Deogratias, A Tale of Rwanda
Registered by tnkbl of Walnut Creek, California USA on 6/16/2006
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
24 journalers for this copy...
Looks intense. Hope someone out there will enjoy it.
Sending this off to Lobodyke, who was a winner in my blog-celebration RABCK drawing!
Oooh, goody --- I'm really excited about getting this. I agree with tnkbl; it does look intense, but having recently read "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families" [about the 1994 Rwandan genocide], I'm actively seeking more books on this subject.
Note: To become involved in genocide awareness and activism, see http://www.preventgenocide.org/.
Note: To become involved in genocide awareness and activism, see http://www.preventgenocide.org/.
My journal on this book is WAY overdue, since I read it some time last year, but it got buried in a pile of books by the computer. Imagine that! Anyway, as a graphic novel, I liked the way this book illustrated the Rwandan genocides at a more personal level. Stassen's choice of coloring and inking, in particular, depicted the dark undertones of the tragedy throughout. However, I do think some readers (myself included) would have been lost at certain points if they had not previously read material about the genocides.
Journal Entry 5 by Lobodyke at A Bookcrosser in A BookCrosser, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Released 17 yrs ago (3/6/2007 UTC) at A Bookcrosser in A BookCrosser, A Bookcrossing member -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
RELEASE NOTES:
on its way to someone in Florida as a surprise ...
on its way to someone in Florida as a surprise ...
Thanks Lobodyke! A totally lovely surprise indeed!! That's so nice of you.
It's seldom one comes across a graphic novel on a serious subject and not about fantasy or romance. Look forward to a good read, afterwhich I will contribute to a comic bookbox so more BCers can share this.
It's seldom one comes across a graphic novel on a serious subject and not about fantasy or romance. Look forward to a good read, afterwhich I will contribute to a comic bookbox so more BCers can share this.
Just finished reading it. The foreword in the front was really useful in explaining the background of the story. However, I often get lost when a story hops back and forth in time and unfortunately this one is no exception. (just my problem, not the artist's fault.) Thanks again, Lobodyke for this surprise RABCK, and tnkbl for releasing the book to begin with. I will put this in a graphic novel bookbox to be shared by others.
This arrived in my book box today. It looks very serious. I did enjoy the Maus graphic novels(also very serious), so I am going to add this book to Mt. TBR for a day when I want some serious substance to my reading.
Thank you for including such a different graphic novel in my book box. It is nice to sample different books than one would normally choose for ones self.
Thank you for including such a different graphic novel in my book box. It is nice to sample different books than one would normally choose for ones self.
Ok - my journal on this book is also very overdue, but better late than never :)
I had a really hard time with this book because of the subject matter. It is a disturbing book that I had to put down frequently. But, I think that is what the author/illustrator was trying to acheive. He has to disturb you to make you understand how horrible it must of been to live through the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Some of the images are seared into my brain and the incredibly haunted faces of some of the characters will lurk in my brain for a long time.
I am both glad and sad that I read this book. I am going to pass it along to a fellow bookcrosser.
I had a really hard time with this book because of the subject matter. It is a disturbing book that I had to put down frequently. But, I think that is what the author/illustrator was trying to acheive. He has to disturb you to make you understand how horrible it must of been to live through the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Some of the images are seared into my brain and the incredibly haunted faces of some of the characters will lurk in my brain for a long time.
I am both glad and sad that I read this book. I am going to pass it along to a fellow bookcrosser.
I am releasing this book at our Calgary Bookcrossing meeting today at the Joshua Tree Cafe as our monthly theme this month is graphic novels. Happy Reading!
picked up at the october meeting!
update: A very visceral graphic novel, similar to "I saw it" (a manga by an author who lived through the Hiroshima Atomic Bombing.) I also found the movement back and forth through time to be confusing and plan to re-read it to really get the impact of it.
It was particularily depressing when the following day a lady in my church got up to talk about an event about the genocide sitaution in Darfur, talking about how 65 years ago the world said never again....and promptly began dancing circles around the "G-word" ever since,
update: A very visceral graphic novel, similar to "I saw it" (a manga by an author who lived through the Hiroshima Atomic Bombing.) I also found the movement back and forth through time to be confusing and plan to re-read it to really get the impact of it.
