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Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness
Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him – a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.
Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the enduring classic Mountains Beyond Mountains, has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” In this new book, Kidder gives us the superb story of a hero for our time. Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him – a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.
Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness.
An extraordinary writer, Tracy Kidder once again shows us what it means to be fully human by telling a story about the heroism inherent in ordinary people, a story about a life based on hope.
Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, and the enduring classic Mountains Beyond Mountains, has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” In this new book, Kidder gives us the superb story of a hero for our time. Strength in What Remains is a wonderfully written, inspiring account of one man’s remarkable American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him – a brilliant testament to the power of will and of second chances.
Deo arrives in America from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, plagued by horrific dreams, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing. Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness.
An extraordinary writer, Tracy Kidder once again shows us what it means to be fully human by telling a story about the heroism inherent in ordinary people, a story about a life based on hope.
277 pages, Hardcover
First published February 29, 2000
731 people are currently reading
14563 people want to read
About the author
Tracy Kidder
29 books1,486 followersJohn Tracy Kidder is an acclaimed American nonfiction writer best known for combining literary narrative with journalistic precision. He gained national prominence with The Soul of a New Machine (1981), a Pulitzer Prize-winning account of computer engineers at Data General, noted for its insight into the emerging tech industry and the human stories behind innovation. He later earned widespread praise for Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003), a biography of physician and humanitarian Paul Farmer, which further solidified his reputation for blending compelling storytelling with social relevance.
Kidder studied English at Harvard and earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Though his first book, The Road to Yuba City, was a critical failure, he rebounded with a series of successful works exploring diverse topics: home construction (House), elementary education (Among Schoolchildren), and aging (Old Friends). He also served in Vietnam, though he says the war did not significantly shape his writing, despite authoring several well-regarded essays on the topic.
In 2010, Kidder became the first A. M. Rosenthal Writer-in-Residence at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. There, he co-wrote Good Prose, a book on nonfiction writing. His work continues to be recognized for its empathy, narrative strength, and commitment to truth.
Kidder studied English at Harvard and earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Though his first book, The Road to Yuba City, was a critical failure, he rebounded with a series of successful works exploring diverse topics: home construction (House), elementary education (Among Schoolchildren), and aging (Old Friends). He also served in Vietnam, though he says the war did not significantly shape his writing, despite authoring several well-regarded essays on the topic.
In 2010, Kidder became the first A. M. Rosenthal Writer-in-Residence at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. There, he co-wrote Good Prose, a book on nonfiction writing. His work continues to be recognized for its empathy, narrative strength, and commitment to truth.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,023 reviews
April 28, 2010
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I normally love Tracy Kidder books. And this book had an incredibly compelling story to tell, about a man who escapes genocide in Burundi and amazingly goes on to complete his education and even return to Africa to help rebuild his country.
Yet somehow the author keeps getting in the way of the story. At first, describing the main character's journey to America, he is a little condescending, making Deo seem a little simple when in reality he is a bi-lingual former medical-school student. Later, Kidder switches to a first-person narrative when he follows Deo on a trip back to Burundi. This last third of the book is much more about Tracy Kidder than it needs to be. Also, throughout the book, the narrative keeps jumping through time in a way that isn't exactly confusing, but is annoying and unnecessary.
Still, the book is gripping simply because the story being told is so remarkable and inspirational. I recommend it and will continue to do so until Deogratias writes his own book about the experience.
Yet somehow the author keeps getting in the way of the story. At first, describing the main character's journey to America, he is a little condescending, making Deo seem a little simple when in reality he is a bi-lingual former medical-school student. Later, Kidder switches to a first-person narrative when he follows Deo on a trip back to Burundi. This last third of the book is much more about Tracy Kidder than it needs to be. Also, throughout the book, the narrative keeps jumping through time in a way that isn't exactly confusing, but is annoying and unnecessary.
Still, the book is gripping simply because the story being told is so remarkable and inspirational. I recommend it and will continue to do so until Deogratias writes his own book about the experience.
July 30, 2012
Kidder is considered the master of non-fictional narrative. He lets his subjects tell their own story, in effect crafting their autobiography. In this case, his subject is Deo, a medical student who survived the bloodbaths of the Burundi and Rwanda and makes it to America only to face a prolonged period of challenges in surviving in Harlem. Yet, with timely help from key people along his way, he gains an education and ends up doing public health work with Paul Farmer's Partners in Health organization. His heart is big enough to forgive the perpetrators, and those who helped Deo come to feel more benefits from him than they render. These include an ex-nun working among the homeless and a Soho couple, a sociology professor and his artist wife. The task of understanding the origins of the mass killings in these small countries is confounded by the Tsutsi and Hutu sharing the same language, religion, and, for the most part, culture. Kidder infers that the German and Belgian colonists helped establish the myth of differences between the groups that fueled a history of antagonism. Kidder doesn't dump Deo's personal witnessing of the genocide in a painful lump on the reader, but slowly intersperses the experiences from Deo's memories with his progress of recovery in America. This is a powerful and uplifting story told well.
March 7, 2010
Fabulous, moving and complex-- it takes you between NYC and Burundi and Rwanda through the life of Deo, who was medical student when the massacres of Tutsis began in Burundi (Oct 1993- about 6 months before the genocide in Rwanda). It is not easy to describe this book, but Tracy Kidder with his usual understated gift manages to allow us to begin to enter the unimaginable world of Deo, in ways that don't ever reduce anything to simple. It is a must read if you care about being human, and maintaining the humanity of others, and even attempting to create a world where genocide doesn't happen. It is also a powerful story of one person's effort to find a way to stay human and continue to build a meaningful life, even after surviving the unimaginable. Deo never becomes cynical, continues to work against all odds and to succeed beyond all imagining. There is an epilogue which details how Burundi & Rwanda differed, and offers a concise recent history of the conflicts, massacres and genocides in each country. He cites Pete Ulwyn (sp?) and this man's concept of structural poverty as a root cause of some of these problems-- it is really worth reading and thinking through.
July 31, 2013
Where are we today at the beginning of the 21st Century? Where are we headed? I have been reading books that focus on ethnic cleansing and genocide. It seems to me there is more and more of this with each year that passes. What does this say about the way the world is run today? How do different books tackle these questions? When The Stars Fall To Earth was very good, albeit simple, but with an important message. It was fiction. It dealt with the problems that continue today in Darfur. I kept thinking, why did I like it so much even if it is simple and fictional, but I did! I liked it because it spoke of today's world and it spoke with clarity.
Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder is equally good. This one is biographical. The author lets Deo, a survivor of the Rwandan/Burundi genocide, speak of his experiences. This is non-fiction, but it too speaks with clarity and leaves an important message about the world we live in today. Is there hope? Yes, but the main message from both is that people of the 21st Century must keep themselves informed and must get involved.
Kidder’s book clearly explains both the Rwandan and Burundi genocides. Although they are interrelated and do share some similarities, there are differences too. In both countries poverty, malnutrition and lack of educational opportunities have led to the underlying problems. In both countries Hutus comprise the overwhelming majority of the population, but in Burundi the military and political power was transferred to the Tutsis by first the German and then the Belgian colonial authorities. In Rwanda Hutus were in power. Both countries became independent from Belgium in 1962, and in both countries Belgium failed to prepare the governments for a successful takeover of power. The ethnic differences have been reinforced by the colonial parties. In Rwanda there was a government of the majority fighting against a powerless minority. The Burundi genocide was a prolonged ethnic civil war by a minority government fighting against rebels of the majority.
The chapters flip between those focused on Deo’s personal experiences and the historical details of the war. In addition, Deo’s experiences do not follow a chronological order. I would have preferred that they had. Chronologically you start in the middle, when Deo has just gotten to the US in 1994. He had been in his third year of medical studies in Burundi when he fled from rampage of killings in Burundi to Rwanda, back to Burundi and then to NYC, an immigrant with neither English, money nor even a green card. He went from an inferno to another situation scarcely better, but he survived. Later in the book the author accompanies Deo back to Burundi and Rwanda. He also accompanies Deo to those places he lived in Harlem, the exact sites in Central Park, to Soho and to those who gave him a helping hand. The reader looks at how Deo dealt emotionally and intellectually with his experiences. It all would have been simpler had the events been presented chronologically. That is my one complaint with the book.
The audiobook is narrated by the author clearly, but without any special flair. I have no complaints about the narration.
