Running the Rift

by Naomi Benaron

Running the Rift follows the progress of Jean Patrick Nkuba from the day he knows that running will be his life to the moment he must run to save his life. A naturally gifted athlete, he sprints over the thousand hills of Rwanda and dreams of becoming his country’s first Olympic medal winner in track. But Jean Patrick is a Tutsi in a world that has become increasingly restrictive and violent for his people. As tensions mount between the Hutu and Tutsi, he holds fast to his dream that running might deliver him, and his people, from the brutality around them.

Winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, Naomi Benaron has written a stunning and gorgeous novel that—through the eyes of one unforgettable boy— explores a country’s unraveling, its tentative new beginning, and the love that binds its people together.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Africa, Rwanda, Book Club, War, Adult Fiction

365 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Naomi Benaron won the 2010 Bellwether Prize for Fiction for her novel RUNNING THE RIFT, forthcoming from Algonquin books. She earned an MFA from Antioch University and an MS in earth sciences from Scripps Institute of Oceanography. She teaches online through UCLA Extension Writers' Program and the Afghan Women's Writing Project. An advocate for African refugees in her community, she has worked extensively with genocide survivor groups in Rwanda. She has won the G. S. Sharat Chandra Prize for Short Fiction and the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Competition. She is also an Ironman triathlete."

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running the Rift is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's evocative, touching, heartbreaking and enlightening. There's much to love about this book:

The characters: The main character, Jean Patrick Nbuka, is a young man with a gift - a gift for running. He comes of age in a complicated time. As a Tutsi, he is labeled and categorized by a line drawn in the sand decades before his birth. The world around him is confusing, but Jean Patrick blocks out most of it by focusing on his dream to become an Olympian. Only when the harsh realities of the world around him impact his daily life does he force himself to try to understand what is going on. As a reader, I related to this. Frankly, there were no rational explanations for what happened in Rwanda during this time. Jean Patrick's confusion was the perfect vehicle for me to see this conflict. If you've read The Power of One, Jean Patrick reminded me of Peekay. His running is what allowed him to hold onto himself while his world shattered around him.

The writing: The author of this book, Naomi Benaron, is an author with a gift - a gift for story telling. The language throughout this book is pitch perfect. The Rwandan setting and the scenes of Hutu aggression against Jean Patrick let me know there would be tragedy coming - and the writing helped build that tension. I appreciated that as Benaron told this very particular story, she let her writing tell a much broader story. Certain sentences jumped out at me as holding truth far beyond their meaning for just this story. The descriptions of African food, smells and scenery were some of the best I've ever encountered. I felt like I was there.

The story: Running the Rift tells the story of the Rwandan genocide beautifully and painfully. Like all of the best books (The Book Thief), this story reminds us that real life is about running the rift - that space where pain and beauty meet. This story is much more than the story of Jean Patrick. It's the story of all young people who have a gift and how it feels to use that gift. (If you've ever been thankful for the way your morning run makes you feel alive, read this book. Jean Patrick speaks your language.) It's the story of a life that teeters between hope and despair. It's the story of not knowing who to trust or how much to trust them.

The setting: I knew little about the Rwandan genocide before reading this book. I'd seen Hotel Rwanda and read a few Newsweek articles, but not much more. Having now seen the world through Jean Patrick's eyes, I will never again be confused about what Hutu or Tutsi mean. My one suggestion: have a map of Rwanda nearby as you read. I waited until I was finished to locate Kigali, Cyangugu and Butare on Google Maps, but it might help you envision these places more easily if you do that earlier rather than later. Perhaps future editions of this book will include a map? Because surely there will be many editions to come.

If you're in the mood for a book that is bigger than your average read (not in length, but in depth), read Running the Rift.

If your own life feels confusing, overwhelming and out of kilter, read this book to get some perspective.

If you're looking for the first great book of 2012, you'll find it in Running the Rift.

You'll never forget the story of Jean Patrick Nbuka and the people of Rwanda.

[Leslie Street · Rating 3 out of 5]

I keep going back and forth whether or not to give this book three or four stars. I have read several nonfiction books on the Rwandan genocide and I feel like that is getting in the way of my ability to evaluate this book as a work of fiction. In my opinion, the book reads a little dryly. The author tries to situate a fictional story within an accurate historical setting, and in my opinion, this makes all of the characters a little on dimensional. I think that it is hard to write fictional characters when the real stories of what happened to people in the genocide is so compelling. Everything in this book feels a little to forced. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed reading this book, but that could also be because I have spent so much time studying the Rwandan genocide that I am compelled by the subject and not the book itself. I like the main character in the book, Jean Patrick, but it is weird to remind yourself that this story is fictional, because there are plenty of real people who actually suffered in the way that Jean Patrick did. I don't know, I guess I still come down on the idea that nonfiction books about the real people who suffered through the Rwandan genocide are better than fictionalized accounts. Good fiction writing can't substitute for real emotions, feelings and events as actually lived.

[Emily Crowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was awake very early this morning, courtesy of my dog Roxanne who needed to go outside around 5:00 a.m. At first I grumbled about it but then I realized that in fact she gave me the perfect opportunity to finish reading a riveting new book I'd picked up a couple of days ago called Running the Rift. It's Naomi Benaron's Bellwether Prize-winning debut novel, set in Rwanda in the 1990s. I'd been reading it in 100-page chunks but I didn't want to push through to the end last night when I was so sleepy.

Well, it was a thoroughly engrossing read. I'll need to mull it over a bit before posting a full review 'cause right now I'm still reeling from it. It's one of those books where you know exactly what's going to be happen, even if you don't know the particulars, and the narrative tension builds both from within the story and from without, based on your own knowledge of actual historical events. Like a novel that opens in Honolulu in 1940, or one that features the Warsaw Ghetto in the late 1930s, you know what you're gonna get with a book featuring Rwanda of the early 1990s.

All I can say is, read it. The book releases in January from our good friends at Algonquin and Naomi Benaron will be at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA, on February 2, 2012, for a reading and booksigning; if you believe in the importance of literature in understanding the human condition and the role it plays in creating empathy & dispelling fear, this is an event you should attend (or perhaps one in your area, as I know Ms. Benaron will be touring.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Running The Rift" by Naomi Benaron is an incredible tribute to all who perished in the Rwanda genocide in the early 1990's while the world looked the other way. I picked it up because of the wonderful cover & a quick peek at the book synopsis. I read it basically in one sitting (ok, I was flat on my back sick) and was blown away by the moving story of Jean Patrick and his coming of age during the upheaval and horror of Rwanda. His dream was to make the Olympics - his reality was to slowly confront the reality of his life amid the horror....and somehow to continue to believe in the goodness of people and our ability to love. Other reviewers have said that it plods along in the beginning, I totally disagree. Benaron's path makes us care about all the characters, admire their strengths, realize how beautiful a country Rwanda is and set the stage for what's to come. We watch Jean Patrick grow up - we see that people who live in horrible (by our standards) circumstances, actually, sometimes have more than we do. The love of family in forefront in this book - regardless of the horrible things happening. This book will be my standard for 2012 - my only complaint is I couldn't figure our what "Rift" stood for until I dug out my atlas and saw that it's a valley that runs through that part of the world. If it was mentioned, I missed it. I highly recommend this book!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most atrocious acts in all of contemporary history was the systematic genocide of one of two ethnic groups in Rwanda – the Tutsi by the Hutu. Disturbingly, the western world stood by and did nothing as the borders were closed and innocent people – even young babies -- were savagely killed by hate-mongrels for…what?