It was particularily depressing when the following day a lady in my church got up to talk about an event about the genocide sitaution in Darfur, talking about how 65 years ago the world said never again....and promptly began dancing circles around the "G-word" ever since,
Journal Entry 12 by megami-no-ushi at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada on Saturday, November 13, 2010
Released 13 yrs ago (11/13/2010 UTC) at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Taking to the November meet up to be swapped or left on the shelf.
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday at 11am at the Joshua Tree Cafe on Edmonton Trail. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!
Calgary has an active group of BookCrossers that meet to swap books and discuss book crossing every second Saturday at 11am at the Joshua Tree Cafe on Edmonton Trail. We always love to meet new crossers, so please join us any time you like!
Picked up at november bookcrossing get together
A serious and distrubing graphic novel on the the genocide in Rwanda. I'm not big on sybolism, so the parts that were supposed to be sybolic were a bit lost on me, but it is still a good depiction of what happens. Really makes a person think. It was a well put together novel.
Released at the Calgary Book Crossing meeting
I picked this up at Calgary's meetup, adding it to my TBR pile.
Wow, a very tough book to get through! I'm not a huge fan normally of graphic novels but I found this one was very effective. I think I need to do some additional reading to fully understand the brutality of what happened. Thanks for making me that much more aware...
Journal Entry 18 by Crossing-Guard at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada on Saturday, July 14, 2012
Released 11 yrs ago (7/14/2012 UTC) at Joshua Tree Café, Edmonton Trail in Calgary, Alberta Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Taking this to our July meet up, if no one wants it, it will be left on the shelves.
Are you in the Calgary area and interested in meeting up with other Calgary BookCrossers? Please check out our facebook group, "BookCrossing Calgary" for details on how. Meeting are held on the second Saturday of every month at the Joshua Tree Cafe starting at 11am. New Crossers are always welcome.
Are you in the Calgary area and interested in meeting up with other Calgary BookCrossers? Please check out our facebook group, "BookCrossing Calgary" for details on how. Meeting are held on the second Saturday of every month at the Joshua Tree Cafe starting at 11am. New Crossers are always welcome.
Picked this up at the July meeting today.
One of those deeply disturbing books. Finally got the flipping between times. It truly makes you wonder how humanity can be so inhuman.
Taking to the October meeting of BookCrossers at Cravings.
Picked this book up from the October Calgary Bookcrossing meeting. Thanks to everyone for passing the book along to share.
I read Deogratias in one sitting this evening. I found the prologue very helpful as it gave a brief overview of the events in the Rwanda genocide. As others have noted, the story is told with flashes to the past. It was confusing until I realized that the condition of Deogratias' shirt indicated the timeframe.
I appreciate that the author chose to give a snapshot of the genocide through one character's perspective. The story goes for depth rather than breadth so the emotion and personal stories are poignant. This book left me with lots to think about, and an interest to learn more about Rwanda today.
This book will go back to the Calgary BC meeting next month.
I read Deogratias in one sitting this evening. I found the prologue very helpful as it gave a brief overview of the events in the Rwanda genocide. As others have noted, the story is told with flashes to the past. It was confusing until I realized that the condition of Deogratias' shirt indicated the timeframe.
I appreciate that the author chose to give a snapshot of the genocide through one character's perspective. The story goes for depth rather than breadth so the emotion and personal stories are poignant. This book left me with lots to think about, and an interest to learn more about Rwanda today.
This book will go back to the Calgary BC meeting next month.
Bringing this book back to the Calgary Bookcrossing Meetup.
Picked up at the November Bookcrossing meetup.
Thankfully the author gave a preamble to the book or I would have been lost - felt he tried to cram too many perspectives into one book - a sad and disgraceful reaction from the global community. Releasing this back to the book exchange at the December Bookcrossing brunch.
Picked up at yesterday's Calgary BookCrossing meeting. Sorry for the late entry.
This book is not for the faint of heart.
Will be brought to the next Calgary BookCrossing meetup and handed off... hopefully.
Will be brought to the next Calgary BookCrossing meetup and handed off... hopefully.
This book was returned to me at the Bookcrossing meeting today. I will see if I can send this out as a ray.....
This book is now a Book Ray!
