Left to Tell
Immaculee Ilibagiza
number of voters: 6
percentage of voters who finished the book: 100%
highest rating: 9
lowest rating: 6.25
average rating: 7.42
percentage of readers who said Left to Tell was one of the best books they’ve ever read: 50
First Monday Reading Group liked this book better than Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis (7.4) but not quite as much as Watership Down, by Richard Adams (7.45)
***
A straightforward story deserves a straightforward review.
As a group, we were split down the middle about Left to Tell. While half of us thought it was one of the best books we’d ever read, the other half was left wanting more.
But let’s start with what we all agreed on. We all agreed that Immaculée Ilibagiza has an incredible story to tell. Her experiences were devastating. Her survival is astonishing. Her faith is inspiring. Her ability to forgive is nearly incomprehensible. She tells her story in a simple, “here’s what happened” way.
And that, maybe, is the main distinction for those of us who didn’t love the book. It was an amazing story, but it could have been told in a more impressive way. Not much of a complaint, perhaps, but we are a literary group, after all.
Above all, however, Left to Tell raised our awareness about an African culture that is more like our own than we realized (modern housing, clothing, etc.) and yet at the same time more unlike our own than we realized (brazenly hateful and violent). This book taught us a history lesson about a recent genocide that, even a mere 13 years ago, many of us are too young to remember. And lastly, this book inspired us through one woman who, facing unimaginable horrors, trusted God for her life and was left to tell.