Naomi Benaron’s Bellweather Prize novel brings us up close and personal to this episode in history through Jean Patrick Nkuba, a Tutsi teenager who is gifted through his running ability. The president of Rwanda quickly seizes upon Jean Patrick as a way to show the west that Rwanda is a tolerant country. Jean Patrick is given the life-saving Hutu ID card (“Today you are Tutsi. When you go to Butare to train with your coach this weekend, you will be Hutu. What a marvelous power you have now!”)

In the first half of the book, Benaron establishes Jean Patrick’s life. He loses his father at a tender age, is embraced – with his siblings – into the home of his uncle, and trains passionately and intensely for a shot at the Olympics. Benaron has obviously done her homework and the sounds, sights, and smells of Rwanda pervade these early chapters. By skillfully rendering the bonds of family and the tenderness of community, we get to know Jean Patrick and “buy into” his desire to achieve his goal of winning the gold and providing esteem again for the Tutsi people. And we root for him as he falls in love with a journalism student, Bea, who captivates him at first sight.

But then the Hutus and Tutsi situation erupts into sheer hell. In almost unbearable-to-read prose, we – the readers – see what happens when “no safe or sane place exists within the country.” Borders are sealed off, Tutsis are hunted down in churches and schools, one-time neighbors dismiss Tutsi friends as “cockroaches” and always, always, the voice of Radio Rwanda is in the background: “All Tutsi will perish. They will disappear from the earth. We will kill them like rats.” Those who live in the west – the same people who react passionately (and rightfully) when gorillas are exterminated do next-to-nothing.

This book is very difficult for me to rate. There are the traditional problems of the debut writer in the first half: authorial intrusion as the author tries to educate the reader about Rwanda, placing words inappropriately in the mouths of certain characters. There are some traces of young adult writing and times when the metaphors become too standard. If you asked me half-way through, I might have rated the book in the 3.5 to 4 star level.

The last half was so searing, though, that the images will be indelibly imprinted in my mind and the writing soars to 6 stars. I felt I was “twinned” with Jean Patrick as he races with terror for his very life. One of the most amazing parts of this book is that it offers love, friendship, and individual hope at the same time it explores inhumanity on an unimaginable scale. Benaron writes, “In the darkness, men and women lay together and created new life. This was the dance of Rwanda. Jean Patrick could not let himself believe that this dance, as familiar as the beat of his heart, could suddenly end.” One wishes – futilely – that the killing will never begin again…anywhere.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

They banged along the muddy road, bodies sprawled across it: women naked from the waist down, a man with a single shoe, the other placed neatly beside him, two small children curled in an embrace. Littered belongings scattered in the wind, hung from tree limbs. Identity cards fluttered like dying butterflies.

This is a beautiful and touching book. I absolutely loved the author's descriptions. She paints extremely vivid pictures of places and people, and even the characters with a very small part in the book became flesh and blood to me. I thought her pacing throughout the book was also brilliantly done. Even though there's always an undertone of tension, she tells her story using African time. For me this also shows how even in the worst of times human beings crave normality. We keep on living and focusing on the everyday things, like falling in love, even though it's obvious that life as we know it is doomed.

What always gets me about the Rwandan genocide is that your neighbors, people you've know your whole life, were the ones that turned on you, and ended up killing you and your family. What goes wrong in a nation, when people can allow themselves to hack close friends to death with a machete? If we were authorized to kill, would we also be so easily persuaded?

I also love the title of this book. Rift having more than one meaning:
1. an opening made by splitting, cleaving, etc.; fissure; cleft; chink.
2. an open space, as in a forest or cloud mass, or a clear interval.
3. a break in friendly relations: a rift between two people; a rift between two nations.
4. a difference in opinion, belief, or interest that causes such a break in friendly relations.
5. Geology . a. a fault. and b. a graben of regional extent.
Naomi Benaron addresses all these different rifts in her novel.

I highly recommend this harrowing novel with it's memorable characters to everyone.

The story: Jean Patrick dreams of running in the Olympics, and with grueling training he soon beats a world qualifying time. But his chances of success are threatened by the ethnic tensions erupting all around him. When Hutu violence against Tutsi's finally crescendos and his homeland Rwanda is wracked by unforgivable atrocities, Jean Patrick, a Tutsi, has no choice but to run for his life abandoning fatherland, family, and the woman he loves. Finding them again will be the race of his life.

[Amy Warrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

There ARE books I like, honest. This just isn't one of them. This book is YA masquerading as lit because it is about the Rwandan genocide, so we can't just write it off. I GET IT. But it reads like a writing assignment...the author has started with a schoolboy hero who is so naive that everybody keeps having to explain things to him - thus to us as well. (The dude kept getting his lunch money stolen, too, which kept driving me crazy 'cause I couldn't see the point.) And it takes 200 pages for anything of any interest to actually HAPPEN...I guess we have to be thoroughly convinced that Jean Patrick ONLY WANTS TO RUN before we can venture out of his tiny little world.

Then in the second half, oh my god, there's VIOLENCE, killing, and suddenly everything feels like an epilogue. This book doesn't have the depth or emotion that makes it real for me. Each character is a little one-dimensional cardboard cutout.

If you want YA that draws you in and conveys real menace, try The Book Thief. If you don't want YA, skip this book, or at least if you must read it, after the first 50 pages, skip to the last 100 pages. You won't have missed much of anything.

[Leeanne G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing, absolutely nothing like the 1994 Rwandan Genocide must ever happen again.
That is all I can say for now.

Edit:
I have found time and the words to write a review of this book. I just got to say, this was rough, rough as in the things that happen to Jean Patrick, his family and friends was really rough. I should have expected this because it's about the Rwandan Genocide but it caught me a bit off guard. I first picked this up because it said it was about an aspiring Olympic runner, and since the Olympics just happened a little while ago and I am so glued to the TV when the Olympics are on, I thought it would be cool to learn about what it takes to be an Olympian. It didn't hurt that this is also about a time in history I think I ought to learn more about.

The main reason this book caught me off guard was because it starts out kind of slow. I have one issue with this book, and it is that it was really difficult to figure out how old Jean Patrick and Roger were because it was only mentioned once, and the book starts in 1984 and works its way to 1998 (skipping several years in between). At first, I wasn't sure if this book was worth the read because of all the jumping forward in the first few chapters, and I was impatient for some real races. Looking back, I realize that this wasn't just filler, everything Naomi wrote was purposeful; building the characters and building up to the horror of the genocide. She did not waste words.

