The Tears of a Man Flow Inward
Growing Up in the Civil War in Burundi
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A prizewinning young author tells the moving story of growing up during Burundi’s ethnic civil war in this powerful memoir hailed as “a jewel of a book” (Margaret MacMillan).
“There’s nothing like a great love song, and Pacifique Irankunda sings a beautiful one here to his homeland and to all those who choose love even in the bleakest of times.”—Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers and How Beautiful We Were
Pacifique Irankunda’s childhood in Burundi was marked by a thirteen-year civil war—a grueling struggle that destroyed his home, upended his family, and devastated his country’s beautiful culture. As young boys, Paci and his brother slept in the woods on nights when the shooting and violence grew too intense; they hid in tall grass and watched as military units rolled in and leveled their village. Paci’s extraordinary mother, one of the many inspiring beacons of light in this book, led her children—and others in the village—in ingenious acts of resilience through her indomitable kindness and compassion, even toward the soldiers who threatened their lives.
Drawing on his own memories and those of his family, Paci tells a story of survival in a country whose rich traditions were lost to the ravages of colonialism and ethnic strife.
Written in moving, lyrical prose, The Tears of a Man Flow Inward gives us an illuminating window into what it means to come of age in dark times, and an example of how, even in the midst of uncertainty, violence, and despair, light can almost always be found.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this elegant debut, Irankunda recounts how he survived the 13-year civil war that defined his childhood. Irankunda was four in 1993 when he and his family, members of the Tutsi minority, were swept up in the ethnic war that dominated Burundi following the assassination of the nation's Hutu president. Combining scholarly research, oral history, and personal anecdote, Irankunda juxtaposes the horrors he witnessed as war eradicated his country's "storytelling" culture with rich tales of its past traditions—when cows were treated like "kings," and "women followed the cattle, balancing tall baskets of sorghum flour on their heads." With the help of an older sibling and the encouragement of his mother, who lived in a "fairly big" house until it was raided and destroyed by rebels, he moved to the United States as a teenager to continue his education under the mentorship of Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tracy Kidder. Still, Irankunda recalls that throughout his studies, he longed for a peaceful future for Burundi. "When a country has descended into great darkness, as Burundi has since its civil war," he writes, "how do you find the light, how do you bring it back?" With prose that powerfully works as an act of "collective memory," he achieves that by offering a stunning tribute to his land and its people. The result is an intelligent and immensely moving story of resilience.
