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27th out of 45 books
—
33 voters
Overcoming Speechlessness: A Poet Encounters the Horror in Rwanda, Eastern Congo, and Palestine/Israel
by
Alice Walker
In 2006, Alice Walker, working with Women for Women International, visited Rwanda and the eastern Congo to witness the aftermath of the genocide in Kigali. Invited by Code Pink, an antiwar group working to end the Iraq War, Walker traveled to Palestine/Israel three years later to view the devastation on the Gaza Strip. Here is her testimony.
Bearing witness to the depravity...more
Bearing witness to the depravity...more
Paperback, 75 pages
Published
April 6th 2010
by Seven Stories Press
(first published 2009)
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Spoiler Alert, this review has content from the book, so don't read this if you haven't read the book yet.
Alice Walker's experiences between the Congo, Rwanda, and Palestine are well expressed in this little book. She writes of how human greed that occurs in each place just don't affect their inhabitants but the world, since we are all one people. She brilliantly explains who history repeats itself like the German Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide, and the Black struggles of African American. She wr...more
Alice Walker's experiences between the Congo, Rwanda, and Palestine are well expressed in this little book. She writes of how human greed that occurs in each place just don't affect their inhabitants but the world, since we are all one people. She brilliantly explains who history repeats itself like the German Holocaust, Rwandan Genocide, and the Black struggles of African American. She wr...more
Wow. Clocking in at only 72 pages, I set out to read this book slowly and deliberately - but became so enraptured in the poetry of the language, the graphic nature of the stories, the courage and bravery of truth - that I devoured it in one, quick sitting. This is the sort of book that should be required reading for all humans, and especially the privileged kind (I'm looking at you, USA). Walker floats so seamlessly between the trauma and horrors of from personal accounts in Rwanda, Congo, Pales...more
L' incipit e' una citazione di Buddha : "tre cose non si possono nascondere : il sole, la luna e la verità".
Questo brevissimo e potentissimo saggio e' una testimonianza di situazioni indicibili accadute in Ruanda, in Congo e nella striscia di Gaza.
Non e' facile leggerlo, perche' significa prendere atto che gli orrori descritti sono realmente accaduti, ma:
«Sebbene l’orrore di cui siamo testimoni in luoghi come il Ruanda, il Congo, la Birmania e Palestina/Israele minacci la nostra stessa capaci...more
Questo brevissimo e potentissimo saggio e' una testimonianza di situazioni indicibili accadute in Ruanda, in Congo e nella striscia di Gaza.
Non e' facile leggerlo, perche' significa prendere atto che gli orrori descritti sono realmente accaduti, ma:
«Sebbene l’orrore di cui siamo testimoni in luoghi come il Ruanda, il Congo, la Birmania e Palestina/Israele minacci la nostra stessa capaci...more
It's hard to even know how to write about Alice Walker's "testimony" as she encountered the horrors around the globe. Heartbreaking, illuminating, a call to action, despite having no words to describe the deep travesties that continue to exist in our world we must find a way to speak out for change and for justice. So many moving passages in this work among some of my favorite:
"What has happened to humanity? More tears of resolve followed. Because whatever has happened to humanity, whatever is c...more
"What has happened to humanity? More tears of resolve followed. Because whatever has happened to humanity, whatever is c...more
Disclaimer: I won a copy of this book through Library Thing's Early Reviewers program.
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3.5 stars
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Overcoming Speechlessness is a series of short vignettes focusing on Alice Walker's experiences in Rwanda, Congo and the Gaza Strip. She draws on parallels between the current struggles for freedom and the civil rights movement that she was a part of in the 1960s. Ultimately, this book is neither depressing nor upbeat, but just is, leaving the reader to dwell on the current sad state of affairs.
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3.5 stars
--
Overcoming Speechlessness is a series of short vignettes focusing on Alice Walker's experiences in Rwanda, Congo and the Gaza Strip. She draws on parallels between the current struggles for freedom and the civil rights movement that she was a part of in the 1960s. Ultimately, this book is neither depressing nor upbeat, but just is, leaving the reader to dwell on the current sad state of affairs.
A long-form essay, about Walker's travels to Rwanda, eastern Congo, and Palestine-Israel. Walker feels it's her responsibility as a writer to witness and report these atrocities, calling attention to them. Her evocative and simply-told stories, reactions, and observations are gut-wrenching. Readers will not quickly forget the image of a mother's flesh being hacked from her, fried in a pan, and offered to her child by soldiers. It is not an easy read, but it's even harder to put down.
Whizzed through this today. Such a good book. Alice Walker doing her best (and totally winning) at connecting different social struggles and resistance, while showing the human capacity to adapt and survive in war torn and horrifying places. Joyful, tearful, cutting this book packed a wallop in only a few pages.
I like the general message of the book, but sometimes I found Walker's tone to be somewhat off-putting as she placed blame for these atrocities on seemingly random or innocuous aspects of society. That said, it was an interesting read and I appreciated the honesty with which Walker protrayed her own reactions and impressions of what she was seeing in these areas of the world.
I was a little disappointed. It has both too much Walker and too little Walker. She is more than an observer, but not really putting enough of herself in it either. Not her best stuff.
An interesting meditation on violence in these countries. The book feels almost like a poem - not quite prose. It felt a little surface, maybe because of the length and the format. A good introduction, but I found myself wanting more from Alice Walker.
This was an excellent little eye-opening book. My only gripe is that I wanted to hear more. I realize her intention was not to solve the world's problems in 73 pages. And yes, it made me think, but I think the subject matter deserved a little more detail.
It's a powerful, short book. I finished it in a day and it kind of made me aware of what's going on in the world. I loved it!
potent for a book of its size. a lesson in precise, sincere, urgent language that i imagine i'll come back to again and again.
This a very short book ... actually more of a long article. It's worth the minimal time and effort it will take to read it.
I mean, it's Alice Walker. It's good. I read the whole thing in about two hours and felt renewed passion and outrage.
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Beautiful, soulful, insightful, and fulfilling. A must-read for teachers of social justice.
This is one of the most powerful and important books I have ever read.
This is so good. So wonderful after SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM.
Powerful! Heartbreaking! Who the hell are we?
Absolutely soul shredding. Walker doesn't mince words. And her sparse imagery is more horrifying than any horror novel could be. Devestating. Enlightening.
Mar 08, 2010
Madeleine
marked it as nonfic-to-read
This is actually already up on Alice Walker's blog...not sure if it's the full version. Looks amazing. Need to read. NOW.
May 22, 2013
Lyndsey Czapansky
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Alice Walker (b. 1944), one of the United States’ preeminent writers, is an award-winning author of novels, stories, essays, and poetry. In 1983, Walker became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction with her novel The Color Purple, which also won the National Book Award. Her other books include The Third Life of Grange Copeland, Meridian, The Temple of My Familiar, an...more
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