Into the Quick of Life: The Rwandan Genocide--The Survivors Speak - Softcover

Jean Hatzfeld

Softcover

ISBN 10: 185242883X ISBN 13: 9781852428839

Publisher: Trans-Atlantic Pubns, 2005

Synopsis

Five out of six Tutsis were hacked to death with machetes and spears by their Hutu neighbours. In the villages of Nyamata and N'tarama, where, in the first two days of the genocide, over 10,000 Tutsis were massacred in the churches where they sought refuge, Jean Hatzfeld interviewed some of the survivors. Of all ages, coming from different walks of life, from orphan teenage farmers to the local social worker, fourteen survivors talk of the genocide, the death of family and friends in the church and in the marshes of Bugesera to which they fled. They also talk of their present life and try to explain and understand the reasons behind the extermination. These horrific accounts of life at the very edge contrast with Hatzfeld's own sensitive and vivid descriptions of Rwanda's villages and countryside in peacetime. Into the quick of life brings us, in the author's own words, as close to the event as we can ever get.

About this title

About the Author

Born in Madagascar in1949, novelist and journalist Jean Hatzfeld worked for several years as foreign correspondent for French daily newspaper Liberation, covering both the conflict in Yugoslavia, where he was wounded by machine-gun fire in 1992, and the Rwandan genocide. He lives in Paris. 45

Review

Very rarely does journalism transform itself into a work of literature, that reportage and the investigation transcend the subject of the investigation: Jean Hatzfeld has achieved this miracle. His secret is his profound humanity, his persistant almost desperate desire to find and hear all words of the human being - victim or killer. In this way, he discovers what they have in common: like us they are ordinary human beings -- Gil Courtemanche ?This harrowing work in its entirety is surely among the most powerful pieces of journalism of our generation? Herald ?Only Primo Levi gets closer to what genocide means? Venue ?These stories are obviously harrowing to read but... it * victim and perpetrator are still frozen in those 100 days the world ignored.? The Irish Independent *

Edition details

• Publisher: Trans-Atlantic Pubns
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 185242883X
• ISBN 13: 9781852428839
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224