See below for the forum link and shipping order:
Forum Link
Shipping Order:
KiwiinEngland (New Zealand)
Billbooks (Australia)
iwii (Netherlands)
okyrhoe (Greece)
alexiapapa (Greece)
Wichtelkoenigin (Germany)
Askeladda (Norway)
pam99 (Scotland)
Abi-Gibby (UK)
hyphen8 (USA)
tchaikovsky (USA)
See below for the forum link and shipping order:
Forum Link
Shipping Order:
KiwiinEngland (New Zealand)
Billbooks (Australia)
iwii (Netherlands)
okyrhoe (Greece)
alexiapapa (Greece)
Wichtelkoenigin (Germany)
Askeladda (Norway)
pam99 (Scotland)
Abi-Gibby (UK)
hyphen8 (USA)
tchaikovsky (USA)
I mailed this book off on the beginning of it's Book Ray journey - first stop with KiwiinEngland in New Zealand.
I sent it air mail so it should arrive in a couple weeks.
I sent it air mail so it should arrive in a couple weeks.
Journal Entry 31 by kiwiinengland at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, February 8, 2014
Safely arrived, thanks for posting it over.
Latest shipping order from bookring forum
Shipping Order:
KiwiinEngland (New Zealand)
Edwardstreet (New Zealand)
Billbooks (Australia)
iiwi (Netherlands)
okyrhoe (Greece)
alexiapapa (Greece)
Andrasthe (Austria)
Wichtelkoenigin (Germany)
GronnLivsstil (Norway)
Askeladda (Norway)
pam99 (Scotland)
Abi-Gibby (UK)
hesiodo66 (Argentina)
hyphen8 (USA)
tchaikovsky (USA)
Latest shipping order from bookring forum
Shipping Order:
KiwiinEngland (New Zealand)
Edwardstreet (New Zealand)
Billbooks (Australia)
iiwi (Netherlands)
okyrhoe (Greece)
alexiapapa (Greece)
Andrasthe (Austria)
Wichtelkoenigin (Germany)
GronnLivsstil (Norway)
Askeladda (Norway)
pam99 (Scotland)
Abi-Gibby (UK)
hesiodo66 (Argentina)
hyphen8 (USA)
tchaikovsky (USA)
Journal Entry 32 by kiwiinengland at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, February 15, 2014
The introduction was very useful, and the graphics were strong.
will pass on to Edwardstreet.
will pass on to Edwardstreet.
Journal Entry 33 by kiwiinengland at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Saturday, February 15, 2014
Released 10 yrs ago (2/15/2014 UTC) at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Passing on to Edwardstreet, who is next in line for this bookring. It will also assist in the 666 challenge (read six books from six different countries, in each of the six continents
Journal Entry 34 by 
Edwardstreet
at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, February 16, 2014
Edwardstreet at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, February 16, 2014
Collected from KIE, this will be perfect for the 666 challenge. I have vivid mmories of the news at the time of the genocide, so not sure if "loooking forward" is the right expression.
Journal Entry 35 by Edwardstreet at —- by hand, post, or courier in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, February 16, 2014
Edwardstreet at —- by hand, post, or courier in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, February 16, 2014
Released 10 yrs ago (2/17/2014 UTC) at —- by hand, post, or courier in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
On its way to Bill, was read as a welcome addition to books I am gathering from around the world to enable me to achieve completion of the 666 challenge.
Book has safely made it across from the Tasman. I am nearly finished my Ruth Rendell so this will be next to give at least one more hit on the 666 challenge.
This was my first graphic novel. I must admit I struggled with the format and felt like I was reading a comic book. Though if was a gruesome topic the changing from the past to the present was a little confusing and I don't think it got its message across as strongly as it could have. Anyway if knocked a country of my 666 challenge and also it gave me a chance to read a format I normally wouldn't. Now off to The Netherlands
Sending to The Netherlands today
The book was in my mailbox yesterday.
I read this Graphic novel in the train to my parents and brother to celebrate our two birthdays. I was a frequent reader of graphic novels, so the visual language was easy to grasp for me, and, maybe due to the fact i live near Belgium, the former Rwandan colonizer, I got my share of news of the Rwandan genocide.
I liked the literary quality of the graphic novel, in a sence a coming of age novel. Deogratias is portrait as a juvenile is, very insecure, but an air of self-confidence to everyone. What happens to him, and the others around him, is to hard for him to recover from. It's a hard story, worthy to bet told. I liked the way it was told, present to past and present again. I think it made Deogratias a more interesting character, because you take his actions in the present back to his story in the past.
My dad read is as well and said he was very upset by it.
I will contact Okyrhoe. I give the book in the meantime to a friend of mine who lives close by.
