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Strength in What Remains

Page history last edited by mstoeger@... 14 years, 7 months ago

Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness

by Tracy Kidder

Pub Date: 8/25/09

 

Plot: When violence between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes irrupted in Burundi in the early 1990s, Deo narrowly escaped death and spent months on the run, hiding in forests. He finally escaped from Burundi in 1994. He was 24 and had completed three years of medical school. When he arrived in New York City, he had very little money, no place to stay, and could not speak English. He ended up living in Central Park, delivering groceries twelve hours a day, making only $15. But his tenacity drove him to keep working, and eventually, with the help of new friends, he was able to enroll in Columbia University, and later Dartmouth, to complete his medical degree. He then went to work for Partners in Health with Paul Farmer, and began working on building a healthcare clinic in Burundi.

 

General Thoughts: Kidder has a wonderful ability to get to the heart of his "characters" and make readers feel like you know them. Great descriptions of life in Africa, as well as life on the streets of NYC. Fans of Mountains Beyond Mountains will like the tie-in w/Paul Farmer.

 

3 Words/Phrases that describe this book: horrible tragedies, perseverance, changing the world

 

Similar to: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, What is the What by David Eggers, They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky by Alephonsion Deng, An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, The Soloist by Steve Lopez, Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

 

Who would I recommend this too? fans of Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains, readers looking for strong characters, descriptive settings/events and inspiring stories. A good read for older teens also.

 

Would this make a good discussion? Definitely. There is a lot to talk about in this book: Africa, genocide, awareness, healing, race, class, immigrants, selflessness, perseverance, etc.

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