Book Review--An Ordinary Man

Book Review—An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina with Tom Zoellner

This is the story that the movie Hotel Rwanda tells, only in book form. You’re going to think all I read is about horror and tragedy around the world—plenty of that out there. This is a very good book, though. It does not dwell on the horrors of the Rwandan genocide, but tells how this hotel manager housed over a thousand refugees in his hotel, and each time someone came and told him they had to leave the hotel, (at which time they would be slaughtered), he talked them out of it. His concept that each man has hard and soft places, that words are stronger than the sword, that his negotiation skills, his willingness to find compromise (and booze) is what saved these people’s lives. Words on a hate-laden radio station, broadcast 24-7 telling people to kill their neighbors is what lit the fuse on the massacre, and he contends that words could be as powerful for good as for evil. The story has been compared to Schindler’s List. He does not see himself as a hero—just a hotel manager doing what he was trained to do—take care of his guests. He’s running a taxi service in Brussels now.

One interesting point is that the Belgians who colonized Rwanda, used the tribes against each other to get what they wanted. This kind of interference is not unique to Rwanda! He also has strong words for the hobbles put on the U.N. peacekeeping force (they were not allowed to do anything even in the face of mass killing) and the refusal of help from the U.S. The Belgians fled as soon as the killing began. Can we, will we ever learn anything from these horrors that we can use to stop the next one?