I liked this book because it clearly explains the details of both the Rwandan and Burundi genocides. Deo comes to work with Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, about which the author has written another book: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. Here the focus of the book is set on what path we must follow into the future. This I liked too. That is why I picked up the book. Where will the future take us?
Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder is equally good. This one is biographical. The author lets Deo, a survivor of the Rwandan/Burundi genocide, speak of his experiences. This is non-fiction, but it too speaks with clarity and leaves an important message about the world we live in today. Is there hope? Yes, but the main message from both is that people of the 21st Century must keep themselves informed and must get involved.
Kidder’s book clearly explains both the Rwandan and Burundi genocides. Although they are interrelated and do share some similarities, there are differences too. In both countries poverty, malnutrition and lack of educational opportunities have led to the underlying problems. In both countries Hutus comprise the overwhelming majority of the population, but in Burundi the military and political power was transferred to the Tutsis by first the German and then the Belgian colonial authorities. In Rwanda Hutus were in power. Both countries became independent from Belgium in 1962, and in both countries Belgium failed to prepare the governments for a successful takeover of power. The ethnic differences have been reinforced by the colonial parties. In Rwanda there was a government of the majority fighting against a powerless minority. The Burundi genocide was a prolonged ethnic civil war by a minority government fighting against rebels of the majority.
The chapters flip between those focused on Deo’s personal experiences and the historical details of the war. In addition, Deo’s experiences do not follow a chronological order. I would have preferred that they had. Chronologically you start in the middle, when Deo has just gotten to the US in 1994. He had been in his third year of medical studies in Burundi when he fled from rampage of killings in Burundi to Rwanda, back to Burundi and then to NYC, an immigrant with neither English, money nor even a green card. He went from an inferno to another situation scarcely better, but he survived. Later in the book the author accompanies Deo back to Burundi and Rwanda. He also accompanies Deo to those places he lived in Harlem, the exact sites in Central Park, to Soho and to those who gave him a helping hand. The reader looks at how Deo dealt emotionally and intellectually with his experiences. It all would have been simpler had the events been presented chronologically. That is my one complaint with the book.
The audiobook is narrated by the author clearly, but without any special flair. I have no complaints about the narration.
I liked this book because it clearly explains the details of both the Rwandan and Burundi genocides. Deo comes to work with Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, about which the author has written another book: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. Here the focus of the book is set on what path we must follow into the future. This I liked too. That is why I picked up the book. Where will the future take us?
July 10, 2017
This is a readable but mediocre book that gets a lot of praise because it’s about an impressive person and a tragic topic. Deogratias grew up in rural Burundi with few advantages, but made it to medical school, until he got caught up in the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi in 1993. A friend helped him flee to New York City, where despite a job delivering groceries he found himself homeless at first, until making friends who helped him get back on his feet. He then went to college and medical school in the U.S., and returned to Burundi to set up clinics for people with no access to health care.
This book reminds me of Ashley's War, in that both are about people and subjects that absolutely deserve a book, but their authors sell them short. Kidder’s writing feels superficial throughout. From early on I had the impression that he was drawn to Deo but never really understood him (or perhaps Deo wasn’t willing or able to open up to the extent an author would need to write a biography that appears to be based mostly on his own disclosures), and so was able to relate the facts but only on the surface level. This becomes even more apparent in the second half of the book, when Kidder accompanies Deo on one of his trips back to Burundi. They visit numerous memorials and sites from Deo’s past, and Kidder describes how Deo reacts, but in the end we get more of Kidder’s feelings about the trip than Deo’s.
Though this is primarily a biography, we do get some information about the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi as well, along with a brief overview of the countries’ history. Though, again, this feels superficial, it’s an adequate starting point and is interesting for a reader with relatively little knowledge of the area. Especially interesting is Deo’s theory that the genocide was made possible in large part by structural violence – that when everyday life is full of fatal illness and injury, hunger, violence at home and at school, and little opportunity to improve one’s lot in life, people perceive the value of their own lives as low and therefore value others’ even less. Also interesting is the fact that, although westerners reading about the genocide assume Hutu and Tutsi are clearly definable ethnic groups, the reality seems to be anything but; these are apparently social groups more than anything else, and it appears Deo isn’t alone in being unable to tell the difference.
At any rate, this is a very readable book, not a bad choice for those who are interested in the topic. (It’s also worth pointing out, for those unsure about whether they can handle a book about genocide, that only one 35-page chapter is all about that; most of the book is about Deo’s life before and after, and about Kidder spending time with Deo and the people who helped him in New York.) But I’m underwhelmed by Kidder’s writing and likely won’t recommend this to others.
This book reminds me of Ashley's War, in that both are about people and subjects that absolutely deserve a book, but their authors sell them short. Kidder’s writing feels superficial throughout. From early on I had the impression that he was drawn to Deo but never really understood him (or perhaps Deo wasn’t willing or able to open up to the extent an author would need to write a biography that appears to be based mostly on his own disclosures), and so was able to relate the facts but only on the surface level. This becomes even more apparent in the second half of the book, when Kidder accompanies Deo on one of his trips back to Burundi. They visit numerous memorials and sites from Deo’s past, and Kidder describes how Deo reacts, but in the end we get more of Kidder’s feelings about the trip than Deo’s.
Though this is primarily a biography, we do get some information about the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi as well, along with a brief overview of the countries’ history. Though, again, this feels superficial, it’s an adequate starting point and is interesting for a reader with relatively little knowledge of the area. Especially interesting is Deo’s theory that the genocide was made possible in large part by structural violence – that when everyday life is full of fatal illness and injury, hunger, violence at home and at school, and little opportunity to improve one’s lot in life, people perceive the value of their own lives as low and therefore value others’ even less. Also interesting is the fact that, although westerners reading about the genocide assume Hutu and Tutsi are clearly definable ethnic groups, the reality seems to be anything but; these are apparently social groups more than anything else, and it appears Deo isn’t alone in being unable to tell the difference.
At any rate, this is a very readable book, not a bad choice for those who are interested in the topic. (It’s also worth pointing out, for those unsure about whether they can handle a book about genocide, that only one 35-page chapter is all about that; most of the book is about Deo’s life before and after, and about Kidder spending time with Deo and the people who helped him in New York.) But I’m underwhelmed by Kidder’s writing and likely won’t recommend this to others.
March 21, 2019
I have been fascinated with Africa lately. I want to know so much about the country, the people, their trials and their tribulations. This was the story of a young man named Deo who escaped the ethnic genocide in Burundi in the 1990's to unfortunately find himself homeless in the United States. We learn how he escaped from his country, what he had to endure in America and his resilience to overcome such obstacles. We also get to see how this affected him as he returns to Burundi with Mr. Kidder. This is a story that is heartbreaking and heartwarming. How he survived to become a successful member of society is extremely inspiring.
The book did get bogged down a few times with a few too many details but overall it is a very good and enlightening read.
The book did get bogged down a few times with a few too many details but overall it is a very good and enlightening read.
August 17, 2011
It's not easy to write an effective genocide memoir. At first, it shocks and moves the reader to see people turn on each other, bodies burned, and children slaughtered. As the bodies start piling up, we start feeling numb and removed from the violence, which seems cartoonish at a certain point.
Tracy Kidder takes a different approach by starting the story in the middle, as Deo is leaving Burundi. We suffer with Deo as he struggles to find his feet as a penniless illegal immigrant in New York with no friends or family to speak of, but we have no idea what kind of emotional blows he has been dealt before he got on the plane. I read a review that said that Deo's troubles in New York were worse than those in Burundi, which is ridiculous, but it's certainly no picnic. It's like Kidder is easing us into Deo's rough life.
The center of the book is dedicated to Deo's nightmarish experiences in Burundi and Rwanda in the 90's. The end follows Deo as he takes Kidder through the spots of his memory. We watch him suffering from PTSD through Kidder's eyes, another aspect that many genocide memoirs lack. People who experience genocide and write about it can't step outside of themselves and talk about the effects. Kidder shows us Deo's continued struggle with what he has seen, giving us a clearer message about the human ability to get through tragedy--messily, and never completely.
Tracy Kidder takes a different approach by starting the story in the middle, as Deo is leaving Burundi. We suffer with Deo as he struggles to find his feet as a penniless illegal immigrant in New York with no friends or family to speak of, but we have no idea what kind of emotional blows he has been dealt before he got on the plane. I read a review that said that Deo's troubles in New York were worse than those in Burundi, which is ridiculous, but it's certainly no picnic. It's like Kidder is easing us into Deo's rough life.