I feel almost like I followed Jean Patrick through this horror. He started off as a young boy who didn't really know the difference between Tutsi and Hutu, and became a young man who knew the difference all to well. My fear for him was strong, as was my frustration with him when he refused to see the evidence that life in Rwanda was turning for the worst, and that the people he was choosing to trust were not who they seemed. He was trying to see the best in a situation where he needed to accept and acknowledge his all too real reality. It is not uncommon to try and pretend that things are not spiraling out of control when they so obviously are, so how can we really be upset with him for this?

I love the way Naomi Benaron wrote this. She made Rwanda so clear to me! I'm not sure how to describe her writing, but it was beautiful. Her descriptions of Rwanda were gentle, caring and full of the same wonder, pride and admiration that Jean Patrick felt when he looked at the beauty of his country. I hope we all know that feeling well. :) Of course, in the darker parts the descriptions were clear, and matter-of-fact. Again, I felt Jean Patrick's horror, fear and desperation during those parts.

The words just rolled through my head so smoothly as I read them. I would have loved if this had included a map so that I could figure out everywhere Jean Patrick went so much easier. I struggled picturing that part. I loved how she used real phrases from what I think is the language Kinyarwanda. That's the language Google told me it was when I put some phrases and words into Google Translate, but I don't know for certain if Google's actually right or not.

Running is definitely not my thing, it never has been. Even so, I enjoyed each of Jean Patrick's intense, exciting races, every one of his training sessions, and felt the freedom and elation he feels when he's just running for pure enjoyment. Jean Patrick's Olympic dream was inspired by meeting Telesphore Dusabe, who is actually a real Rwandan long distance runner who competed in the 1988 Olympics. So cool! My expectations of a story of what it takes to be an Olympian runner were not disappointed.

Jean Patrick is a runner, destined for the Olympic stadium, who just happens to be Tutsi. He just happens to be Tutsi in a time and place where that happened to be the worst thing you could possibly be. "You should take better care of your special gift. You won't get another one." His ability to take care of and use that special gift would end up being the difference between life and death. His special gift would also be how he would fight. He would fight with his legs, carrying all Tutsi with him.

One thing that really stood out to me was this quote:

"Jean Patrick recalled Jonathan's surprise when he mentioned that in Rwanda, students were not free to decide their course of study. He wondered what it would be like to pick from a list of courses as a diner picks from a menu. To say, I choose geology, or I chose physics. That was a world he could not even imagine."

Like, what!? I really, really hope this has changed. I can't imagine not having that choice.

I must warn everyone, this book was hard. The ending was really, really hard. There is death, there is blood, there is insane murderers who are so far from good it's almost unbelievable, and we lose a lot of the characters we come to love. Some of my favourite characters were (and these people did not necessarily die so please don't assume that) Roger, Daniel, Jonathan the American, Bea & her family, Mathilde, and Uncle Emmanuel. I don't know what to think of Coach anymore after what he did at the end.

It will never fail to make me mad when I hear about how the world did nothing while hundreds of innocent people were being brutally murdered for no reason other than they were not 'Hutu'.

"'And what about the United Nations?... We have not seen UNAMIR... United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda - a fancy name for an invisible army. Habyarimana promises UN troops, and we see more government soldiers. He promises peace, and we get more killings'... Jean Patrick dismissed Daniel's news. 'These things take time. Eventually they will change. They must."

Why did people just ignore this!!!!????? What is wrong with people!!??

"In Europe, his contacts apologized and said there was nothing they could do. They would keep trying, but no one was listening. Rwanda had no oil or strategic interest, no diamonds or gold."

Why, why, why does there need to be any of these things!!?? Why are human lives not enough!? All in all, a really great book about life as a Tutsi in Rwanda during the genocide.

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Running the Rift follows the life of Jean Patrick Nkuba, a gifted Tutsi runner in Rwanda who dreams of Olympic glory. Set against Rwanda's tumultuous history leading up to the 1994 genocide, it is a story of both personal ambition and political turmoil. The storyline depicts the gradual escalation of Hutu-Tutsi tensions and the eruption into bloodshed. Rather than focusing solely on the horrific events of the genocide itself, Benaron traces how prejudices and political manipulations slowly transformed the country. Jean Patrick’s positive running experiences provide a contrast to the increasing violence that surrounds him.

The prose strikes me as young adult. I think this is natural since we are following the coming of age of the main character. Jean Patrick is portrayed as an ordinary young man with the typical interests of youth – athletic ambitions, academic pursuits, and first love. A complexity arises with his growing awareness of the dangers around him. It is a novel that portrays a tragedy of social injustice. The author’s deftly handles this difficult history. I just wish the prose had been a bit more sophisticated.

3.5

[Mikey B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to go against the stream here as many reviewers have given glowing recommendations of this book. It is about the tragic events in Rwanda in 1994.

The book describes, through the characters, the fuse that led to the genocide. One does feel the tension and the animosities between the two groups (Tutsi and Hutu), but the author does well to portray that not all partook of this hatred. The main character is Jean Patrick who is a Tutsi and a talented runner who starts training for the Olympics. He is caught between his obsession to train and run, and being a Tutsi.

The story is event driven, but the characters Jean Patrick, his coach, Beatrice (Jean Patrick girlfriend), and several more, are all somewhat superficial. There are long descriptions of loving family relationships which became monotonous. Except for the relationship between Jean Patrick and his coach, their interactions were cloying and made the book plodding (for me this book was not a page-turner, in fact it kind of lingered, as I found excuses not to continue reading). And the continuity of reality can be exasperating. For example at the end when Jean Patrick is reunited with Beatrice she has a child which we are never introduced to – and as they spend much time together this child conveniently disappears; so the question becomes who is looking after this child while Jean Patrick and Beatrice travel about and rekindle their relationship?

This novel – given the cataclysm of Rwanda – was somewhat devoid of impact. It read like someone writing from a distance – almost like Rwanda-101. It would definitely be better to read the books cited by the author at the end. I would recommend Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Roméo Dallaire.