I liked the literary quality of the graphic novel, in a sence a coming of age novel. Deogratias is portrait as a juvenile is, very insecure, but an air of self-confidence to everyone. What happens to him, and the others around him, is to hard for him to recover from. It's a hard story, worthy to bet told. I liked the way it was told, present to past and present again. I think it made Deogratias a more interesting character, because you take his actions in the present back to his story in the past.
My dad read is as well and said he was very upset by it.
I will contact Okyrhoe. I give the book in the meantime to a friend of mine who lives close by.
iiwi lent this book to me a few days ago, he will need it back soon to send it to the next reader on the list.
I'm glad I read it.
I agree with azuki: "The foreword in the front was really useful in explaining the background of the story." I didn't know the divisions between Hutu's and Tutsi's weren't very strong and the Belgian rulers amplified the divisions ('divide and rule'). You can see clearly in this book the schoolkids hardly knew who was Tutsi and who was Hutu. It didn't really matter much to them, it mattered to the European people in Rwanda. It is also very clear that, when there's a war going on, and genocide, you can't NOT participate. Wether a person chooses to participate or is forced to, she/he still has to come to terms with what happened. And the way the world chooses to ignore these horrors is appalling.....
I wasn't confused by the switches from 'present' to 'past': in the 'present', Deogratias has very yellow eyes....
Immediately started re-reading Maus after this book.
I'm glad I read it.
I agree with azuki: "The foreword in the front was really useful in explaining the background of the story." I didn't know the divisions between Hutu's and Tutsi's weren't very strong and the Belgian rulers amplified the divisions ('divide and rule'). You can see clearly in this book the schoolkids hardly knew who was Tutsi and who was Hutu. It didn't really matter much to them, it mattered to the European people in Rwanda. It is also very clear that, when there's a war going on, and genocide, you can't NOT participate. Wether a person chooses to participate or is forced to, she/he still has to come to terms with what happened. And the way the world chooses to ignore these horrors is appalling.....
I wasn't confused by the switches from 'present' to 'past': in the 'present', Deogratias has very yellow eyes....
Immediately started re-reading Maus after this book.
Arrived in Athens. Thanks Minerva101 for including me in the ray, and iiwi for posting the book to me!
Journal Entry 43 by okyrhoe at book ring/ray, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (8/20/2014 UTC) at book ring/ray, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Finally on its way to Andrasthe :-)
Brilliant colouring - the dark tones really set the appropriate mood. This book surely was touching and disturbing at the same way. As I knew enough about the tragic history of the genocides, the story wasn't confusing. Some aspects of the personal story, however, were a bit short and could have benefited from more explanations.Thanks for including me!
Journal Entry 46 by Wichtelkoenigin at Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Wednesday, November 19, 2014
The book arrived today in Cologne, Germany. Thank you, Andrasthe, for sending it, and thank you for including me in the ray.
Have just sent Askeladda a PM, asking for her address. Sorry it took me so long, have been in hospital twice in the last couple of month.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this great comic for me, the graphics are really good and I love the idea that we are sharing the story around the world!
Edit: My mistake. It's GronnLivsstil who's next on the list....
Send her a PM.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this great comic for me, the graphics are really good and I love the idea that we are sharing the story around the world!
Edit: My mistake. It's GronnLivsstil who's next on the list....
Send her a PM.
Journal Entry 48 by Wichtelkoenigin at Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Tuesday, January 13, 2015
The book is on its way to Norway.
I got it in the mail today. I've got a couple of library books and another BC ring/ray, but I'll squeeze it in somewhere.
This was an interesting read for sure.
On the way to the next reader.
The book is with me! Thank you for sending! The war in Rwanda 1994 engaged me a lot. So I have Started to read this grafic novel allready. I must use some time to take in the story. I'm thanksfull for this ray. I Wonder if it at all is possible to tell the civil war in Rwanda in i comic, soon I will know.
A strong, disturbing graphic novel from Rwanda. To tell Deogratias story in the form of a comic, worked. It's a sad tale, too overwhelming for a human brain to cope with. I had to read slowly. Thank you for including me in this ring!
The book will continue to travel as soon as I get pam99's adress. PM is sendt
Edit: Waiting one more week to hear from pam99 before Ill try to PM the next reader in the ring. Have asked for help to find her in the forum.
The book will continue to travel as soon as I get pam99's adress. PM is sendt
Edit: Waiting one more week to hear from pam99 before Ill try to PM the next reader in the ring. Have asked for help to find her in the forum.
