Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography

by Paul Rusesabagina , Tom Zoellner (Goodreads Author)

4.23 of 5 stars 4.23 · rating details · 3,270 ratings · 391 reviews

April 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide--Read more about the conflict and the amazing life story of the man who inspired the film Hotel Rwanda in this remarkable account Readers who were moved and horrified by Hotel Rwanda will respond even more intensely to Paul Rusesabagina’s unforgettable autobiography. As Rwanda was thrown into chaos during the 19 ...more

Paperback , 224 pages

Published February 27th 2007 by Penguin Books (first published January 1st 2006)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Or buy for

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about An Ordinary Man , please sign up .

Be the first to ask a question about An Ordinary Man

Lists with This Book

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Ou... by Philip Gourevitch

Shake Hands with the Devil by Roméo Dallaire

Books on Rwanda genocide

7th out of 58 books — 57 voters

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Africa

205th out of 1,086 books — 1,088 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort : default (?) | rating details

Sep 16, 2015 Libby rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars

Paul Rusesabagina became known as the man who hid "1,268 people" (pg. iv) inside the Hotel Mille Collines, in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali, in 1994. The refugees who stayed at Hotel Milles Collines were kept safe because Paul saved up gestures of goodwill as favors combined with the use of what appeared to be protection, luxury, friendly-natured relationships with Hutu leaders to stave off slaughters and other abuses from occurring at the hotel. Outside, "…800,000 people were butchered by the Paul Rusesabagina became known as the man who hid "1,268 people" (pg. iv) inside the Hotel Mille Collines, in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali, in 1994. The refugees who stayed at Hotel Milles Collines were kept safe because Paul saved up gestures of goodwill as favors combined with the use of what appeared to be protection, luxury, friendly-natured relationships with Hutu leaders to stave off slaughters and other abuses from occurring at the hotel. Outside, "…800,000 people were butchered by their friends, neighbors and countrymen" (pg. x). His story became the basis for a movie, "Hotel Rwanda." It was as much a story of the country's colonialist history and resulting genocide as it was about "An Ordinary Man," the name of this book, written collaboratively with Tom Zoellner.

"There was never any 'Hutu homeland' or 'Tutsi homeland.' What divided us was an invented history" (pg 16). The year 1885 was significant in Rwanda's history because it held the Berlin Conference, a meeting which enabled the Germans to carve up their stronghold in Africa without consideration of its inhabitants. During WWI, Germany had to withdraw from Rwanda and surrendered it to Belgium. Unlike the Germans, Belgium opted to colonize Rwanda, extract its resources and abuse its people. Slavery existed, but nobody called it by that name. Hutus took the brunt of the abuses because the Belgians had placed the Tutsi in power positions.

By 1993, all Rwandan were mandated to carry ethnic identification cards. As world opinion of colonialism changed, Belgium started to remove itself from Rwanda, disassociate itself from the Tutsi, and placed the Hutu in power. Paul's father had invited some Tutsi to stay with the family after the people had escaped during the practice genocide attacks of the "Hutu Revolution of 1959" (pg. 14).

In 1973, Burundi's "president ordered his armed forces to crack down on Hutu uprising, and these soldiers took their mission beyond the bounds of rationality" (pg. 19). Burundi soldiers' behavior received support in Rwanda by allowing this course of action to continue into the second country. Rwanda existed as Burundi's sister country in ethnic composition because the two used to be united as one land. The shared culture believed that paternal bloodline determined the ethnicity of one's offspring; so, this same year was when Paul's childhood friend was kicked out of their school for his paternal Tutsi heritage. Paul's father was Hutu; so at that point in history his mom's Tutsi heritage did not force Paul from school. This was one of Paul's early lessons in the cruel reality of his own country's institutionalized racism.