The center of the book is dedicated to Deo's nightmarish experiences in Burundi and Rwanda in the 90's. The end follows Deo as he takes Kidder through the spots of his memory. We watch him suffering from PTSD through Kidder's eyes, another aspect that many genocide memoirs lack. People who experience genocide and write about it can't step outside of themselves and talk about the effects. Kidder shows us Deo's continued struggle with what he has seen, giving us a clearer message about the human ability to get through tragedy--messily, and never completely.
August 26, 2010
Despite the awkward title (a quote from Wordsworth) this is a great book about good and evil, even better than "Mountains beyond Mountains," although it is in way a sequel to Kidder's essay on Dr. Paul Farmer, the man who single-handedly took on tuberculosis and the World Health Organization.
The tale of Deo, a survivor of tbe Burundi holocaust (a lesser-known adjunct to the Rwanda slaughter), is more accessible as Deo, a medical student refugee, is (at first) less heroic than Dr. Farmer, Deo is a man with fears and weaknesses manifested in chronic stomach problems and nightmares.
Narrative is not always Kidder's strength but he's come up with a novel structure here. First he tells the story of Deo's remarkable survival. Then he retells the story examining the motives of all those who threatened and those who saved him--the angry Hutu rebels, the kindly New York intellectual couple who takes him in, prevents him from being deported, and puts him on the road to medical school.
Finally he describes the aftermath of the Rwanda/Burundi holocaust and the potential for healing.
In doing so Kidder actually describes the roots of good and evil in rational terms rather than leaving us scratching our heads about man's innately savage or noble nature. And he does so without excusing the atrocity. Great stuff.
The tale of Deo, a survivor of tbe Burundi holocaust (a lesser-known adjunct to the Rwanda slaughter), is more accessible as Deo, a medical student refugee, is (at first) less heroic than Dr. Farmer, Deo is a man with fears and weaknesses manifested in chronic stomach problems and nightmares.
Narrative is not always Kidder's strength but he's come up with a novel structure here. First he tells the story of Deo's remarkable survival. Then he retells the story examining the motives of all those who threatened and those who saved him--the angry Hutu rebels, the kindly New York intellectual couple who takes him in, prevents him from being deported, and puts him on the road to medical school.
Finally he describes the aftermath of the Rwanda/Burundi holocaust and the potential for healing.
In doing so Kidder actually describes the roots of good and evil in rational terms rather than leaving us scratching our heads about man's innately savage or noble nature. And he does so without excusing the atrocity. Great stuff.
October 15, 2009
I have read most of what Kidder has written, and this is my least favorite of his books. The others I could have read purely for the subject matter or because I love the way he writes. My favorites include House, Among Schoolchildren, and The Soul of a New Machine because they satisfy both cravings. I liked Mountains Beyond Mountains because it gave me so much new information far outside my normal interests.
This book did not hold as much fascination for me. It is really two books, one about the Burundi/Rwandan civil wars and genocide. The other is about Deogratias, a Burundian refugee who ended up in the US.
The genocide I cannot get my mind around. Eleven thousand dead in a day by machete and clubs is typical. The carnage is similar to Civil War battles in which more sophisticated weapons were used and there were political ideals involved. The motives of fear and revenge are beyond comprehension.
Deo is the most naive character I have read about in non-fiction. I have trouble understanding how he can have seen and experienced so much and still be surprised that people treat each other badly.
I would recommend this book only to people who want to know more about genocide or how recent refugees have made a living in the United States. Do not expect this book to satisfy your yen for Tracy Kidder's writing.
This book did not hold as much fascination for me. It is really two books, one about the Burundi/Rwandan civil wars and genocide. The other is about Deogratias, a Burundian refugee who ended up in the US.
The genocide I cannot get my mind around. Eleven thousand dead in a day by machete and clubs is typical. The carnage is similar to Civil War battles in which more sophisticated weapons were used and there were political ideals involved. The motives of fear and revenge are beyond comprehension.
Deo is the most naive character I have read about in non-fiction. I have trouble understanding how he can have seen and experienced so much and still be surprised that people treat each other badly.
I would recommend this book only to people who want to know more about genocide or how recent refugees have made a living in the United States. Do not expect this book to satisfy your yen for Tracy Kidder's writing.
April 13, 2013
A very strong rendition of the genocide in Berundi and Rwanda based on the personal experience of a victim (Deo).
The book is divided into two sections. The later portion is more powerful – it dwells on the events in Berundi and Rwanda during and after the genocide in 1993-94. It also explains in more detail the background of the New Yorker’s who helped Deo upon his arrival in New York City – basically ‘fresh off the boat’.
The first half of the book centers mostly on Deo’s struggles as a penniless new-comer. I did find this somewhat Disney-like with Deo’s various saviour’s. I could not help but think of all those who’s initial North American exposure is not resolved so satisfactorily. But perhaps I am being too cynical; credit must be given to the spirit of generosity of people who dedicate themselves to aid those in need. Even if one person is helped it can radiate outwardly.
His African experience always forms the background of the New York story. The portrait of Deo is intimate and enthralling. Even though he has endured the worst that humanity has to offer, he never loses site that goodness can be found in the least likely of places. We can also feel Deo’s inner strength which the author convincingly conveys through-out the pages of this book.
The book is divided into two sections. The later portion is more powerful – it dwells on the events in Berundi and Rwanda during and after the genocide in 1993-94. It also explains in more detail the background of the New Yorker’s who helped Deo upon his arrival in New York City – basically ‘fresh off the boat’.
The first half of the book centers mostly on Deo’s struggles as a penniless new-comer. I did find this somewhat Disney-like with Deo’s various saviour’s. I could not help but think of all those who’s initial North American exposure is not resolved so satisfactorily. But perhaps I am being too cynical; credit must be given to the spirit of generosity of people who dedicate themselves to aid those in need. Even if one person is helped it can radiate outwardly.
His African experience always forms the background of the New York story. The portrait of Deo is intimate and enthralling. Even though he has endured the worst that humanity has to offer, he never loses site that goodness can be found in the least likely of places. We can also feel Deo’s inner strength which the author convincingly conveys through-out the pages of this book.
March 1, 2019
To begin, Tracy Kidder is a very good writer, and this is a good book. Reading about Deo, his against-all-odds story of survival, and the selfless individuals who helped him rebuild his life was truly inspiring and well worthwhile. However, I wish the story would have ended there. Instead, Mr. Kidder interjects constantly with repetitious analyses of the Burundian & Rwandan genocides. A single, brief overview would have sufficed. Instead, the repetition greatly detracts from the story. In addition, the book VERY abruptly ended right at the part I was most interested in! Argh.
Admittedly, my previous knowledge of Burundi was minimal at best and this book greatly expanded my understanding. Overall, my advice would be to read everything you can about Deo and skim the historical sections. 😊
Admittedly, my previous knowledge of Burundi was minimal at best and this book greatly expanded my understanding. Overall, my advice would be to read everything you can about Deo and skim the historical sections. 😊
November 14, 2009
Tracy Kidder's Strength in What Remains is a compelling and compellingly-told story, certainly worthy of any reader's effort, but, in the end, somewhat incomplete or vaguely disappointing. Simply put, the story ends too soon and we never quite find out what his protagonist accomplishes relative to his new life vision. (We leave him as he's just begun to attempt it, which feels premature after the significant and moving ground that we have covered with him to that point.)
The subject/hero of this book is Deogratias and his story is truly one of the amazing, only-in-America variety. A native of Burundi, he grows up in a rural area but is given the opportunity to go to a good school, gets into college and then medical school (the first in his family to do these things, of course) and then his world falls apart as the country comes apart in the civil war that was the Hutu-Tutsi genocidal conflagration (that has been much more well-documented in neighboring Rwanda). He manages to escape the genocide, makes it to America and in the United States another incredible tale unfolds, transforming him from a homeless grocery deliveryman into a medical student in a little more than five years. The final third of the book is what he does after he has established himself in America to address the situation back in his native land.
Sadly, for me, it was this final third of the story - unfinished in my assessment - that was less compelling. In addition to the author's injecting himself and his thoughts into the storyline more (especially his tendency to share his projections of his protagonist's feelings rather than confirming them), he also ends the story just as Deo begins to realize his vision of doing good works back in Burundi. It almost felt like Kidder had a deadline and couldn't hang around for the end of the story.