To the next reader! I never heard from pam99, so of poor Deogratias goes to Abi-Gibby.
This one has found itself safely with me today :)
I found this graphic novel very very disturbing and sad
I sent this book out on the 27th may 2015, I have a very bad feeling that it has got lost in the post :(
Congratulations, you have picked up a travelling book!
If you have a moment, we'd love you to let us know you have the book as we're keen to follow its journey. You can even post a review when you've read it before passing it on to the next lucky person.
Happy reading!
Not sure what to do? Follow these steps!
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3) If you choose to read the book, please make another journal entry when you finish it to let us know what you thought!
4) Ready to pass the book on? Click on "make release notes" to let us know where it's going! Leave the book in a public place or give it to a friend!
Congratulations, you have picked up a travelling book!
If you have a moment, we'd love you to let us know you have the book as we're keen to follow its journey. You can even post a review when you've read it before passing it on to the next lucky person.
Happy reading!
Not sure what to do? Follow these steps!
1) You may continue as an Anonymous Finder. Or, Register as a member , then you too will receive future journal entries on this book and track its journey around the world!
2) Make a journal entry on this book to let us know how you found it!
3) If you choose to read the book, please make another journal entry when you finish it to let us know what you thought!
4) Ready to pass the book on? Click on "make release notes" to let us know where it's going! Leave the book in a public place or give it to a friend!
Received today, after 3 1/2 of travelling!!!!!!!!
I'am reading it. Beautiful images, a sad sad sad story.
Finished today. Thanks a lot to share this book with me. I'll contact the next in the list.
Journal Entry 61 by hesiodo66 at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Thursday, September 24, 2015
Released 8 yrs ago (9/24/2015 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sent it today, to hyphen8 (USA)
Deogratias has arrived safely in Hawaii. Having internet connection issues at the moment, but I'll check in again soon.
Still TBR but up next.
Sent a PM to tchaikovsky to see if she's still interested - no BC activity in a while so we'll see if I get a response.
Story and artwork by Jean-Philippe Stassen; translation by Alexis Siegel
Sent a PM to tchaikovsky to see if she's still interested - no BC activity in a while so we'll see if I get a response.
Story and artwork by Jean-Philippe Stassen; translation by Alexis Siegel
I'm reading it now, and have sent a 3rd PM to tchaikovsky...
A relatively short read, but quite intense due to the subject matter. This book puts a very human face on the tragic events in Rwanda. I understand why one previous journaler mentioned Maus.
The story of Deogratias reminded me that when truly horrible things are happening, even relatively good people sometimes have to do terrible things in order to survive, and they are damaged by their actions and those events. Sadly, that damage is not always fixable, or even bearable.
I'm acquainted with someone who survived the "killing fields" of the Khmer Rouge; he strikes me as a caring, giving, hard-working person who does a lot of community work, but from a few brief mentions I suspect that he is still sometimes haunted by his past.
...
I haven't heard back from tchaikovsky, so I've sent a PM to Minerva101 to see if she has anything to say about where this book should go next.
The story of Deogratias reminded me that when truly horrible things are happening, even relatively good people sometimes have to do terrible things in order to survive, and they are damaged by their actions and those events. Sadly, that damage is not always fixable, or even bearable.
I'm acquainted with someone who survived the "killing fields" of the Khmer Rouge; he strikes me as a caring, giving, hard-working person who does a lot of community work, but from a few brief mentions I suspect that he is still sometimes haunted by his past.
...
I haven't heard back from tchaikovsky, so I've sent a PM to Minerva101 to see if she has anything to say about where this book should go next.
This was one of the books left on the table after our wonderful TOC lunch at Town - I hope it finds a new reader!Wild released for Secretariat's 2016 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover Challenge (week 13: 1st quarter re-do - African characters) and AlterEgoZoe's Leap into the Wild Challenge.
(Larger photo here - after following link, click on image to zoom.)
I'm so glad you've found this book!
Won't you please make a journal entry to let the book's previous readers know that it's safely in your hands? How did you find it? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?
It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!
If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.
(Think of it like Where's George for books...or a little like geocaching - you can follow the book's journey every time someone makes a new entry. Some BookCrossers even leave books *in* geocaches!)
BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!
Since the author is Belgian, I'll also release this book for the victims of the recent terror attacks in Brussels: it's hard to understand why people feel the need to do such terrible things to one another. #JeSuisBruxelles