The author educated the reader as to the formation and audience development of Rwanda's first radio station and its long-term plan to be an integral part of both the propaganda and psychological operations of the genocide. When electricity was cut off to most areas, the station continued to perform because its energy source was connected to the Rwandan president's house. In 1994, the already-stationed UN Peacekeepers could have easily snuffed out the war at the launch of the coup due to Rwandan respect for law enforcement. Since the international soldiers were restricted to observational behavior, events escalated from small to massive-scale in a short period of time. Paul explained of how a United Nations representative from Canada, General Romeo Dallaire, wanted to cut the energy supply to the radio station. The general made every effort to suppress attacks and command a successful operation, but his senior management forbade him from progressive forms of action. This international-level decision proved to be an unwise one; "…800,000 people were butchered by their friends, neighbors and countrymen" (pg. x).

Retrospective comments about the genocide were Paul's observations pertaining to human nature. Humans are/were naturally born into a herd mentality; as such, group behaviors become routine to the extent that the ordinary business of killing loses its excitement factor. "And all genocides rely heavily on the power of group thinking to embolden the everyday killers. It is the most important commodity of all, and without it no genocide could take place" (pg. 193).

Paul asserted that genocide should never be dismissed as a country's or people's acceptable behavior. The dismissal mindset motivated international entities to remain disengaged during a critical period that most likely would have crippled the genocide.

Every story that Paul shared had a purpose. Everything in this book was deliberate. It was a gripping story with a worldwide lesson to be learned. Its valuable impact should not be trivialized. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 18, 2010 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: non-fiction , library-books , politicalish , 2010 , dystopias , reviewed , tear-jerkers , highly-recommended , bad-shit-and-atrocities

I was only 12 years old when the genocide in Rwanda took place. I heard about it on the news my dad watched every night, but admittedly I was not exactly politically observant back then, and the news was nothing more than background noise to me, so I knew next to nothing when I saw "Hotel Rwanda". The movie was eye-opening, to say the least, and I was incredibly moved by it. But I hadn't known that Paul Rusesabagina had written a book until very recently when I happened to stumble on it here on I was only 12 years old when the genocide in Rwanda took place. I heard about it on the news my dad watched every night, but admittedly I was not exactly politically observant back then, and the news was nothing more than background noise to me, so I knew next to nothing when I saw "Hotel Rwanda". The movie was eye-opening, to say the least, and I was incredibly moved by it. But I hadn't known that Paul Rusesabagina had written a book until very recently when I happened to stumble on it here on Goodreads. I'm very glad that I discovered it here, and I'm even more glad to have read it.

For some strange reason, I tend to gravitate towards emotionally difficult subject matter when it comes to my reading material. I've only recently realized this about myself, but I've always been drawn to books about devastating subjects - death, loss, abuse, the holocaust etc. I don't really know why I read these, but I know that they affect me immensely, and that I love the raw feeling that I have when I have read something emotionally horrifying, when I just feel incredibly lucky to be who and where I am. Maybe that makes me a little callous, but if so, then so be it. I think that the gut-wrenching stories help us to understand ourselves and each other and the world better, and there is just something wonderful about books that take us out of ourselves to walk a mile in someone else's shoes - even when there is a rock in one.

So, with that being said, when I saw that Rusesabagina had written his story down, I needed to read it. I had been moved, and awakened, by the movie, and I was thrilled that there was an autobiography that would allow me to learn more about the man himself, and the country that had caused so much devastation for itself and its people.

The book was not nearly as emotionally moving as it could have been. It was written very simply, and directly. No suspense, no drama, just his story in everyday language. A better author could have wrung every tear and every heartache out of these 207 pages, and Rusesabagina did not do that. This is not a criticism though. The lack of artistry lends it a truth and a weight that would have felt fake and forced had it been more showy. Rusesabagina simply told his and his country's story as he understood it.

I enjoyed reading it immensely. It felt intimate, like Rusesabagina and I were having a conversation. This was not the best written book, and I counted quite a few incongruent details and typos and grammatical errors, but aside from that, this was an incredibly compelling story. It did not move me in the same way that I'm used to with talented authors who excel at shaping their words carefully to evoke a desired response out of the reader. This isn't that kind of story. Rusesabagina simply and honestly introduced us to his Rwanda, the Rwanda he grew up in and loved and would always love, and also the sinister Rwanda lurking just under the surface, which would rise in 1994 to kill 800,000 people in a little over 3 months. He gave us the the Cliff's Notes edition of Rwandan history, which showed how something like this could happen, in this day and age, when we've supposedly learned this lesson before. He tells us how the world's most powerful nations failed to act to prevent the massacre, and how he used his wits and his courage and his words and connections alone to save over 1,200 people from a certain and gruesome death.