Other than this, though, this is an incredible life story grippingly told. In the sections of the book describing Deo's experiences amidst the genocidal insanity, the story is so well told that you can picture what is happening ... and it becomes a disturbing reality that forces you to imagine what an absolute horror it must have been for this incredible young man to experience first-hand.
So, overall, I recommend this book for three reasons: its compelling and compellingly told story; its chronicling of an unfortunately underappreciated period in modern history; and its significance - Deo's story is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit that contrasts hopefully against the darkness of which we as a species are also capable (and that he experienced and through this book we experience with him).
The subject/hero of this book is Deogratias and his story is truly one of the amazing, only-in-America variety. A native of Burundi, he grows up in a rural area but is given the opportunity to go to a good school, gets into college and then medical school (the first in his family to do these things, of course) and then his world falls apart as the country comes apart in the civil war that was the Hutu-Tutsi genocidal conflagration (that has been much more well-documented in neighboring Rwanda). He manages to escape the genocide, makes it to America and in the United States another incredible tale unfolds, transforming him from a homeless grocery deliveryman into a medical student in a little more than five years. The final third of the book is what he does after he has established himself in America to address the situation back in his native land.
Sadly, for me, it was this final third of the story - unfinished in my assessment - that was less compelling. In addition to the author's injecting himself and his thoughts into the storyline more (especially his tendency to share his projections of his protagonist's feelings rather than confirming them), he also ends the story just as Deo begins to realize his vision of doing good works back in Burundi. It almost felt like Kidder had a deadline and couldn't hang around for the end of the story.
Other than this, though, this is an incredible life story grippingly told. In the sections of the book describing Deo's experiences amidst the genocidal insanity, the story is so well told that you can picture what is happening ... and it becomes a disturbing reality that forces you to imagine what an absolute horror it must have been for this incredible young man to experience first-hand.
So, overall, I recommend this book for three reasons: its compelling and compellingly told story; its chronicling of an unfortunately underappreciated period in modern history; and its significance - Deo's story is a testament to the triumph of the human spirit that contrasts hopefully against the darkness of which we as a species are also capable (and that he experienced and through this book we experience with him).
June 12, 2010
This started out as a solid 3-star book but slid down to 2 during the second half. Basically, I agree with the goodreads reviewer who said this would have worked better as a New Yorker article than it did as a full-length book.
This non-fiction book recounts the story of Deo, a young man who grew up as a Tutsi in Burundi and began attending medical school only to have his life torn apart by the war and genocide ripping his country. Against staggering odds, Deo managed to survive and fly to America on a temporary visa where he hoped to begin a new life. In America, Deo is confused, overwhelmed, and homeless. He gets a job delivering groceries, $15/day for a 12-hour shift, no lunch hour. His health begins to suffer and he is malnourished. Just as Deo's life appears to be dead-ending, he meets a former nun who introduces him to some wealthy friends. These wealthy friends put Deo through college and graduate school in public health, and Deo ultimately returns to visit Burundi and open a successful medical clinic there.
Deo's inspiring story was diminished, unfortunately, by a lengthy, drawn-out, and ultimately repetitive telling. After telling us Deo's story in much depth, Tracy Kidder treats us to a rendering of his meeting Deo and learning about his life from him and from the people who knew him. This section, comprising more than half the book, added little that was new or interesting.
The book's other serious limitation was its characterization of Deo. I never felt like I really knew Deo. At one point, preparing to travel to Burundi with Deo, Tracy Kidder notes that he hoped visiting Africa would help him understand Deo more fully. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case; Deo never seemed three-dimensional to me and I felt as if I were simply following his movements as opposed to getting inside his head.
Perhaps it's impossible to relate to someone who has suffered the things that Deo has experienced. And had the book been shorter, perhaps the lack of characterization wouldn't have bothered me. As it was, though, while I appreciated Deo's story and all he has accomplished in spite of his suffering, the book was an unfortunate vehicle for telling this story.
This non-fiction book recounts the story of Deo, a young man who grew up as a Tutsi in Burundi and began attending medical school only to have his life torn apart by the war and genocide ripping his country. Against staggering odds, Deo managed to survive and fly to America on a temporary visa where he hoped to begin a new life. In America, Deo is confused, overwhelmed, and homeless. He gets a job delivering groceries, $15/day for a 12-hour shift, no lunch hour. His health begins to suffer and he is malnourished. Just as Deo's life appears to be dead-ending, he meets a former nun who introduces him to some wealthy friends. These wealthy friends put Deo through college and graduate school in public health, and Deo ultimately returns to visit Burundi and open a successful medical clinic there.
Deo's inspiring story was diminished, unfortunately, by a lengthy, drawn-out, and ultimately repetitive telling. After telling us Deo's story in much depth, Tracy Kidder treats us to a rendering of his meeting Deo and learning about his life from him and from the people who knew him. This section, comprising more than half the book, added little that was new or interesting.
The book's other serious limitation was its characterization of Deo. I never felt like I really knew Deo. At one point, preparing to travel to Burundi with Deo, Tracy Kidder notes that he hoped visiting Africa would help him understand Deo more fully. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case; Deo never seemed three-dimensional to me and I felt as if I were simply following his movements as opposed to getting inside his head.
Perhaps it's impossible to relate to someone who has suffered the things that Deo has experienced. And had the book been shorter, perhaps the lack of characterization wouldn't have bothered me. As it was, though, while I appreciated Deo's story and all he has accomplished in spite of his suffering, the book was an unfortunate vehicle for telling this story.
August 8, 2013
"Let's put this tragedy behind us, because remembering is not going to benefit anyone."
An ironic last line of a book that is itself a memoir of the painful, nearly indescribable tragedy of genocide in Burundi. I say "nearly indescribable" because Tracy Kidder accomplishes what must have seemed impossible at the outset; he constructed a word picture of hell. Kidder begins the story in 1994 where Deo had just arrived in New York after fleeing Burundi and then slowly reveals Deo's history of growing up in the 1970's in his Burundi village and of his education in the 1980's which led him to an interest in building a clinic. Kidder's description of Deo's flight from the genocide is horrific. And, the description of his plight in New York City in 1994 when he arrived with $200, no contacts, and no English skills was - well, I lack a suitable adjective for that experience.
Kidder paints an interesting picture of Deo. Deo is approachable and unapproachable at the same time. You feel like if he were in front of you, you would want to reach out to him and at the same time would want to avoid him because you could never truly understand him.
I am glad Kidder spent time analyzing the people in NYC that showed compassion to Deo. It makes the reader look inside his soul and ask, what makes a person able to open their home to a scarred stranger?
My favorite chapter was the one where Deo took Kidder on a tour of his college campus. Kidder points to the juxtaposition of a student, who has seen the depths of hell, studying philosophy and human nature. A student trying to make sense of something that has no sense.
This book left me with a sense of the evil that sprouts from perfectly avoidable poverty. Deo says that kind of poverty makes you somebody who you are not.
My son has just read "The Grapes of Wrath" for school and we talked about the scene where Steinbeck writes how there is a turning point where when "poverty and injustice to ME" becomes "poverty and injustice to WE then the seed of revolution starts.
An ironic last line of a book that is itself a memoir of the painful, nearly indescribable tragedy of genocide in Burundi. I say "nearly indescribable" because Tracy Kidder accomplishes what must have seemed impossible at the outset; he constructed a word picture of hell. Kidder begins the story in 1994 where Deo had just arrived in New York after fleeing Burundi and then slowly reveals Deo's history of growing up in the 1970's in his Burundi village and of his education in the 1980's which led him to an interest in building a clinic. Kidder's description of Deo's flight from the genocide is horrific. And, the description of his plight in New York City in 1994 when he arrived with $200, no contacts, and no English skills was - well, I lack a suitable adjective for that experience.
Kidder paints an interesting picture of Deo. Deo is approachable and unapproachable at the same time. You feel like if he were in front of you, you would want to reach out to him and at the same time would want to avoid him because you could never truly understand him.
I am glad Kidder spent time analyzing the people in NYC that showed compassion to Deo. It makes the reader look inside his soul and ask, what makes a person able to open their home to a scarred stranger?
My favorite chapter was the one where Deo took Kidder on a tour of his college campus. Kidder points to the juxtaposition of a student, who has seen the depths of hell, studying philosophy and human nature. A student trying to make sense of something that has no sense.
