The following is taken from the dust jacket:Hari, a Zaghawa tribesman, grew up in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan. As a child he saw colorful weddings, raced his camels across the desert, and played games in the moonlight after his work was done. In 2003, this traditional life was shattered when helicopter gunships appeared over Darfur's villages, followed by Sudanese-government-backed militia groups attacking on horseback, raping and murdering citizens and burning villages. Ancient hatreds and greed for natural resources had collided, and the conflagration spread.
Though Hari’s village was attacked and destroyed his family decimated and dispersed, he himself escaped. Roaming the battlefield deserts on camels, he and a group of his friends helped survivors find food, water, and the way to safety. When international aid groups and reporters arrived, Hari offered his services as a translator and guide. In doing so, he risked his life again and again, for the government of Sudan had outlawed journalists in the region, and death was the punishment for those who aided the “foreign spies.” And then, inevitably, his luck ran out and he was captured . . . .
The Translator tells the remarkable story of a man who came face-to-face with genocide – time and again risking his own life to fight injustice and save his people.
The atrocity of a genocide is well beyond what I could have imagined. Daoud Hari's perspective educated me as he described his inside view of the brutality taking place. The inhumane acts continue to be performed on a daily basis. It's cruel and heart-breaking, and most of all . . . unnecessary. Read The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur, I guarantee that you will learn something. 
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
THE TRANSLATOR: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur & 32nd Challenge Completed!
Author: Daoud Hari
Genre: Memoir
Published: 2008
Personal Rating: 4/5
Yearly Count: 129
32nd Challenge Completed!
*I read this book for the Reading & Blogging for Darfur Campaign that was hosted by Natasha at Maw Books during the month of September, 2008. Thank you, Natasha, for bringing this to my attention.
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I'm so glad that you read this Joy! I knew you would like it . . . as much as you can "like" a book about genocide.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing another challenge Joy.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many good books being reviewed on Darfur thanks to Natasha. I have certainly written many of them down to read.
Maw Books ~ I was really surprised by a few things. How can those that do this live with themselves?
ReplyDeleteDar ~ I've got Tears of the Desert waiting for me. :)
Joy, I also learned a lot from reading this book as well. I don't understand how people can do these types of things either. I don't think this one affected me quite the way that A Long Way Gone did but it certainly opened my eyes to a situation I had barely heard of.
ReplyDeleteI read this as well and thought that it was a good read. Glad to see that you thought so too.
ReplyDeleteSo you got to this book earlier than me, in the end. I was glad to read your take on it. It sounds like one of those book people really should read, but I'm a bit weary, for all the brutality...
ReplyDeleteTrish ~ "I don't think this one affected me quite the way that A Long Way Gone did but it certainly opened my eyes to a situation I had barely heard of." Ditto. I always think of that word ditto, but I think in today's times it would be more accurate to say Xerox or Cut & Paste. lol
ReplyDeleteSamantha.1020 ~ I liked that I learned something. It's so hard to believe that it continues today. :(
Scribacchina ~ There are scenes of brutality for sure. If you can't handle that, I wouldn't read this one. Maybe there are others that don't describe the violence in such detail.
Wonderful review Joy! Congrats on finishing another challenge!
ReplyDeleteTeddy Rose ~ It was a Mini-Challenge in relation to the amount of books, but a Massive-Challenge in relation to the impact it can have on Darfur.
ReplyDelete