I don't know how true his story is, but there is a bibliography at the end with other books on the subject, which has given me a place to start, if I decide to read more, specifically "Leave None To Tell The Story: Genocide in Rwanda" by Alison Des Forges and "We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch. Even if it is not 100% true, and he's allowed time and memory and perception to rewrite some of the specifics, it doesn't really matter to me. I just know that Rusesabagina's is a heroic and brave story that inspires me. He saved people when his entire country had gone mad. If even half of the thoughts and wisdom imparted actually went through Rusesabagina's head in the moment, then he is nothing less than awe-inspiring and amazingly wise. He shows how a person can rise above the mob mentality and be a hero just by showing common decency and refusing to falter. He shows how a situation like this can happen,and predicted it will happen again, but most importantly, he shows that there is good and evil in all of us, and it is our choice which one we will let rule us.

Rusesabagina's version of "ordinary" is one that we should all aspire to be, I think. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 27, 2008 Joanna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks , 2008-read , nonfiction , biography-memoir

First, listening to this book on audio was extremely powerful. So much so that I actually had to stop the CD, stop the car, then turn it back on to listen to because it was so moving and was making it hard for me to concentrate on driving. The author manages to use direct language to tell his amazing story of being the manager of a hotel in Rwanda during the genocide. He managed to turn the hotel into a refugee base and, amazingly, held off the militia and other killers for 76 days, saving the l ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2012 Margie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa , biographies-memoirs

It's hard to review a true story about something terrible. An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography , though, isn't a book about the Rwandan massacre; it's a book about Paul Rusesabagina's experience of it. His voice, his personality, his clear-sightedness all come through brilliantly in this co-written autobiography.

What struck me most about this book was how apt the title is. Under extraordinary circumstances, this ordinary man did the extraordinary. He managed to keep more than 1200 people safe while ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 19, 2015 Natalie Richards rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-book

I have read about the controversy that surrounds Paul Rusesabagina; how he has allegedly embellished his role in the saving of over 1,200 lives during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and incites further hate when giving talks about his experiences during that time..but I am glad that I read this book. I remember watching the news in horror all those years ago and reading this book brought back those awful memories. If this book is a true account of what happened during those 100 days 1994, then he is ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Oct 06, 2013 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommends it for: Anyone Who Can Stomach It: Not for Faint of Heart

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: LibraryThing: Best African Books List

Shelves: 2013-around-the-world , biography , ebooks , history , memoir , non-fiction

This is the memoir of Paul Ruseabagina, a hotel manager in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. With "a cooler of beer, a leather binder, and a hidden phone" he saved 1,268 people. This is the story of how he used those tools to schmooze and persuade and bribe and conjole to keep the killers from murdering those under his protection. He dealt with some odious people, but as he put it in his concluding chapter, "[e]xcept in extreme circumstances it very rarely pays to show hostility to the people in This is the memoir of Paul Ruseabagina, a hotel manager in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. With "a cooler of beer, a leather binder, and a hidden phone" he saved 1,268 people. This is the story of how he used those tools to schmooze and persuade and bribe and conjole to keep the killers from murdering those under his protection. He dealt with some odious people, but as he put it in his concluding chapter, "[e]xcept in extreme circumstances it very rarely pays to show hostility to the people in your orbit." He was able to save those people because he was willing and able to sit down with killers, ply them with cognac and not flinch. That leather binder was filled with high-level contacts he had made in years of treating VIP hotel guests graciously. He wrote that no one is completely good or evil, and what he looked for was not the good or evil side but rather the "soft" versus the "hard" side. Sometimes that meant appealing to self-interest, greed or vanity--not just moral qualms. His approach and outlook on people reminded me of a quote from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that "the line separating good and evil passes... right through every human heart." Ruseabagina calls this memoir "an ordinary man" and in the introduction insists he's no hero.