All-in-all, for me, this was not really convincing.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember hearing on the news and reading in the papers about the genocide in Rawanda, the racial strife between the Hutus and the Tutsis, but I really didn't understand what was going on and I forgot a very important thing. Until this courageous book with the wonderful characters of Jean Patrick and his family. I didn't think about the people living there, normal families with dreams and hopes, living during this terrible time just trying to exist, find love and take care of their own. Thanks to Benaron, I understand so much more, but the story within the telling was very well written and heartfelt, though horrible at times. Books like this make one think and that is a very good thing. As I read this I felt, angry, sad, appalled and at times even joyful and a writer that makes one feel all that is truly unique.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

In "Running the Rift," Naomi Benaron writes about Jean Patrick Nkuba, a young man who comes of age in the spring of 1994, during the Rwandan genocide. Benaron begins with Jean Patrick's early childhood, as he races with his older brother Roger. Excelling in footraces, he begins to dream of becoming an Olympic champion, especially after the Olympic runner, Telesphore Dusabe, visits his school. Telesphore tells Jean Patrick, "Someday you will need to run as much as you need to breath." Throughout the novel, Benaron immerses the reader in the political and cultural climate of Rwanda. After Jean Patrick's father is killed in a car accident, some boys threw rocks through the windows of their home, shouting "Tutsi snakes." Benaron writes, "Before his first day in primary school, Jean Patrick had not known what Tutsi meant. When the teacher said, "All Tutsi stand," Jean Patrick did not know that he was to rise from his seat and be counted and say his name." Jean Patrick's father had been progressive (a teacher) and felt that all people were equal, regardless or background or race, so Jean Patrick comes to the knowledge slowly that being 'Tutsi' is not always a good thing, and more often than not, is grounds for shaming or physical abuse. Beanaron creates a loving cast of characters. The secondary characters are rich and complex. The landscape is also beautifully described, a character in the story as well. Benaron's prose is descriptive as well as poetic at times. Just like the colorful people that live within her story, the poetic images she conjures, move at will across the screen of the reader's mind. Here is a gorgeous passage,

"They had walked a short distance when the sky ruptured, thunder and lightning simultaneous. The bark on the eucalyptus exploded, shreds flying into the air. The force knocked them to the ground. Smoke rose from the tree, and Jean Patrick's skull rang like a struck bell. Roger lay on his back, knapsack twisted to the side.

"Are you all right?" Jean Patrick's tongue was thick in his mouth. He touched Roger's shoulder, and current sizzled in his fingers. Rain came down in a sheet.

"Such stupid little calves," Roger said. "Lying in the dirt with our mouths open." He helped Jean Patrick up, and they abandoned themselves to laughter. Mama called to them, her voice frantic. "How much will you bet me," Roger said, "that if we looked hard enough, we could find our souls seared into the tree?"

Jean Patrick glanced back in awe at the scarred trunk. At Christmas, Roger had still moved in the circle of family, his identity merged with theirs. Today, he had stepped from the circle. He had taken Jean Patrick by the hand and walked with him to the edge of his new life. But when Roger left, he would jump alone into its dizzying possibility. Soon enough, Jean Patrick would follow his own path, an oval tarmac four hundred meters around, to wherever it took him. Until then, Jean Patrick would have this tree as proof that this day had really happened. He could put his hand against the bark and feel Roger's soul, his heart with its steady beat of love."

I love this passage. Benaron shows how the bonds of love in a family always has these points of connection, even though they may be growing apart physically. Her approach is masterful and evocative.

At the end of the novel, Benaron's essay, 'Fiction and Social Responsibility: Where do they Intersect?' sheds light on why she wrote this timely and haunting story.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book, which made me realize (yet again) what a suburban bubble I truly live in. In 1994, I was at home in Southern California with my 3 and 4 year old children, oblivious to the horrors that were happening on the other side of the world. I entered into this book with a feeling of shock and guilt for my naïveté at world situations.

Since then, I have traveled to Kenya and Uganda, but have seen these countries through the viewpoint of a muzungu (white person). Thus, I know that my vision of what I was seeing was through the eyes of an American who has been fortunate to have never lived in a shack with a floor of red dirt, who has always had food to eat, and who has been truly blessed with an education. That said, it made the countryside images all the more real to me, as well as the generosity of the people. Beautiful on both counts, to be sure.

This story tackled a difficult time in Rwanda's history, where the two opposing groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes are at war with one another. To say that you don't know who to trust is an understatement. Unfortunately, it becomes commonplace to have acts of violence aimed at one of the tribes, and people are fearful. Benaron often writes that you shouldn't use both eyes to sleep.

The author tells the story through the eyes of Jean Patrick Nkuba, as he grows up. He is fortunate to be a strong student as he gains access (even while being Tutsi) into a secondary school and into a university. Along with his gifted mind, he is an even more gifted athlete, with a drive to run like I can't even imagine. He is Rwanda's best hope for the Olympic games and much of the story is devoted to his training and races. It should be his ticket through the madness that is to come.

I actually loved his character - he is a likeable kid, who has a strong sense of innocence throughout the story. Some of this, I felt, was due to his age at first, and then later, because he was so intent on his training, he almost blocked out real life. At one point, I felt that it does catch up with him and his bubble bursts with the realization of what is truly happening in his life.

Benaron writes the story as if she went through the genocide herself. She didn't, but it is obvious that she has done her research and has been guided by people who have. It is told from the view of insiders and with great compassion.

A wonderful (although at times emotionally difficult) read. Highly recommended.

[Elizabeth☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think benaron does a great job here of presenting rwanda's beauty and diversity. not just in its topography, but its people. she also has subtle criticisms of the west for not intervening when rwanda's genocide was clearly taking place.

the story follows the coming of age of jean patrick. he runs and is soon an olympic hopeful. This dream fuels his desire to see rwanda as nothing less than perfect. but rwanda is far from perfect.

jean patrick, at times, seems inexplicably naive, but i think this is in part because he can not admit to the ugly brutality of his countrymen. when things begin to happen, jean patrick is torn between his dream of running for his country and surviving for the sake of his family.

a beautifully heartbreaking read. one that has left me thinking far beyond the last page. i will admit i tried reading a non-fiction book on the same topic years ago and i just couldn't stomach the brutality of the killings. although there is not vivid descriptions here of the violence taking place, there is definitely a sinister undertone throughout. benaron makes rwanda a place of beauty, respect and humanity before she shows us the other side.

this makes you weep all the more for the loss of its heart and soul.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Fiction about a boy who dreams of being an Olympic athlete during the Rwandan genocide years.

I liked the historical side of this. It was definitely sad and tragic especially how people can hold themselves superior to others .... so much so, that they want to annihilate others...you know, those who don't deserve to draw breath, including women, children and whole families and neighbors. Unfortunately, many nations have faced that same issue.

The writing though kind of made this a little dry to get through. There was a lot of explaining and telling....and little showing. It made this feel much longer. This was probably 2.5 stars for me, but I'll round up for the research.

[Bonnie Brody]

Running the Rift begins in Rwanda in 1994 and takes the reader through 1998. It is the story of the horrific genocide that devastated the country and pitted neighbor against neighbor. It is also the story of individuals - their dreams, hopes and wreckage.

When the Belgians occupied Rwanda, they classified the people who spoke one language and shared one culture into two separate groups - the Hutus and the Tutsis. They did this by observing the physical characteristics of the people. The Tutsis tended to be thinner and lankier with smaller noses. The Hutus tended to be more muscular and had a stronger, stockier appearance. After these two groups were named, the balance of power shifted repeatedly between them. Sometimes the Tutsis held power and at other times the Hutus did.

