Blogcritics: Comments on Spinning Rwanda: Hollywood's Trilogy of Gloom

Comment by Ashok K. Banker

Fri, 21 Oct 2005 13:23:33 EDT

Another excellent review! One more good book to add to the list, is Toni Bambara's Those Bones Are Not My Child which isn't about Africa at all, let alone Somalia or Rwanda, but it is about race and African-American state-of-life in America (it's about the Atlanta murders) and somehow it seems to go well with the DVDs and books above. More pertinent to the subject, probably the best book is one already recommended above, We wish to inform you... which is as harrowing as Hotel Rwanda.

Comment by rl

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 12:21:55 EDT

totally agree with your rwanda comments. i saw "hotel" and was devastated. yeah, i knew what had happened - had read articles & commentary. but seeing it dramatazied like that made such an impact. yep, the whole theater was sobbing, rightly so. will have to check out the other film you mentioned, when i can handle it...

Comment by Minega

Fri, 27 May 2005 13:26:11 EDT

Great post. I'm Rwandan so it's always good to see something like this. And I agree with Dean- both books are important in their own way, although Gourevitch's will probably never be topped.

Comment by mpho

Tue, 24 May 2005 17:38:00 EDT

thanks, aaman. While I appreciate the reading suggestions (I haven't read any of them yet), my rambling sort of point was that I'd rather have Hollywood tackle these historical moments long after the fact than not at all because if once-current events don't make it into what we think of as entertainment venues, a huge cross-section of the population will never learn anything, even a distilled, watered down version of events. I'm sure more people have seen the box office smash Hotel Rwanda than the total number who have read Shake Hands With The Devil, Gourevitch's book, and Bowden's book added together. I mean here I am, acting like I know it all, and I haven't even read their books. It's easier to get someone to commit to 2 1/2 hours of voyeuristic activity than to push a book on somebody, so why not make the most of it? by the way, French's book, A Continenet for the Taking," is subtitled "The Tragedy and Hope of Africa." While it's not specific to Rwanda, French talks a lot of things that happened all over Africa during the 1990s. Foreign Affairs has a great review at http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501fabook83355/howard-w-french/a-continent-for-the-taking-the-tragedy-and-hope-of-africa.html which is different from the link I chose in my blog post.

Comment by Aaman

Tue, 24 May 2005 16:36:44 EDT

The ending of Sometimes in April wonders if after the next genocide it will take another 10 years for HBO films and the like to be made before people realize, yet again Great opinion,mpho

Comment by dean

Tue, 24 May 2005 15:21:46 EDT

Gourevitch's book is definitely good but I would disagree with your assessment of Dallaire as "hero-posturing". I wouldn't call Shake Hands with the Devil a brilliant read (Dallaire uses far to many obscure UN acronyms for my taste) but it does a good job of capturing the essence and hopelessness of the situation. Given the lack of support for the mission, Dallaire did about as well as anyone could, to his own cost.

Comment by Quack Corleone

Tue, 24 May 2005 14:33:01 EDT

Not to be rude, but I'd recommend against Dallaire's book and his hero-posturing. Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda is a good alternative.

Comment by Brent McKee

Tue, 24 May 2005 12:55:13 EDT

I heartily recommend the book Shake Hands With The Devil by the Canadian General Romeo Dallaire for anyone who wants a serious examination about UN and US policy on Rwanda and the efects as it was seen by the guy who was in charge on the ground when the crap hit the fan.