I beg to differ.

Along the way the book examines the nature of genocide and what caused it to break out in Rwanda, what different infamous 20th century genocides share, and what could have prevented it. A lot went into the toxic cocktail. A legacy of European "divide and conquer" colonialism in Rwanda that ingrained and further stratified what were only (somewhat fluid) class divisions into racial divisions between the Tutsi and the Hutus. Preferential racial policies requiring racial registration and identification and which group was in favor swung back and forth between them depending on who was in power. One big contributor that surprised me was the poisonous role of talk radio that whipped up and organized the murderous hatred, calling Tutsi "cockroaches" and even giving out names and locations of people to murder.

Those were some of the internal factors. Ruseabagina also points outward to world indifference--particularly blaming the United Nations and the United States. I have to admit to feeling ambivalent about that as an American. I don't believe we should be the world's 911--and we get in trouble when we try. But I can't imagine saying that to Rusabagina's face without flinching--800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered right in front of the eyes of the world in around three months. It's hard not to respond to his plea that we mean it when we say "never again" and do better in the future in preventing genocide than the ineffectual UN efforts that stood by as so many were slaughtered. And actually maybe that's part of why Ruseabagina called this book An Ordinary Man --because he wants to emphasize what he did was nothing extraordinary, nothing beyond the reach of an ordinary person--in other words, no we do not get off the hook. At the very least, the book makes you think--it's a gripping quick read and very informative. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2012 David P rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography , current-events , holocaust

The book's title is a wry understatement: it is an autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager whose courage, resourcefulness, shrewd tact and personal presence saved more than 1000 lives when a spasm of genocide swept Rwanda in 1994. It is the story of his entire life, from village childhood in the "country of a thousand hills" in central Africa, to reluctant exile after the genocide. If you have seen the film "Hotel Rwanda," you already know about him. But where a movie, even a powe The book's title is a wry understatement: it is an autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager whose courage, resourcefulness, shrewd tact and personal presence saved more than 1000 lives when a spasm of genocide swept Rwanda in 1994. It is the story of his entire life, from village childhood in the "country of a thousand hills" in central Africa, to reluctant exile after the genocide. If you have seen the film "Hotel Rwanda," you already know about him. But where a movie, even a powerfully moving one, gives at most momentary glimpses, this small book paints a much more comprehensive picture. By all means, read it. Slowly.

If you have not seen the film, read the book first, then go watch it. The film itself packs an enormous emotional punch, but with the book you suddenly understand it much better. Indeed, this ought to be required reading in high schools and universities anywhere, teaching a lesson any young citizen needs to absorb when facing the 21st century. A lesson about genocide, about a willful attempt by one social group to exterminate another, and if the one of Rwanda may not have been the largest one, the authors here show (and Tom Zoellner shares full credit) that it stood out from the rest in ferocity, intensity and cruelty.

The forces which led to genocide built up over many years. Rwanda and its sister-state Burundi are two small states on the spine of Africa, enormously fertile and densely populated by two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. That division, Rusesabagina makes clear, was the root of the evil which followed. In the middle 1800s, the writings of explorer John Hanning Speke presented it as a fact of life, and the rest of the world accepted it without question--tall, elite Tutsis who had arrived from the east and tended animals, and squat Hutu peasant farmers from west Africa, a lower class in society. Maybe at one time such a division existed, but intermarriage and a common language and culture (many had become Christian) gradually blurred it. There was nothing unusual in Rusesabagina, a Hutu, taking a Tutsi wife.

What sustained and strengthened the division were the Belgian colonial rulers, whose identity cards demanded the bearer to be ethnically defined as Hutu or Tutsi. Dividing the country helped their rule, but it also sowed new seeds of hatred. After WW-II, when Belgium and other colonial powers left Africa, corrupt politics soon brought a general deterioration. The Hutu majority group ruled the country, and in the early 90s it launched by radio a vicious campaign of hate propaganda. A militant organization formed and weapons were hoarded, preparing to "ethnically clean" the country of its "cockroaches." Tutsis exiled to neighboring countries meanwhile established their own military force.