This book left me with a sense of the evil that sprouts from perfectly avoidable poverty. Deo says that kind of poverty makes you somebody who you are not.
My son has just read "The Grapes of Wrath" for school and we talked about the scene where Steinbeck writes how there is a turning point where when "poverty and injustice to ME" becomes "poverty and injustice to WE then the seed of revolution starts.
June 11, 2016
A true story of a young Burundian (a country I now know exists) who fled his country to escape ethnic genocide in the early 1990s. Unfortunately he escaped to Rwanda, a country he then had to flee to escape a similar attempt at ethnic genocide. The novel begins as he arrives in America with $200 to his name and not a word of English. Parts of his past are slowly revealed as he attempts to make a new life in America. I am not sure I have the resilience to deal with being homeless in New York let alone what young Deo had to endure as a child and young adult in Africa. As the American psychiatrist said who Deo eventually went to to try and deal with his post trauma... his story is outside the realms of Western experience. How sad that there are so many similar stories happening today. Despite the harrowing content, Deo's story manages to be uplifting...particularly the kindness of random strangers in both countries and Deo's undying love for his country and its people, irrespective of ethnicity.
November 25, 2018
Deo is a young medical student in Burundi when the horrific genocides started in Burundi and Rwanda. For many months he is just trying to survive, living in the mountains and forests of these countries. He sees terrible cruelty to men, women and children, and thousands of slaughtered people. He somehow escapes and makes it to New York City with only $200 and no English or any contacts. It is the story of how he survives, sometimes sleeping in Central Park. His job as a grocery delivery person leads him to people who will eventually help him. He learns English by seeing words and looking them up in the library. He is a very remarkable young man who gets into college and then medical school and who returns to Burundi to build a medical clinic. Tracy Kidder, in an interview about this book, describes himself as a story teller. He certainly did a great job in telling this amazing story about Deo, an amazing man.
May 15, 2010
I'm about 4/5 of the way through this book, and I wanted to record my impressions. I love this book. It's heartbreakingly sad but also enheartening and healing, in some inexplicable way. I love Deo, the person whose story this is.
I've felt since the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi that my understanding of and response to this episode was pathetically inadequate. I know that that particular time and place was not special or odd. Things like that can happen anywhere, anytime. A few of the factors that supported such a sequence of events are ignorance, fear, and the severe poverty and desperation of the populations of those two countries. Poor governance, and scare-mongering by unscrupulous elites so that they could remain in power also played a part. But here's the thing: none of us is completely immune from this scenario. Only a small portion of the populations of the two countries were involved in the militias, in the slaughter of their neighbors. Perhaps 2% or 3%, that is all it takes, apparently.
So my deep puzzlement remains. What is it that causes people to give up the rule of law for anomie? And what happens to reestablish the rule of law and normalcy afterward? It's something we as a species really need to understand well, so that we can protect ourselves and each other, and quickly do whatever is needed to put a stop to conditions like this, to rebuild nomie out of anomie. So I've been pondering and worrying the question in the back of my mind ever since, during these last 16 or 17 years.
Riots sometimes have broken out in the US in various places in my lifetime. There was the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s, which happened when I was a young child and unaware of what was going on, yet it could have led to a state of armed violence. It might have been another Northern Ireland, an endless series of attacks and counter-attacks with no political solution for decades. I'm so grateful that it didn't come to that, so grateful that we found reason, found something approaching justice. Not complete justice, not a perfect solution, not by a long way, but something far better than we had before.
This book, though, stretches my heart and extends my sympathies to all the people in the world who live in conditions of intolerable poverty. There's no reason at all that everyone born on our planet shouldn't have access to clean water, to adequate nutrition and medical care, means for prevention and treatment of treatable diseases, decent housing, clothing, adequate parental care, and education. Those are the non-negotiable elements that must be put in place very soon, in the next few decades, to avert human extinction. It's the only thing for a caring and decent civilization to do, and it's also wise and in everyone's self-interest. We simply can't afford to throw away all our human capital anymore.
So as heartbreaking as episodes like this are, as painful to examine carefully, it is necessary that we do open our hearts and minds to these situations and the people who become victims of them. It's possible for us to do that. Our hearts can be stretched wide. There's no limit to the compass of the human heart. We can ask ourselves and expect ourselves to care about all 7 billion humans alive today. It's not beyond our capacities in the least, we just have to accept and open our minds and hearts to receive it.
The book is very well-written and allows the reader to become immersed in the story and forget all about her local time and place, even one that contains seven devastatingly cute 5-week-old kittens. The story is a true one. The implications of it are broad. It gives me a whole lot to think about, how the human mind and spirit overcome impossible trauma, how it's possible to bring to pass great good out of horrible evil, how to transform things that are grievous beyond understanding into building blocks for good things in our future. For, make no mistake, that is the task at hand for the human species today. There have been many genocides throughout our history, but sooner or later, one way or the other, there will be a last genocide. Let's make it come true today.
I've felt since the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi that my understanding of and response to this episode was pathetically inadequate. I know that that particular time and place was not special or odd. Things like that can happen anywhere, anytime. A few of the factors that supported such a sequence of events are ignorance, fear, and the severe poverty and desperation of the populations of those two countries. Poor governance, and scare-mongering by unscrupulous elites so that they could remain in power also played a part. But here's the thing: none of us is completely immune from this scenario. Only a small portion of the populations of the two countries were involved in the militias, in the slaughter of their neighbors. Perhaps 2% or 3%, that is all it takes, apparently.
So my deep puzzlement remains. What is it that causes people to give up the rule of law for anomie? And what happens to reestablish the rule of law and normalcy afterward? It's something we as a species really need to understand well, so that we can protect ourselves and each other, and quickly do whatever is needed to put a stop to conditions like this, to rebuild nomie out of anomie. So I've been pondering and worrying the question in the back of my mind ever since, during these last 16 or 17 years.
Riots sometimes have broken out in the US in various places in my lifetime. There was the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s, which happened when I was a young child and unaware of what was going on, yet it could have led to a state of armed violence. It might have been another Northern Ireland, an endless series of attacks and counter-attacks with no political solution for decades. I'm so grateful that it didn't come to that, so grateful that we found reason, found something approaching justice. Not complete justice, not a perfect solution, not by a long way, but something far better than we had before.
This book, though, stretches my heart and extends my sympathies to all the people in the world who live in conditions of intolerable poverty. There's no reason at all that everyone born on our planet shouldn't have access to clean water, to adequate nutrition and medical care, means for prevention and treatment of treatable diseases, decent housing, clothing, adequate parental care, and education. Those are the non-negotiable elements that must be put in place very soon, in the next few decades, to avert human extinction. It's the only thing for a caring and decent civilization to do, and it's also wise and in everyone's self-interest. We simply can't afford to throw away all our human capital anymore.
So as heartbreaking as episodes like this are, as painful to examine carefully, it is necessary that we do open our hearts and minds to these situations and the people who become victims of them. It's possible for us to do that. Our hearts can be stretched wide. There's no limit to the compass of the human heart. We can ask ourselves and expect ourselves to care about all 7 billion humans alive today. It's not beyond our capacities in the least, we just have to accept and open our minds and hearts to receive it.
The book is very well-written and allows the reader to become immersed in the story and forget all about her local time and place, even one that contains seven devastatingly cute 5-week-old kittens. The story is a true one. The implications of it are broad. It gives me a whole lot to think about, how the human mind and spirit overcome impossible trauma, how it's possible to bring to pass great good out of horrible evil, how to transform things that are grievous beyond understanding into building blocks for good things in our future. For, make no mistake, that is the task at hand for the human species today. There have been many genocides throughout our history, but sooner or later, one way or the other, there will be a last genocide. Let's make it come true today.
November 30, 2009
Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is one of my favorite authors! After reading Mountains Upon Mountains about one of my heroes, Paul Farmer, I couldn't wait to read Strength in What Remains. I was not disappointed!
Deo is a Burundian refugee, arriving in the United States. Through flashbacks, the reader begins to understand the horror that Deo underwent as a Tutsi in his country. As hatred once again grew to a high pitch among the Hutus and Tutsis in Deo's country, Deo started making meaning out of these slogans:
"At the level of the ear," meaning "a machete's proper target," and "Warm them up," meaning "Pour gasoline on Tutsis and light a match."
