anything. It isn't just a good vs evil story or a survival story. Kidder shows Deo's complexity and the reality of his struggle with his memories, his wanting to help his people, but also his frustration with them for being so hard to help and so unwilling to help themselves.