At the time that this novel opens, the Hutus are gaining power and want to eradicate the Tutsis who they call `cockroaches' or `dog eaters'. The bloodshed is horrific and no one in this country is spared the death of loved ones or family. President Habyarimana has just seized power and states that he will make the country whole again. However, his words are empty. He is surrounded by thugs who support the genocide. He rules with empty promises. The United Nations have some troops in Rwanda but they are ineffective. The western countries seem not to care what is happening here and do not intervene to put a stop to the bloodshed.

The main protagonist in this novel is a young man named Jean Patrick, a focused and determined student and runner. Despite being a Tutsi, he has the top grades in his class and is accepted into a private boarding school. Jean Patrick is such a good runner that he hopes to make the Olympic team. It looks promising for him. Habyarimana holds him up as a symbol of the unity of Rwanda despite the fact that no unity exists.

Jean Patrick has a grueling schedule of work-outs and is training for the 800 meter event. His coach, Rutembeza, is a man who is difficult to read. He appears to support Jean Patrick and love him like a son but one gets the sense that there is something dark and hidden in his nature. It is he who is responsible for Jean Patrick's future. He secures a Hutu identity card for Jean Patrick so that he can pass himself off as Hutu at security checkpoints.

Once high school is over, Jean Patrick goes off to college in Butare. It is there that he first meets Bea, the love of his life. He becomes close to her family. Bea's father, Niyonzima is an esteemed journalist who has spent several years in jail in the past for writing articles that were deemed insubordinate. His wife Ineza is an artist. They look upon Jean Patrick as a son.

The novel is both historical and personal. The reader is taken through the genocide of a country while sharing the lives of Jean Patrick, Bea and their families. The genocide is viewed through their eyes and how it affects their lives.

The novel has won Barbara Kingsolver's Belwether prize for fiction, a prize that supports fiction that advocates social change. This book is a perfect example of that combination.

[Susi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Naomi Benaron takes on the formidable challenge of capturing the point of view of a character from a different culture and gender. This is no small feat, and by and large I got pulled into and convinced by the protagonist, Jean Patrick. I was also impressed by her pacing. Some other reviewers commented on how slowly the first two thirds felt, but to me it felt as if the writer were pacing her readers so they could finish the race; I consistently felt pulled along by the plot. We need to learn about Jean Patrick’s life and character—and the characters around him—in order to better understand everyone’s fate in the end. Besides, a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. Ironically, whereas Benaron seems to have a natural aptitude for pacing her writing, her character has trouble doing this as a racer.

This book is by no means a light read—but it’s a very worthwhile one.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The genocide which took place in Rwanda is incredibly horrifying and graphic, and yet Naomi Benaron has an incredible gift of being able to soften the blow by introducing us to characters and lives that keep us enthralled and disturbed all at the same time. This book is riviting, and it provides the reader an inside view of a country experiencing a volatile and heinous time, yet all the while feeling deeply for the separation and anxiety that is caused merely by ones birthright.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is set against the horrific backdrop of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, when gangs of Hutus, sponsored by the government, murdered approximately 800,000 Tutsis (along with pro-peace Hutus labeled as traitors).

Rwanda had previously been a Belgian colony. While there were some differences between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes prior to that, the Belgians exacerbated them by insisting on separate ID cards and establishing a power divide between the Tutsi, who got most of the land and the power, and the Hutus, many of whom were forced laborers. The inequality and injustice helped create hatred between the tribes:

"'…before the Belgians,' one of the characters in the book explains, 'distinctions were as fluid as the rivers, determined by marriage convenience, and status. Names of rivers changed, but the water remained the same.'”

All of that ended with colonization. There had also been mass violence against the Hutu by the Tutsi in neighboring Burundi.

The author, in her meticulously accurate portrayal of the run-up to and perpetration of the genocide in Rwanda, records how the country’s media was critical in inciting ethnic hatred and the desire for revenge. The government itself organized neighborhood militias to carry out the killings, even importing a half a million machetes for the use of the Hutu. Youth and alcohol also contributed.

Rape was also used as a weapon in the attempt not only to punish and humiliate the Tutsis but to impregnate the women with Hutu children. To some extent the effort backfired, since some 70% of the assault victims were infected with HIV. (Estimates on the number of women raped ranged from 250,000 to half a million.) Hutu women who were considered “moderates” were also subject to rape.

The West did very little to respond to pleas for help, except to remove their own white citizens and take them to safety. One character, making calls to influential people he knew, found that:

"In Europe, his contacts apologized and said there was nothing they could do. They would keep trying, but no one was listening. Rwanda had no oil or strategic interest, no diamonds or gold.”

In the U.S., the Secretary of State under President Clinton refused even to acknowledge that the systematic murder of the Tutsis constituted “genocide.” [In March 1998, on a visit to Rwanda, U.S. President Bill Clinton said: "We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we in the United States and the world community did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred" in Rwanda.” He later stated that the "biggest regret" of his presidency was not acting decisively to stop the Rwandan Genocide.]

In Running the Rift, all these facts are intimately interwoven with the story of a boy, Jean Patrick Nkuba, living in Cyangugu, Rwanda, who dreams of running in the Olympics one day. The story takes us from 1984, when he was 9, to 1998, when Rwanda is at relative peace.

Jean Patrick was a Tutsi, but had never really understood the significance of the difference until the day a brick came crashing through their window with the word “Tutsi” on it:

"Since the start of the war, ethnicity grew around him like an extra layer of skin. No matter how he tried, he could not shed it.”

As time went on, during the buildup of ethnic hostilities, Jean Patrick’s dreams of Olympic glory were increasingly threatened by his Tutsi status. Hutus harassed him and even injured him. Jean Patrick never felt any hatred himself; his father had taught him all people were the same, that it was impossible to quantify or label distinctions:

"Every morning, fishermen went out to the lake, and women and children went to the fields. Hutu or Tutsi, they fetched water, gathered firewood, balanced loads on their heads. In the evening, they padded along paths up the ridge or down into the valley with bare and dusty feet. They cooked, ate, drank beer, and scolded children. In the darkness, men and women lay together and created new life. This was the dance of Rwanda.”

And when Jean Patrick meets a Hutu girl, Bea Augustin, he falls deeply in love. You can feel his frustration and sadness as he contemplates a future with her:

"Their lives were only starting. How could they be wrenched apart? How could any of them be picked up suddenly, cast down somewhere else, over mere nothings that had never before concerned them?”

But then the killing begins, and escape seems impossible. Jean Patrick and Bea both have to make choices, whether to make an improbable attempt at getting away, or to stay and share their fate with their families, with whom they were each so close. There was no way that anyone from Rwanda would survive unscathed, if they survived at all.