As a third year medical student intern, Deo hid under his dorm bed, holding himself flat against the springs of his mattress, while patients and non-patients were facing genocide. The only reason that Deo ran away safely was that he forgot to lock his dorm door, leaving it open. He knew he was free when he heard the words, "The cockroach is gone. He ran away." Everyone else had locked his door.
Deo escapes to the United States in hopes of freedom. As he slept on the floor in an apartment in Harlem, he was mugged and one week's meagre salary of delivering groceries was stolen. Deo begins sleeping in Central Park, a safer place, out in the open air. Tracy Kidder sums up Deo's frustrations so well:
"He stood on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Ninety-sixth Street and looked at the traffic. What was going to be his future? His life and the future he had imagined had been, not interrupted, but wiped out. There was no future now that he cared to occupy. When would his life be over? Would God please hurry up and end it? It was getting dark. Rush hour was past, and cabs and cars were racing by. Maybe it would be a good idea to close his eyes and run out into the middle of the street."
When Deo befriended kindness by an ex-nun who connected him with the Wolf family who would house him, give him an allowance, and pay for his education, he was still riddled by nightmares and sleeplessness.
"Again and again, on the perimeter of sleep, Deo was visited by sudden vivid images, of machete and flesh, and by those dreams, in which, sooner or later, he had to run but couldn't move. He would get out of bed and tiptoe to the bathroom and take a cold shower, as cold as he could stand, then try to stay awake."
Deo's hopes become a reality through the generosity of good people, sheer will and brilliance, Deo achieves his dream of attending Columbia University, medical school, and devotes his life to healing others.
This is an absorbing true story, written as only Tracy Kidder can tell.
Deo is a Burundian refugee, arriving in the United States. Through flashbacks, the reader begins to understand the horror that Deo underwent as a Tutsi in his country. As hatred once again grew to a high pitch among the Hutus and Tutsis in Deo's country, Deo started making meaning out of these slogans:
"At the level of the ear," meaning "a machete's proper target," and "Warm them up," meaning "Pour gasoline on Tutsis and light a match."
As a third year medical student intern, Deo hid under his dorm bed, holding himself flat against the springs of his mattress, while patients and non-patients were facing genocide. The only reason that Deo ran away safely was that he forgot to lock his dorm door, leaving it open. He knew he was free when he heard the words, "The cockroach is gone. He ran away." Everyone else had locked his door.
Deo escapes to the United States in hopes of freedom. As he slept on the floor in an apartment in Harlem, he was mugged and one week's meagre salary of delivering groceries was stolen. Deo begins sleeping in Central Park, a safer place, out in the open air. Tracy Kidder sums up Deo's frustrations so well:
"He stood on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Ninety-sixth Street and looked at the traffic. What was going to be his future? His life and the future he had imagined had been, not interrupted, but wiped out. There was no future now that he cared to occupy. When would his life be over? Would God please hurry up and end it? It was getting dark. Rush hour was past, and cabs and cars were racing by. Maybe it would be a good idea to close his eyes and run out into the middle of the street."
When Deo befriended kindness by an ex-nun who connected him with the Wolf family who would house him, give him an allowance, and pay for his education, he was still riddled by nightmares and sleeplessness.
"Again and again, on the perimeter of sleep, Deo was visited by sudden vivid images, of machete and flesh, and by those dreams, in which, sooner or later, he had to run but couldn't move. He would get out of bed and tiptoe to the bathroom and take a cold shower, as cold as he could stand, then try to stay awake."
Deo's hopes become a reality through the generosity of good people, sheer will and brilliance, Deo achieves his dream of attending Columbia University, medical school, and devotes his life to healing others.
This is an absorbing true story, written as only Tracy Kidder can tell.
May 31, 2010
This fabulous book tells the story of Deo, a young medical student who survives genocide and war in Burundi and escapes, only to find himself struggling to make it from day to day on the streets of New York City. The book begins with Deo's arrival and early months in New York. Little by little, the author goes back in time to reveal first Deo's childhood and adolescent years in Burundi, spent in a typical family in a typical village, his high school and medical school years, and ultimately, his horrific journey of escape during the country's civil war. Deo's survival and ultimate triumph is remarkable; his own intelligence, perseverance, and pride combined with his luck in meeting the right people at the right time makes for an astounding story. In the last section of the book, the author tells about his interviews with some of the individuals who played a role in Deo's success as well as his trip back to Burundi with Deo to retrace Deo's journey and to advance Deo's dream of building a health clinic in a rural village in Burundi. I didn't know anything about Burundi before reading this book. I learned a lot and loved the book. Tracy Kidder is a fabulous writer and the perfect author to tell Deo's story.
October 5, 2022
Meet Deo. Once you do, you will never forget him. He is from Kenya, and has been all around the world, has slept in Central Park in the humblest of circumstances, has accepted help from others, is a doctor, but barely gets hired for janitorial work. He has seen, been in the middle of and experienced trauma to a degree that one can't truly appreciate, and yet calmly and faithfully will engage in interactions with strangers with a smile and grace that puts most of us to shame.
Even after all he has been through, he returns to his homeland to help. To heal it and the stubborn hatreds that have grown between peoples, that have just about decimated them. He encourages collaboration and peaceful projects, forgiveness and forgetting the past.
It was a hard book to read - but compelling - I had to know what was going to happen next. Deo is an inspiration, and kudos to Tracy Kidder for bringing him to a world full of readers and future leaders to consider new ways to change the world's mind, by showing them Deo's heart.
Even after all he has been through, he returns to his homeland to help. To heal it and the stubborn hatreds that have grown between peoples, that have just about decimated them. He encourages collaboration and peaceful projects, forgiveness and forgetting the past.
It was a hard book to read - but compelling - I had to know what was going to happen next. Deo is an inspiration, and kudos to Tracy Kidder for bringing him to a world full of readers and future leaders to consider new ways to change the world's mind, by showing them Deo's heart.
September 14, 2013
Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder is the powerful story of Deo, a young Burundi who is studying to become a doctor when the 1993 massacres began. For six months, he fled through the country, witnessing the brutalities people can inflict upon other people. He was finally able to escape to New York, where he lived, homeless, in Central Park, and found work delivering groceries. He began to meet people who helped him and ultimately was able to become an American citizen, graduate from Columbia University and work to build the clinic of his dreams back in Burundi.
I was aware of the Hutus' and Tutsis' struggle in Rwanda and had some knowledge of its being at least in part the consequence of colonial rule which had exacerbated and even fabricated the differences between the two tribes but I did not know very much about the similar situation in Rwanda's neighbor, Burundi. Kidder's book was an education and although Deo's story is inspirational in his survival and surmounting such tragedy, just as powerful is the story of colonialism and human brutality. The untold story of course is of all those who did not survive or who lacking Deo's giftedness (his outstanding intelligence is what had brought him as a farmer's son to a student of medicine) or personal strength lived on psychologically destroyed by what they had gone through.
This book should be read by everyone - certainly anyone who does not already know a great deal about Burundi, Rwanda, and the tragic aftermath of colonialism in Africa. Deo is the consolation for reading this book-a man who has suffered much, he continues to be a man who needs to give much and who has not turned his pain into senseless rage but has continued to deepen his compassion for all and to take his feelings and turn them into healing action.
I was aware of the Hutus' and Tutsis' struggle in Rwanda and had some knowledge of its being at least in part the consequence of colonial rule which had exacerbated and even fabricated the differences between the two tribes but I did not know very much about the similar situation in Rwanda's neighbor, Burundi. Kidder's book was an education and although Deo's story is inspirational in his survival and surmounting such tragedy, just as powerful is the story of colonialism and human brutality. The untold story of course is of all those who did not survive or who lacking Deo's giftedness (his outstanding intelligence is what had brought him as a farmer's son to a student of medicine) or personal strength lived on psychologically destroyed by what they had gone through.
This book should be read by everyone - certainly anyone who does not already know a great deal about Burundi, Rwanda, and the tragic aftermath of colonialism in Africa. Deo is the consolation for reading this book-a man who has suffered much, he continues to be a man who needs to give much and who has not turned his pain into senseless rage but has continued to deepen his compassion for all and to take his feelings and turn them into healing action.
May 13, 2010
This book tells the story of a young medical student from Burundi who became caught up in the genocide there and in Rwanda. He managed to survive the initial violence and then fled the country to New York, where he lived in an abandoned tenement, occasionally slept in Central Park, and delivered groceries for $15 per 12-hour shift (plus tips, when he could bring himself to accept them). He was eventually befriended by an ex-nun, and artist and a professor, which gave him the means to pursue citizenship, improve his living situation, and take up his studies again, all in the hopes of improving the desperate situations of the poor around the world.