The storm broke in April 1994, with the murder by missile of the presidents of both Rwanda and Burundi (no one ever found who did it). What followed is hard to describe in just a few sentences. In all, about 800,000 people died within 100 days, more than a tenth of the population. Most were Tutsis, but Hutus trying to stem the hate died too. Ordinary citizens, seemingly peaceful and friendly, suddenly ganged up on their neighbors, hacking them apart with machetes, then looting their homes. At roadblocks, passengers were taken off cars and those with Tutsi identity cards were hacked to pieces, their bodies rotting by the wayside or floating down a river. The spasm of violence might have been nipped in the bud--but the UN stood aside and ordered its troops not to intervene, while France, hoping to gain political influence, actually helped arm the Hutus, and protected them after they were beaten.

All this is described in a measured, matter-of-fact language by Rusesabagina, in the tone of a citizen used to peace and order, yet forced by circumstances to face raw evil. And yet those sober, controlled words convey their message more forcefully than any outraged adjectives could do. Here is the manager of the most prestigious hotel of the capital, skilled in catering to the needs of important visitors and pleasing diverse guests in an orderly and non-obtrusive fashion--and suddenly he is in a battle zone, his hotel turned into an unarmed city of refuge. Lesser men may have tried to flee, less resourceful ones may have died--indeed, he himself was reconciled to the thought of never getting out alive. Yet he survived, as did every person in his hotel.

Luck helped, of course, again and again. But it would not have happened without the author's strong moral character, and the book also tells (what the movie does not) how that character was molded by a strict but kind family, especially by a mentoring and encouraging father. Luck alone would not have sufficed without the author's fine-tuned psychological insight. People who may seem purely evil, he tells us, often have hard and soft sides to their personality--for instance, that police chief siding with the murderers may not be completely at peace with what he is doing. Avoid judgment, find his soft side, and gently encourage it. Talk to the enemy holding a gun on you--if he converses with you, he is less likely to shoot. Bring out a bottle of good wine, share it with the general leading the gangs, and talk to him over drinks. It may help.

The film ends when all the hotel's occupants escape to the Tutsi rebels, but the book goes on, and the story is not all sunny. The Tutsi forces too were harsh, and did not always distinguish friend from foe. After they capture the capital city Kigali, many of the country's Hutus, guilty and innocent alike, flee in panic across the border. Rusesabagina's nightmare seems over: new identity papers omit any ethnic identification, and once again he manages a high class hotel.

But devastation remains. Of the family of his brother-in-law, only two little girls survive, whom he raises with his own children. Laconically he comments "I have lost four of my eight siblings. ... For a Rwandan family, this is a comparatively lucky outcome."

And the dangers remain, too: enemies are still loose, often unidentified. His life is threatened and he ends up accepting asylum in Belgium and driving a cab in Brussels. Hard work brings prosperity--another cab and more, then a trucking company in Zambia, and then quite by chance, his story is discovered and made into a film. After a delay of years, Paul is acclaimed for his heroic deeds and even invited to the White House.

But he still cannot return home. True peace continues to elude Rwanda, whose new government again seems to enter a path of cronyism and corruption, evils which preceded the genocide. It is a small country with limited area and resources, far from stable Europe and from an indifferent US. Can the past horrors happen again? The authors fear that they can, and give convincing reasons.

There is much to be learned from this honest tale, and Rosesabagina and Zoellner express it quite well. They have no solution, no one does, but if one is reached some day, this slim book has been an important contribution towards it. Read it!
...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Libby Agreed...this should be required reading in high school. I appreciated how forthcoming Paul was about the country's instability and how easily genocid ...more
Dec 04, 2012 09:04AM

Joyce ery well written and gave me more information. though I have watched the film first - I want to still read as I want to know more. :)
Sep 10, 2015 01:05AM

Sep 02, 2014 Lindsey rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: africa