Evaluation: This is an excellent book and a very good way to learn about the Rwandan genocide from the point of view of innocent citizens who got caught up in the maelstrom.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because of what it's about--an Olympic-bound runner in Rwanda who lives through the 1994 genocide. I don't know enough about Rwanda, or Africa in general, and I've sort of stupidly steered clear of a lot of the books written about the genocide, in an attempt not to get incredibly angry and depressed. But this book won the Bellwether Prize, and it's about running, and I really needed to pull my britches up and read something about this. So.

It's a pretty long book, and I guess my first feeling about it is that it could have used some editing in the first two thirds. A lot of pages are given over to background and scene-setting, following the protagonist Nkuba Jean Patrick through his childhood and early adulthood, his early years starting to run and his more serious training as he gets older. It's important stuff, but it felt meander-y to me, and I had trouble keeping incidents and locations straight, especially when they were referred to again later in the book. I also felt like Jean Patrick never really came alive as a character. He felt bland to me--characterized mainly by a youthful conviction that he can win the Olympics, and by continual denial of the Hutu hate speech and violence that's starting to escalate all around him.

Another weak point, I thought, was his infatuation with Beatrice, a woman he meets accidentally while out running. He falls in love with her instantly, which is not a trope I enjoy as a reader, because it usually results in telling us what's happening rather than showing us through the story. There's also a fairly tedious period in which he mistakes her father for a husband, which seems pointless--particularly since it's obvious to the reader what the real relationship is. Beatrice, too, is a pretty flat character, and this may be why their early relationship feels formulaic and rote.

Where things really pick up is in the last third or so of the book, when events escalate and there's genuine, immediate danger. When Jean Patrick has to flee for his life, make impossible decisions about saving or abandoning others, and encounter his former friends and colleagues in wretched new ways--when he's in extremis--then he feels much more compelling to me. I think this means that there isn't enough pressure applied in the rest of the book, and that the author is letting the characters off too easily. I don't mean that the whole book should have been occupied with the explosion of the genocide, but that I wanted the writing leading up to it to feel more fraught, and more tightly connected to what was going to happen.

So on the sentence and scene levels, the book didn't really grab me. But after finishing it, I've found myself thinking about it many times. Benaron has done a good job of opening up that unthinkable world, in which people's entire families were slaughtered by their own neighbors. She does a good job (I think) of showing the helplessness and indifference of Westerners, either well-intentioned or not. She shows something of what it might have been like to be Rwandan during that time, trapped in a horror film while the rest of the world carries on. The details she draws--the Hutus killed trying to save their Tutsi friends; the endless awful vitriol on the propaganda radios; the arrogant political posturing of the President--helped me think more and differently about how these things gain momentum and feed on themselves, and how they play out for ordinary people.

One scene in particular, almost a throw-away, really resonated for me. While the country is breaking apart, Jean Patrick finds his way back to the college where he's studying and training as a runner. He sees a Tutsi woman he knows, another college runner, sprinting across the quad, pursued by a crowd. She escapes, but when he finds and talks to her, they both know that she probably won't live much longer. On the same visit he runs into another woman, who was an acquaintance and political dissident/activist before things broke down. Now she's a Hutu nationalist. He greets her, and she calmly tells him that he deserves to die. Around them, the college is being looted, and Tutsi students are huddled in groups behind locked doors. It's a completely horrifying situation, and hard to stop seeing.

I might wish that Jean Patrick were a slightly more realized character, but I'm grateful for scenes like this, that seem to open the door at least a little to the things that we'd like to ignore.

[Jenny Shank · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainme...

Running the Rift
Naomi Benaron
(Algonquin Books, $24.95)

A young Rwandan’s dream of running in the Olympics collides with his country’s inescapable turmoil in Naomi Benaron’s gripping first novel Running the Rift, which won the Bellwether Prize for fiction addressing “social justice.”

Some people might want to turn away after reading this set-up, which makes it sound like a novel that’s more good for you than it is enjoyable. But that isn’t the case. Benaron casts the coming-of-age story of Jean Patrick Nkuba against the build-up to the Rwandan genocide, but through her protagonist’s resilient and determined spirit, she infuses the story with buoyancy and hope. Rich characterization and insights about Rwandan culture make this book a pleasure to read, and Jean Patrick impossible not to root for.

Running the Rift begins in 1984, when Jean Patrick, named for “The god who brings the thunder…Nkuba, Lord of Heaven, the Swift One,” is a skinny 9-year-old always racing his older brother Roger. They live on a primary school’s campus, where their father, a science scholar, is the Préfet in charge of teachers. A car crash ends his life, and although he “always said that Hutu and Tutsi were one people living together in one country,” increasing episodes of Hutu intimidation send Jean Patrick and his family, who are Tutsi, to live with his mother’s brother in Cyangugu, at the southern end of lake Kivu.

Benaron shows how the seeds for the 1994 genocide are planted over the 10-year span of the book. During the years Jean Patrick trains, “forcing the cadence until he tasted tin on his tongue,” he’s also exposed to sickening propaganda and violent rebels. In time, we know this will end in mass murder, as Hutus strike down their Tutsi neighbors with machetes and clubs.

In 1985, what these developing tensions mean for Jean Patrick is that as a Tutsi, he must earn the best score on the national exams if he wants to attend secondary school. He does, and at his secondary school he meets the complicated and mysterious Coach Rutembeza, a Hutu who becomes his advocate, mentor and nemesis, and trains him as a runner through college, where it's clear that Jean Patrick’s preparations for the Olympics will be interrupted.

Benaron lives in Tucson but has spent years working with genocide survivors in Rwanda, and has immersed herself in the country’s culture, folklore, language, and history. She folds in this vast knowledge with a light touch. For example, in a paragraph about young Jean Patrick watching an Olympic runner for the first time, she also introduces one of Rwanda’s ethnic groups:

“Jean Patrick had expected a big man, but the runner stood not much taller than Roger. Jean Patrick wondered if he was umutwa, one of the pygmy people who sold milk and butter in clay pots to families that didn’t keep cows. The momentary disappointment vanished as he watched the runner move, flowing rather than walking from one place to the next, as if his muscles were made of water. He wore sunglasses. His shirt snapped in the breeze, zebras and lions racing across the shiny fabric.”

Jean Patrick develops into a world-class runner such as Rwanda has never seen. His gift sometimes saves him from his country’s chaos but other times makes him stand out as a target for ire. By the end you’ll be rushing through the pages to see if he and any of his loved ones survive the terrible events of 1994, and if Jean Patrick will run again. Running the Rift is a profound display imagination and empathy. Benaron writes like Jean Patrick runs, with the heart of a lion.

Jenny Shank’s first novel, The Ringer, was a finalist for the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association’s Reading the West Award.

[Tim Roast · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is expert writing. There is an underlining tension throughout which keeps you on tenterhooks because the danger is ever-present.

The story is of Jean Patrick, a Rwandan runner. At the beginning it is 1984 and he is a young boy. His teacher father wishes him and his brothers and sisters goodbye before going on a journey, where he inevitably dies, in a car crash. Soon after the tensions between the Rwandan ethnic-groups, Hutu and oppressed Tutsi, of which Jean Patrick belongs, are introduced as he grows up with stones and insults being thrown his way. Other times see his big brother Roger and him having running races.

