Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey

Rating:
Summary: Evil in its most naked form.
Review: Not since Hitler's and the Japanese atrocities in WWII has humanity witnessed the barbaric impulses of man if left unchecked. In a nation of 6million people(Appr.,) about a million was eliminated within a period of 90 days while the rest of the world stood by and essentially watched. Until I read Keane's "Season of Blood," I had often wondered what madness would cause neighbors who ostensibly had been on friendly relations for almost a lifetime to fall on one another with murderous intentions without clear, apparent provocation-Bosnia also comes to mind in this context. I now know that the whole Rwandan episode was not just a spontaneous act, arising out of deep seated tribal sentiments, but one orchestrated by powerful forces using the peasants as tools. The complicity of some powerful entities in the world (French and Belgians most especially using their Hutu elite surrogates) that fuel the fire that burned so many Rwandan men, women and children still remain largely unexamined. Keane's book, achieves the dual purpose of presenting the event both in its vivid, nightmarish reality and placing it in the proper historical context.

Rating:
Summary: A read That you Will Never Forget
Review: Rwananda is so far away from New York. I never paid any attention while the violence was taking place. I should have. We all should have. I have never read such a powerful book before. In just a few short pages the horror of what happened is described in ways you will never forget. The scene at the church was one of the saddest things i have ever read. This book is a must read on what is happening in Africa. The book shows how the European Scramble for Africa of the 19th century and the meaningless borders the imperialists created still effect the continent today.

Rating:
Summary: A read That you Will Never Forget
Review: Rwananda is so far away from New York. I never paid any attention while the violence was taking place. I should have. We all should have. I have never read such a powerful book before. In just a few short pages the horror of what happened is described in ways you will never forget. The scene at the church was one of the saddest things i have ever read. This book is a must read on what is happening in Africa. The book shows how the European Scramble for Africa of the 19th century and the meaningless borders the imperialists created still effect the continent today.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, evocative work
Review: The Rwandan massacres seemed to barely make the news cycle in the United States, and while our government shamefully refused to take any action to prevent the massacres, many international news organizations placed reporters in jeopardy to uncover the events of that harrowing month. Feargal Keane's book is a very personal and immediate account of what happened in his time reporting on the attempted genocide. While I do agree with other reviewers that his account does not attempt to place the regional tensions into a broader context (like Gourevitch's excellent "We regret to inform you..."), it does more to involve the reader in the stinging reality of what was happening at the very moment of the crisis. His fear is palpable, and as he drives up to each roadblock, his writing conveys the uncertainly of that situation, of the drunk soldiers, of those in the bush trying to avoid them, etc. It is this immediacy that makes the book so valuable in my mind, that it puts you so close to the nightmare as it was happening makes this an unforgettable and immensely distressing read. It is these kinds of images, written or drawn, that might move our leaders to act.

Rating:
Summary: Evil has reasons that reason does not know
Review: This harrowing account of about two weeks of the 100 days of Rwandan genocide during 1994 is aptly entitled "Season Of Blood." Fergal Keane, correspondent for BBC, records some of the murderous atrocities the Hutu's perpetuated on the Tutsi's. His description of the freshly discovered scene of carnage at Nyarubuye Church as well as the events that led to it is as searing a testament to evil in its malicious state as any on paper. His heart wrenching discussion with Brother's Otto and Henri of St. Paul's about their "catch 22" decision to knowingly leave orphans in harm's way in order to save Otto's life embodies the seeming helplessness of many before such a murderous wave. Keane provides historical context for the genocide and presents his take on the hideous nature of this crime against humanity--"damaged souls"--and thereby avoids an artificial analysis of its causes. Political, tribal or economic evaluations aid in our understanding of the undercurrents of this catastrophe, yet do not do justice to its root cause. Evil has reasons that reason does not know. The twentieth century has witnessed the best and worst of human nature. Fergal Keane has documented an aspect of ourselves that defies simple assessments or critiques comfortably made at an arms distance. In uncovering Rwandan evil he reveals the nature of our heart and our need of redemption.

Rating:
Summary: Evil has reasons that reason does not know
Review: This harrowing account of about two weeks of the 100 days of Rwandan genocide during 1994 is aptly entitled "Season Of Blood." Fergal Keane, correspondent for BBC, records some of the murderous atrocities the Hutu's perpetuated on the Tutsi's. His description of the freshly discovered scene of carnage at Nyarubuye Church as well as the events that led to it is as searing a testament to evil in its malicious state as any on paper. His heart wrenching discussion with Brother's Otto and Henri of St. Paul's about their "catch 22" decision to knowingly leave orphans in harm's way in order to save Otto's life embodies the seeming helplessness of many before such a murderous wave. Keane provides historical context for the genocide and presents his take on the hideous nature of this crime against humanity--"damaged souls"--and thereby avoids an artificial analysis of its causes. Political, tribal or economic evaluations aid in our understanding of the undercurrents of this catastrophe, yet do not do justice to its root cause. Evil has reasons that reason does not know. The twentieth century has witnessed the best and worst of human nature. Fergal Keane has documented an aspect of ourselves that defies simple assessments or critiques comfortably made at an arms distance. In uncovering Rwandan evil he reveals the nature of our heart and our need of redemption.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Place to Start
Review: This is a book for the uninitiated. Poignant scenes that can make even the most hardhearted breakdown are well painted here in short easy to read narrative. The fear, disgust, smells, sounds are all real. I felt the book was too superficial to be of much use to the serious scolar looking for a reason. The historical references were superficial and in places erroneous.

Characters the author tried to build were fleeting and left one begging for more. Unfortunatly the author displays a fundamental distance from Africa and Africans that while I suspect not intentional, could be seen as an arrogance that is at times ugly.