Deo's story is both horrifying and inspiring. (Who knew there were still people in the world who would put themselves so entirely on the line for an African refugee, a practical stranger?) It's wonderful to know that someone can survive genocidal violence and yet keep a basic sympathy toward humanity. Nevertheless, the book never hit the right note for me. My suspicion is that Tracy Kidder (and through him, the reader) was never able to truly understand Deo as a person. He never comes through as a wholly three-dimensional character, and that makes him hard to relate to. Perhaps this is because no one who has not witnessed such soul-shattering violence can ever understand it. That seems likely. But in the end, I found Daoud Hari's memoir of genocide in Darfur, The Translator, to be more immediate, authentic, and reachable than this work from the better-known and widely acclaimed Kidder. Maybe Deo should consider writing his autobiography?
Deo's story is both horrifying and inspiring. (Who knew there were still people in the world who would put themselves so entirely on the line for an African refugee, a practical stranger?) It's wonderful to know that someone can survive genocidal violence and yet keep a basic sympathy toward humanity. Nevertheless, the book never hit the right note for me. My suspicion is that Tracy Kidder (and through him, the reader) was never able to truly understand Deo as a person. He never comes through as a wholly three-dimensional character, and that makes him hard to relate to. Perhaps this is because no one who has not witnessed such soul-shattering violence can ever understand it. That seems likely. But in the end, I found Daoud Hari's memoir of genocide in Darfur, The Translator, to be more immediate, authentic, and reachable than this work from the better-known and widely acclaimed Kidder. Maybe Deo should consider writing his autobiography?
July 17, 2009
Once again, Tracy Kidder has done what he does so well - provided a world of information and a host of questions that need to be thought about, by telling the compelling story of one amazing individual. Deogratias is a survivor of an impoverished childhood in rural Burundi, ethnic massacres in both Burundi and Rwanda, and homeless poverty in New York. He was a third year medical student in Burundi when he was forced to hide and flee for months. Although fluent in French he knew no English when he eventually made his way to NY, where he was helped by a series of lucky encounters - from Muhammed the Senegalese baggage handler who took him to his rent-free tenement in Harlem and taught him to ride the subways, to Sharon, the former Benedictine nun, who was determined to find him a place to live, to Nancy and Charlie Wolf, who all but adopted him. He made his way from a $15 a day grocery delivery boy to a student at Columbia University, to medical school at Dartmouth. While a medical student, Deo met Paul Farmer (the subject of Kidder's previous book, Mountains Beyond Mountains), went to work for Partners in Health, and was given a renewed sense of purpose. One of the many interesting thoughts this book left with me is that it takes far more than a translating dictionary and a simple conversation to understand a person from another culture, because some ideas and values are so different that there are no equivalent words. Somehow, Tracy Kidder manages to convey these ideas very clearly.
December 21, 2009
When I opened the book, I wasn’t sure I was prepared for yet one more story of flight from genocide in Africa, but before I knew it, I was deeply involved in the life of Deo, a young medical intern who fled Burundi during the ethnic massacre in the country posing as a coffee trader. He found himself in New York with $200 in his pocket, no language apart from fluent French and no contacts. After going through immigration, and arousing sympathy from a baggage handler from Senegal, he lived with him in squatters’ apartment in Harlem, and later after the Senegalese had gone back to his country, together with the homeless in Central Park. He worked for 15 dollars a day (in 1994!) delivering groceries, and was sick and traumatized. He was afraid to tell anybody his story for fear of reprisals to himself and to his family back home. Plagued by intense stress and malnutrition, he was ready to die when he befriended a church worker who finally helped him. It wasn’t easy to help him though, as he was still too afraid to reveal the truth to anybody – about his past and his present alike. His past was horrific, and he wasn’t ready to let anybody in on the story just yet, but then gradually he did.
Against all odds, and after many twists and turns, he studied at Columbia and then started medicine, met Paul Farmer (Mountains Beyond Mountains), with whom he shared a passion for medicine, and got deeply engaged in spreading health care in Burundi. In many ways in fact, Doe resembles Farmer in his single-mindedness and perseverance.
A fascinating read. Well written too.
Against all odds, and after many twists and turns, he studied at Columbia and then started medicine, met Paul Farmer (Mountains Beyond Mountains), with whom he shared a passion for medicine, and got deeply engaged in spreading health care in Burundi. In many ways in fact, Doe resembles Farmer in his single-mindedness and perseverance.
A fascinating read. Well written too.
July 21, 2015
This book will take you on an amazing, terrifying, and poignant journey of one young man's survival of civil war in Africa through his escape to America and return to his country. Riveting story, some scenes so horrific and graphic that you think it can't possibly be a true story. There were forces at work to allow this man to survive and find a way for his story to be told. The thing that gripped me about this story more than anything else was the enormous range of unspeakable evil contrasted with profound generosity that this man encountered and which humans have the capacity to demonstrate. Riveting.
January 26, 2019
This is a book about a very good man. An incredible man who lived through such atrocities and hardship and all the while good in him prevailed. This is a story about the generosity on a good heart, a person of strength and character who never gave up his dream to help people and bring peace to a troubled world. Cheers Deo - Very well done!
January 7, 2020
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder is a biography of Deogratias – a survivor of the Burundi genocide of 1995. The first half of the book is his personal journey told in two parallel story lines. The first is his arrival in New York, unprepared, not speaking the language, and with no plan for survival. He depends on the kindness of a small handful of strangers who befriend him, while he lives on couches, and in Central Park. His naïve understandings of American culture and lifestyle are startling. I remember hearing an interview a few years ago when this book was new, in which he rang the doorbell of a private house, assuming it must be a post office or other government building, because it was flying an American flag. Deo eventually makes it to Columbia University and medical school. As we get to know Deo, the backstory of his refugee flight through Burundi and Rwanda is recalled in stark personal detail. I had very recently read a book on eastern Bosnia from about the same time, and was struck by the parallels in experience. Both genocides involved personal violence by ethnically sensitized private citizens, and former neighbors. I felt this is an important story and well told.
The second half of the book is entitled “Gusimbura,” which refers to the Burundian tradition of not speaking of the dead. This half of the book is a mishmash of afterward, epilogue, interviews, autobiographical information about the author, a history of the conflicts, and miscellaneous notes. Within are the narratives of Deo’s return visits to Burundi and Rwanda, alone and accompanied by the author. Gusimbura is demonstrated through Deo’s reluctance to discuss his experience, and the author interprets based on observed behaviors. There is then another actual Epilogue and Afterward. Tracy Kidder is a famous and accomplished writer, but this half of the book struck me as in need of reorganization, and a reduction of the author as perspective character.
The second half of the book is entitled “Gusimbura,” which refers to the Burundian tradition of not speaking of the dead. This half of the book is a mishmash of afterward, epilogue, interviews, autobiographical information about the author, a history of the conflicts, and miscellaneous notes. Within are the narratives of Deo’s return visits to Burundi and Rwanda, alone and accompanied by the author. Gusimbura is demonstrated through Deo’s reluctance to discuss his experience, and the author interprets based on observed behaviors. There is then another actual Epilogue and Afterward. Tracy Kidder is a famous and accomplished writer, but this half of the book struck me as in need of reorganization, and a reduction of the author as perspective character.
August 31, 2025
Good, Deo’s story and strength and perseverance in the face of so much loss were inspiring. I enjoyed the first part of the book following Deo’s journey more and the second part was too much about Kidder’s perspective. It was interesting revisiting places in Deo’s past but I would have preferred more of the story from his perspective rather than Kidder’s.
August 31, 2012
This is a riveting account of one young man’s flight from the violent chaos of genocide in his home country of Burundi, his abrupt introduction to the unjust social system of New York City, and the resilience of his character that allowed him to rise above his circumstance, finally returning to Burundi to found the country’s first non-profit medical clinic. The first 2/3 of the book is seen through Deo’s eyes -- the horror of sudden and incomprehensible violence, the blind flight for safety, the kindness of a few strangers providing that narrow lifeline towards survival, and the arrival to a strange new world that doesn’t bring the promise he had hoped and strived for. Yet between the nightmares of his past and the darkness of his present, Deo dreams of returning to Burundi as a doctor, and caring for the people and the country he was forced to leave behind. Through a series of contacts and long patience, Deo finds the people that help him to fulfill his dream. One of those people is the author, Tracy Kidder, who finishes the last third of the book with his observations of the journey he and Deo take together, returning to Burundi and the emotional sites of terror in Deo’s past, to make peace, to remember and forgive, and to build the clinic that will symbolize a new era of progress and peace for his home community.