Then a marathon runner who represented Rwanda at the Olympics visits his school and Jean Patrick shows promise so that the marathon runner tells him that "one day you will need to run as much as you need to breathe". These words prove to be prophetic as the deteriorating political picture takes shape around Jean Patrick who prefers to be oblivious to it as he concentrates on his running and schooling.

And he does very well making University in 1993 where he meets Bea, meaning blessed one, who he falls in love with. In the running he gets Olympic qualifying times in the 800m, leading to the nickname "Mr. Olympics". Through his running he even gets to meet the Rwandan president Habyarimana.

But tensions are brewing all around. The media are spewing hate speech. Assassinations are happening to political leaders. Preparations are being made. "In every commune, on every level - teachers, sector leaders, burgomasters - lists of Tutsis and opposition Hutu have been collected. It's a plan for total annihilation."

Then the president is killed and the annihilation plans are quickly put in place. The UN troops flee as the international community turns its back leaving Rwanda to deal with its problems on its own. The carefully orchestrated killings of Tutsi happen. Names of people to kill are read out over the airwaves. "All Tutsi will perish. They will disappear from the earth." Jean Patrick hears about the deaths of his best friend and others over the radio, and keeps listening out for news of his family. The radio keeps the killing fever to boiling point.

Then as the Hutu Power led troops close in Jean Patrick has no choice but to run; to run through the woods and marshes full of dead bodies, past the people being killed; to run alongside the orphans and the mothers carrying their dead babies. "One day you will need to run as much as you need to breathe." That day is now.

Brilliant book that masterfully brings alive through fiction what happened in Rwanda in 1994.

[Chris Blocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asked what Running the Rift is about, it would be too easy to say it is about the Rwandan genocide. You could also say it's about an Olympic runner. Both of these are correct, but neither really describe what this book is about at its core. I'd say, more than anything else, Benaron's novel is about character. It asks tough questions about morality, courage, honesty, and integrity.

Given the subject matter, I was hesitant to read this novel. I've read plenty of novels filled with the most horrific scenes pulled from history, but something about the genocide in Rwanda hit me hard. Perhaps it's because it happened in my lifetime. Perhaps my guilt for all my inaction toward issues of social justice is personified in the Western world's reaction to Rwanda. Regardless, I was hesitant to begin this novel, but I did, and I'm glad I made it over that initial fear.

Despite the horrifying events which take place in Running the Rift, Benaron somehow manages to keep the novel light. She doesn't do this by ignoring what happened, or sugar coating it; it seems she does this purely by giving the reader just enough information to know what is going on and peopling the book with characters who make it worth continuing on. This line Benaron walks so carefully displays her natural talents.

In this novel about character, characters are the novel's best quality and its biggest downfall. The characters we meet in Running the Rift are wonderful. I loved them. I loved them. I wanted to shoot the breeze with Jean Patrick. I wanted to be Daniel's best friend. I wanted to join sides with Roger. And I was all about asking Bea out for a date. These people are lovable and I wanted to know more about them than this story allowed. At the same time, the characters were perhaps a little too lovable. The faults they had—which were very few—could be justified given the time and place. The “good guys” were good. The “bad guys” were bad. I'd have loved to have seen more dynamic characters and some shifting loyalties.

Running the Rift is a spectacular novel. It is filled with gorgeous language and an unforgettable cast of characters. In spite of the graphic war scenes, it is a clean novel, a rare example of how grittiness can be portrayed accurately without an R-rating. It is a surprisingly enjoyable read and worthy winner of the Bellwether Prize.

I present Running the Rift with the Best Book of 2012 (so far) award.

[Jacki (Julia Flyte) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jean-Patrick Nkuba is a Tutsi boy growing up in rural Rwanda. He is a bright student and a gifted runner, fast enough to potentially qualify for the Olympics. He was named after an uncle who was killed in a 1973 massacre of the Tutsi people, but such violence between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples now seems long in the past.

The story takes place between 1984 and 1998. Over the years the tension gradually builds between the two groups as the Tutsi people become increasingly harrassed and the media inflames racial divisions. Jean-Patrick's brother joins the RPF, a Tutsi rebel group, but Jean-Patrick heads to university and trains to be an Olympic runner. He befriends an American geology professor and falls in love with a Hutu girl. Sporadically violence against Tutsis erupts, but Jean-Patrick chooses to believe that his high profile running talent (and his well connected coach) will protect him from persecution. Meanwhile we - the reader - have a sense of dread from the outset that grows ever stronger.

This book pulled me in immediately. The sense of place is palpable. You can almost feel, smell and taste Rwanda as you read it. While it is fiction, it feels so real that I found it hard to believe that this wasn't a true story and that Benaron isn't Rwandan (she's not). It takes you inside Jean-Patrick's head and you can understand why he ignores so many warning signs and warnings from friends about the tensions that are building. It's so much easier to stick to the beliefs that you were raised with, even when the evidence against them is so overwhelming. When the genocide comes, some Hutus turn on their friends and lovers, but others will risk and even sacrifice their own lives to save their countrymen.

While this story is set against the build up to the genocide in Rwanda, it's very much the story of an individual rather than the conflict itself. Parts are very difficult to read, but there is a sense of hope as well. It's a very powerful story, engrossing to read and hard to forget.

[Sherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhere in the story, an uncle explains how the division between the Hutus and Tutsis began. The occupying country, Belgium, measured features (length of nose, size of torso, length of limbs, etc) and pronounced them two different people, thereby laying the groundwork for turning neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend.
Jean Patrick and his family go to live with his mother's brother when his father -a highly regarded educator- dies in an auto accident. Without the support of the education community Jean Patrick and his siblings must adapt to a new way of life and work hard to rise above their poverty. The palpable fear that his mother displays at the story's beginning, grows into a tangible presence as Jean Patrick's siblings learn the hatred that lies beneath the smile/sneer of a classmate.
Jean Patrick's running ability singles him out and gives him a fragile protection as the standing government seeks to show the world that they can embrace and promote even the lowest of classes.
Near the end, as hope from the modern world fades, the author spells out why no one will save them. Rwanda has no oil fields, no gold, no diamonds, nothing to attract the attention of a greedy world.

[Hallie Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story of a young man during the Rwandan genocide of the mid 1990’s was well written and engrossing. Highly recommended

[Erica Spangler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review - Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron

BookinChico's Review

Rating: 5 shots of espresso (The Coffee Shakes)

Plot
Running the Rift follows the life of Jean Patrick, a track Olympic hopeful. Set during the tumultuous Rwanda in the midst of the Hutu and Tutsi racial wars. Jean Patrick lives among the tthe majority Hutu who are terrorizing and abusing the minority Tutsi people. The violence has escalated to the point where students are forming alliances for safety and some are forming gangs.

