Product Description: In April of 1994, nearly a million Rwandans were killed in what would prove to be one of the swiftest, most terrifying killing sprees of the 20th century. In "Murambi, The Book of Bones", Boubacar Boris Diop comes face to face with the chilling horror and overwhelming sadness of the tragedy. Now, the power of Diop's acclaimed novel is available to English-speaking readers through Fiona Mc Laughlin's crisp translation. This novel recounts the story of a Rwandan history teacher, Cornelius Uvimana, who was living and working in Djibouti at the time of the massacre. He returns to Rwanda to try to comprehend the death of his family and to write a play about the events that took place there. As the novel unfolds, Cornelius begins to understand that it is only our humanity that will save us, and that as a writer, he must bear witness to the atrocities of the genocide. From the novel: 'If only by the way people are walking, you can see that tension is mounting by the minute. I can feel it almost physically. Everyone is running or at least hurrying about. I meet more and more passersby who seem to be walking around in circles. There seems to be another light in their eyes. I think of the fathers who have to face the anguished eyes of their children and who can't tell them anything. For them, the country has become an immense trap in the space of just a few hours. Death is on the prowl. They can't even dream of defending themselves. Everything has been meticulously prepared for a long time: the administration, the army, and the [militia] are going to combine forces to kill, if possible, every last one of them'.
Calling a monster by its name This book by Senegalese writer Boubacar Boris Diop deals with the Rwandan genocide from the perspective of Cornelius Uvimana, a Rwandan teacher who returns from exile in Djibouti to come to terms with the genocide and the death of his mother, brother and sister. However, upon his return, Cornelius soon learns that the distinction between victim and perpetrator, innocent and guilty is not as clear cut as he originally thought. Through Cornelius, Diop deals with the role of the writer in dealing with the genocide, to meaning to it, to give names and hopes and dreams to the victims, to "call a monster by its name." A haunting and thought provoking novel.
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