This book was lent to me as part of a book group kit from the ICPL. This title is currently the One Community, One Book title for Iowa City, and the ICPL encourages group discussion and participation in local programming. I have never participated in a One Book event before, excluding a discussion I hosted in my bookstore for the One Book discussion ofA Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This was the true account of a child soldier in Sierra Leone, who was able to escape that violence to spur activism here in the United States. That title is similar to Kidder’s in both content and tone, beginning with unspeakable evil and ending with inspiration and hope for a better future.
I must comment on the observation that One Book titles seem frequently to deal with contemporary social crises that plague various corners of our world. From civil unrest in Africa to natural (followed by civil) disasters like Katrina (Zeitoun), One Book seems both dedicated to enlightening its communities to world affairs of import, and at the same time guilting its readers to read of issues they should feel “ashamed” not to have pursued on their own. Does One Book intend to raise activism at home, or just create some healthy discussion? I cannot yet discern its true aim. I am familiar with at least two local book groups that have given up including One Book titles on their reading lists, because they were “just too depressing.”
Depressing perhaps, but the social activism/memoir has become something of its own genre in recent years. I am reminded of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, The Price of Stones, and Born in the Big Rains, all memoirs that not only describe lives disrupted by civil unrest, famine and plague, but also boast a narrator who escapes these trials, obtains formal education and organizes activism in the United States, and returns to successfully bring change to their home communities. One of these titles goes so far as to publish a website on its last page that inspired readers can visit to contribute funds for school-building and clean water installations. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of solicitation, but it certainly changes the nature of the reading experience, leaving the reader to worry that “reading” the book was not enough; that more is still expected of them. As for Kidder’s book, the least a reader will do is be reminded to acknowledge the humanity of the delivery boy, the cab driver, the homeless man sleeping on the park bench, and consider what the circumstances of our class-divided society have smothered in him. At best, a reader might be inspired to take action, either directly in Burundi’s needs for social and civil structure, or in the needs of the reader’s own community. And maybe that’s the purpose of One Community, One Book -- to begin a local conversation that invites the “other” and creates “us”. Whatever the results, this read is stimulating.
This book was lent to me as part of a book group kit from the ICPL. This title is currently the One Community, One Book title for Iowa City, and the ICPL encourages group discussion and participation in local programming. I have never participated in a One Book event before, excluding a discussion I hosted in my bookstore for the One Book discussion ofA Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This was the true account of a child soldier in Sierra Leone, who was able to escape that violence to spur activism here in the United States. That title is similar to Kidder’s in both content and tone, beginning with unspeakable evil and ending with inspiration and hope for a better future.
I must comment on the observation that One Book titles seem frequently to deal with contemporary social crises that plague various corners of our world. From civil unrest in Africa to natural (followed by civil) disasters like Katrina (Zeitoun), One Book seems both dedicated to enlightening its communities to world affairs of import, and at the same time guilting its readers to read of issues they should feel “ashamed” not to have pursued on their own. Does One Book intend to raise activism at home, or just create some healthy discussion? I cannot yet discern its true aim. I am familiar with at least two local book groups that have given up including One Book titles on their reading lists, because they were “just too depressing.”
Depressing perhaps, but the social activism/memoir has become something of its own genre in recent years. I am reminded of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, The Price of Stones, and Born in the Big Rains, all memoirs that not only describe lives disrupted by civil unrest, famine and plague, but also boast a narrator who escapes these trials, obtains formal education and organizes activism in the United States, and returns to successfully bring change to their home communities. One of these titles goes so far as to publish a website on its last page that inspired readers can visit to contribute funds for school-building and clean water installations. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of solicitation, but it certainly changes the nature of the reading experience, leaving the reader to worry that “reading” the book was not enough; that more is still expected of them. As for Kidder’s book, the least a reader will do is be reminded to acknowledge the humanity of the delivery boy, the cab driver, the homeless man sleeping on the park bench, and consider what the circumstances of our class-divided society have smothered in him. At best, a reader might be inspired to take action, either directly in Burundi’s needs for social and civil structure, or in the needs of the reader’s own community. And maybe that’s the purpose of One Community, One Book -- to begin a local conversation that invites the “other” and creates “us”. Whatever the results, this read is stimulating.
January 12, 2010
Strength in What Remains tells the true story of a young man named Deo, who flees from his home country and tries to re-establish his life as a refugee in New York City. Burundi, a tiny African nation bordering Rwanda, was engulfed in violence in the 1990s when a Hutu politician was murdered by members of the Tutsi-controlled military, setting off a chain reaction of mob violence and brutal military crackdowns that eventually spilled over into Rwanda.
Deo was a medical student in Burundi's only medical school when the violence broke out. He traveled for weeks on foot with nothing to eat, while militias armed with machetes and hand-grenades massacred entire villages. When he finally escaped the country - with the help of a well-connected friend of Belgian descent - he found himself struggling to start a new life in which he was no longer a promising medical student, but instead, a homeless refugee who spoke no English and couldn't sleep for fear of the terrible dreams about what he had seen in Burundi and Rwanda.
Long story short: things turn out all right for Deo. He ends up getting an education and returning to Burundi to try to make the war-torn nation a better place. Hurray!
I thought that the portions of the book that took place in New York City were substantially better than the portions that took place in Burundi. I can't put my finger on exactly why this is the case, but the portions that occur in Burundi - the portions that are supposed to be the most riveting and the most disturbing, don't really come across that way. While the causes of the genocide are interesting, the question that most interested me was: how can a person continue to live a normal life after witnessing such atrocities? Whether it's the tribal massacres in Burundi and Rwanda, the mass executions in Cambodia or in the Soviet Union, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, or the gas chambers of Bergen-Belsen - how can a person witness these things and feel anything but bitterness and rage? How could anyone live through these things and still believe that human beings are good and worth trusting? These are the questions that arise after Deo has escaped the genocide, as he tries to adjust to a new culture, a new language, and a new life in which he must accommodate the memory of the things he has seen.
Deo's story turns out far better than those of most of his compatriots. Nevertheless, it isn't exactly a happy ending; the fact that he managed to salvage a life from the wreckage of the genocide is tempered by the fact that the genocide occurred at all. Strength in What Remains is equally the inspirational story of man who overcomes tremendous odds and the tragic story of what could have been - for Deo and for Burundi - if the violence had never occurred.
Deo was a medical student in Burundi's only medical school when the violence broke out. He traveled for weeks on foot with nothing to eat, while militias armed with machetes and hand-grenades massacred entire villages. When he finally escaped the country - with the help of a well-connected friend of Belgian descent - he found himself struggling to start a new life in which he was no longer a promising medical student, but instead, a homeless refugee who spoke no English and couldn't sleep for fear of the terrible dreams about what he had seen in Burundi and Rwanda.
Long story short: things turn out all right for Deo. He ends up getting an education and returning to Burundi to try to make the war-torn nation a better place. Hurray!
I thought that the portions of the book that took place in New York City were substantially better than the portions that took place in Burundi. I can't put my finger on exactly why this is the case, but the portions that occur in Burundi - the portions that are supposed to be the most riveting and the most disturbing, don't really come across that way. While the causes of the genocide are interesting, the question that most interested me was: how can a person continue to live a normal life after witnessing such atrocities? Whether it's the tribal massacres in Burundi and Rwanda, the mass executions in Cambodia or in the Soviet Union, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, or the gas chambers of Bergen-Belsen - how can a person witness these things and feel anything but bitterness and rage? How could anyone live through these things and still believe that human beings are good and worth trusting? These are the questions that arise after Deo has escaped the genocide, as he tries to adjust to a new culture, a new language, and a new life in which he must accommodate the memory of the things he has seen.
Deo's story turns out far better than those of most of his compatriots. Nevertheless, it isn't exactly a happy ending; the fact that he managed to salvage a life from the wreckage of the genocide is tempered by the fact that the genocide occurred at all. Strength in What Remains is equally the inspirational story of man who overcomes tremendous odds and the tragic story of what could have been - for Deo and for Burundi - if the violence had never occurred.
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