Jean Patrick, the tall and lean Tutsi, is built to run and to compete at the Olympic level. However, his Tutsi status becomes a challenge he might not be able to over come. As the Hutu people quickly rise to power, they begin enforcing curfews and checkpoints to make sure the Tutsi people will not flee. Eventually the control turns to terror and murders. The politicians and even the universities are falling into the hands of the murderous Hutu people. As the violence and unrest continues to overwhelm the Rwandan people, Jean Patrick trains and tries to find a way to make it to the Olympics. With the support of his friends and coach, Jean Patrick pushes himself to be the next best runner. If Jean Patrick can make it to the Olympics, then he can remove himself from the violence in his community and country.

Naomi Benaron's Running the Rift explores the human spirit amongst violence and adversity. From the moment you meet Jean Patrick, you begin to fight for him and become his running spectator screaming for him to reach the finish line every time.

Character
Benaron's main character, Jean Patrick, is complicated, surrounded by cultural controversy and a lovable character. Jean Patrick may be loyal to his Tutsi family, but his ambition to compete as sprinter makes life complicated and scary. As a reader, you begin to question whether or not he is compromising his family and cultural ideals. The rising Hutu and Tutsi controversy catalyzes Jean Patrick's character to change and decide what are his real goals. As he trains and forms numerous Hutu relationships, his complicated life becomes more challenging. He, nevertheless, brings a sort of brightness and hope to the novel.
Benaron knows how to show a potential for love and opportunity in a story filled with violence and obstacles. Her ability to create and develop such a complicated and optimistic character ensures that you will want to continue reading because you want Jean Patrick to win.

Literary Criticism
The cultural and global implications of Namoi Benaron's Running the Rift raise interesting questions about cultural rifts and global awareness. Jean Patrick lives amongst a group of people who clash over familial connections and racial differences. Though Running the Rift is set in Rwanda, these are not African problems; they are global problems for every culture. Not all are as violent, but we experience these clashes on a daily basis. Many people like to categorize and package these problems so that they can ignore them. But Jean Patrick's goal to go to the Olympics is a common goal for many all around the world. This dream and his hard work to make it happen is characteristic of the American dream (working hard helps you achieve your goals). Benaron is raising a conversation to be had about cultural differences and how people all have a human connection.

Benaron's Running the Rift is everything that I would want in a novel--a compelling story line, a fabulous character that I love and am bothered by from time to time and a novel that raises improtant conversations. I give Running the Rift five amazing shots of espresso because it was a novel that I could read extremely quickly, but I forced myself to take it slow and enjoy it to its entire potential. If you like reading novels about what matters in the world, then Benaron's novel is perfect for you. Running the Rift is another fabulous Bellwether Prize novel; a pure gem.

[Felice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Testimonies, historians, novels, movies, documentaries and especially the distance of time have all given us all a limited appreciation of the horrors of the Holocaust. Not being survivors how could we ever fully understand what it was like? What about the more recent holocausts and genocides? Who is telling those stories? Who is attempting to make us more aware, more understanding and more outraged about these atrocities? One person is first time novelist NaomiBenaron in her Bellwether Prize winning book, Running the Rift.



Running the Rift is the story of the Rwandan Genocide as seen through the eyes of a young athlete. According to various human rights watchdog organizations an estimated 800,000 people were murdered during the Rwandan genocide over the course of a year. To say the least that is a daunting event to try and capture on paper.


It is 1985 and Jean Patrick Nkuba is a young boy as Running the Rift begins. His life has been happy. He is part of a large, close knit family. His Father is a respected teacher. He is a gifted, record breaking middle distance runner and dreams of going to the Olympics. Jean Patrick doesn’t know this yet but there is a shadow already hanging over his life. The Nkuba are Tutsi. This heritage will put his family on a collision course with horror.


The sudden death of Jean Patrick’s Father coincides with the beginning of the Hutus governments’ more overt restrictions on the Tutsis and the stepping up of resistance to the government by the Rwandan Patriotic Force (RPF), a Tutsi-led rebel army. Over the course of the next ten years a civil war will tear away the Nkubas security and their future. One by one friends, employers and neighbors turn away from the family because of their ethnicity. Jean Patrick becomes a political pawn when the government wants to use him as a human rights poster child. As the government sanctioned genocide accelerates not only is Jean Patrick’s dreams of representing his country in the Olympics on the failure track but as a Tutsi his life is also endangered.


Running the Rift is an impressive novel. Benaron has done an incredible job of tracking the origins of the government approved interracial strife in Rwanda and its drastic hastening into a holocaust. In a situation where there is a crystal clear right and wrong she does not take the easy road and use cardboard characters to push her story forward and expose the villainy. Instead Benaron allows us to experience Jean Patrick’s journey from innocence to inhumanity to hope with his and every other character’s flaws and strengths as they are tested. The juxtaposition of this beautiful country and the citizens who strive for the betterment of their country and the other citizens who either participated in the genocide or looked the other way makes for a powerful story and Naomi Benaron captures it all.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prior to reading this book, I didn’t really know about the 1994 Rwanda genocides. I would have been in fourth grade, and maybe we discussed it at some point, but I was basically naive to this history. The only thing I had to compare it with was the Jewish Holocaust. Certain descriptions towards the end of this novel gave me that same sick, hopeless, angry feeling I got when I visited the Holocaust museum in DC as a high-school senior. Images from the room of shoes and my experience in the boxcar will stay with me forever. Images from this book will join them.
Don’t get me wrong, the entire book is not some depressing look at how awful human beings are! There IS pervasive racism and brutality, but it doesn’t get truly terrible for too long. There is still hope and humor among the words. The true weight of the novel lies in the education of Jean Patrick, as he comes of age as a Tutsi in a pro-Hutu society. He is blessed with the gift of running like an Olympic athlete, and training and racing become his focus. We get to know his family, friends, and love interest, which of course make the reality of what we know with dread will come to pass all that more difficult to swallow.
This had the best possible ending that a novel about such an atrocity as genocide can possibly have without being unrealistic. This was a true gem of a book, and thank-you so much giveaways, for delivering this to me for free.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be a very good read. It could also be considered a young adult novel but that does not at all take away from the message of this book or the enjoyment of reading it. It takes you through the school and university years of Jean Patrick as he dedicates himself to becoming an Olympic runner as his country, Rwanda, is experiencing devastating prejudice and violence towards his Tutsi heritage. Jean Patrick remains optimistic that Rwanda will come to it senses and see that it is one country and not divided by tribes. As the story moves onto the genocide that we know historically took place, we can see the horror of that happening. We can also see how people who without a lot of material things have such wonderful family, friends and community bonds and strength of character. My local independent bookstore, Harleysville Books, had a Skype with the author and what a wonderful person she is. Naomi enlightened us with her stories of Rwanda and who she based her characters on. She was very open and shared parts of her life. Delightful evening with the author!