About this title: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the modern classics "Mountains Beyond Mountains" and "The Soul of a New Machine" returns with the extraordinary true story of a young man and his will to turn his life into something truly remarkable.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2009-08-25
ISBN-13:9781400066216ISBN:1400066212
Description: Like New. As issued no jacket. Trade Paperback. Advance Reading Copy in like new condition. No marks or creases and appears unread. Beautiful book. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400066216ISBN:1400066212
Description: New in new dust jacket. 30% off retail. Prompt shipping. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 277 p. Audience: General/trade. From the back cover: "A young man arrives in the big city with two hundred dollars in his pocket, no English at all, and memories of horror so fresh that he sometimes confuses past and present...Two years later he enrolls in an Ivy League university. How did this happen? ..." read more
Description: GOOD. Hardcover-9781400066216 mjm LARGE HC W/DJ [KIDDER, TRACY] STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS A JOURNEY OF REMEMBRANCE AND FORGIVENESS. read more
Edition: Advance Reading Copy
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Random House, New York:
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400066216ISBN:1400066212
Description: A fine book in illustrated wrappers. The story of Deo who arrives in America with a few dollars in his pocket and his dream to be a doctor. By the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781400066216ISBN:1400066212
Description: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the modern classics "Mountains Beyond Mountains" and "The Soul of a New Machine" returns with the extraordinary true story of a young man and his will to turn his life into something truly remarkable. read more
"I'm sure some people will bypass this book because the subject is about the genocide in Burundi and Rwanda, which is not exactly relaxing reading material. (Actually I would have bypassed it too if I hadn't read a good review somewhere or other.) But it's also a true and wonderfully hopeful story of kindness and survival. Deogratias, who escaped from the genocide via an Aeroflot flight, spoke no English, had never been out of Burundi, and arrived in NYC alone with only his nightmarish memories and $200 in his pocket. The book slips back and forth between his life in the US and his life growing up in Burundi until the horrific civil war forced him to run. I'm still digesting this story ... it raises all kinds of questions and thoughts about cultures, good and evil, poverty, wealth, kindness to strangers, education ... it's a great book and well worth reading (so good in fact that I read it in one day.)"
"This book involves a young doctor's escape from the civil war/ethnic cleansing in Burindi, which borders Rwanda. The genocide in Burindi had many of the same factors as the Rwandan genocide -- Hutus vs. Tutsis. It was definitely an interesting read -- the protagonist Deo was a resident at a rural hospital when the fighting broke out, and barely managed to escape before making it to New York. The book focuses on his arrival in New York, and how he made it to college and then American medical school after being homeless in Central Park. The remainder of the book deals with his return to Burundi in later years to see the aftermath. The author accompanys him, and provides a lot of factual detail to go with the emotional reactions Deo is experiencing.
It's a great book, but I think I've been reading too many escape from African genocide/I was a child soldier type of books, because some of the details did begin to bleed together for me. It presents an interesting point of view, given that Deo is a doctor, was better-off, and able to escape to the United States. Definitely worth a read -- it was a fantastic book, especially if you're interested in these types of stories."
"The two parts of this book make for vastly different reading experiences.
In the first part, "Flights", we hear Deo's story of survival on two fronts: escaping the mass slaughter in Burundi and Rwanda, and making his way to the streets of New York City. Though Deo arrives with no money and no English skills, he quickly adapts to urban life in the States, as a result of his own determination and curiosity, and through the astounding generosity and kindness of strangers. This is the story of a phoenix rising; we feel a great wave of hope, optimism, and possibility for Deo. And then, reality sets in.
In the second part, "Gusimbura", Tracy Kidder himself enters the story, as a journalist accompanying Deo on his return to the countries he fled. Deo makes his return with the intent of setting up a health clinic, but the majority of this section is devoted to visiting memorials and sites on the path of Deo's original escape. We get a brief primer on the genocide and the underpinnings of the tensions between Hutus and Tutsis. Though Kidder's writing is direct and clear, the scope of what happened is simply overwhelming, and the darkness of this piece of history makes it difficult to keep reading. It's grim and sobering, and though we've set our hopes on Deo, we end the story with the uncomfortable and very real knowledge that his work for positive change is but a flicker illuminating a mountain of corruption, memory, and despair.
I'm adding Dambisa Moyo's "Dead Aid" to my list, as I think it would make a good companion piece for this book. Where do we even begin to rebuild?"
"This is the true story of Deo, a young Burundian who escaped the genocide in both Burundi and Rwanda only to end up in New York City with $200 in his pocket, unable to speak English, not knowing a single soul, and no plan whatsoever. The story of his survival and perseverance as a homeless immigrant living on the tough streets of New York is pretty amazing, but it is the horror of what he experienced in his native land that is nearly beyond imagining.
When he first arrives at J.F.K. Airport he is watching all the happy people rush by in their business suits and fancy clothes. As he observes them, he wonders, "There were people just going about their business, greeting their friends and their families, as if they didn't know there were places where dogs were trotting around with human heads in their mouths. But how could they not know?" That kind of horror is hard for me to fathom, but that was the world from which Deo had escaped.
Deo's story is not an easy one to read. At times it felt nearly overwhelming, but he is an amazing person. Within 10 years of arriving in the U.S. he had graduated from Columbia University with degrees in biochemistry and philosophy and had been accepted into medical school at Dartmouth. But through it all he has continued to return to Burundi devoting his life to helping the people there. His inspiring story is ultimately one of hope."
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