Be careful with this story. Paul Rusesabagina is an incredibly controversial and unpopular character in Rwanda on all sides of the conflict, and not just because he's spoken out against Paul Kagame. Many Rwandese (including victims of the genocide) feel as if he exaggerated his tale in order to paint himself in the best light. For example, the idea that he was able to save lives by bribing the Interahamwe with the contents of a liquor cabinet is ludicrous. Many people believe that he was able to ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 10, 2014 Elizabeth Nixon rated it 1 of 5 stars

I can't claim I know everything about this, or what happened during the genocide, but since I left for Rwanda in January, I've been hearing an entirely different story. This article summarizes what I've been hearing on the matter...again, not my expertise, but Rusesabagina is not a hero in Rwanda, and I think there's a good reason. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisf...

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 28, 2009 Bobcesca rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: rwanda

Paul Rusesabagina has been hailed, outside of Rwanda, as a hero. However, having spoken to Rwandans his story is full of inaccuracies and takes credit for other people's sacrifices. There are so many stories of selfless people during the genocide who did whatever they could to help their countrymen, this is not one of them.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2014 Court rated it 4 of 5 stars

This year marks the 20th anniversary since the terrible Rwandan genocide. I first saw the film Hotel Rwanda ten years ago, and recently thought to watch it again, not realizing it's been exactly twenty years since that tragedy. So I sought out Paul's book. I can't even imagine what it was like to go through something like that, and how he was able to keep a level head and save over 1,200 people in his hotel while thousands were murdered every day. And it came down to words. He would speak with t ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 25, 2009 Lotte rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An autoboigraphy of Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda. I found the movie compelling and memorable and when I saw the book on Kimberlie's list decided I really wanted to read it. Having little knowledge of Rwanda, this book provided me with enough history to understand better the forces at work in Rwanda leading to the genocide of 1994, as well as enough of Paul's personal observations on the culture, geography, and personality of the people that I felt a love for the ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 14, 2014 Jocelyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Paul Rusesabagina may be an ordinary man but he tells an extraordinary story. During the Rwandan genocide, he protected 1,268 people in the luxury hotel he was managing. His assets: a swimming pool full of water; a large supply of alcoholic beverages; a long list of important connections (many of whom owed him personal favors); a secret telephone line that was never cut; training in (and I'm sure a personal talent for) the art of negotiation. The swimming pool was for water rations. The rest was ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Sep 25, 2008 Clif Hostetler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

He may have been an ordinary man before being placed in an extraordinary situation. But he responded with extraordinary actions. He is no longer an ordinary man in my view. He's a living saint if there ever was one.

This is a story about the right man with the right abilities at a bad place at a horrible time. It is unlikely that any other person could have accomplished what he did at that time and place. He had the right combination of social intelligence and ability to read the personalities of He may have been an ordinary man before being placed in an extraordinary situation. But he responded with extraordinary actions. He is no longer an ordinary man in my view. He's a living saint if there ever was one.

This is a story about the right man with the right abilities at a bad place at a horrible time. It is unlikely that any other person could have accomplished what he did at that time and place. He had the right combination of social intelligence and ability to read the personalities of others to save the lives of 1,268 people. In the process of doing this he had to bargain with obviously evil people who he didn't like or respect. But he had the self control to maintain a friendly face and the endurance to flatter and manipulate as needed. There were obviously many times during the 76 days when everyone in the hotel would have been killed but for his well timed actions.

The book is Paul Rusesabagina's memoir of his life. The book begins with him describing his youth and family he was born in. He then describes Rwanda's history. Then he follows his life as a young man and describes how he ended up being a hotel manager. This background offers an insight into why and how the Rwandan genocide occurred. But of course genocide can never make sense, but at least the book's history explains the events leading up to it.

This book gives me hope that good people can be found almost anywhere. Toward the end of the book he describes numerous brave cases where shelter was provided for the targets of the killers. Unfortunately, there are never enough good people when they're needed. It's interesting to note that Rwanda is the most heavily Christianized country in Africa. Some 90 percent of the people identify themselves as Christians. Yet all of this Christianity did not prevent neighbors hacking approximately 800,000 of their neighbors to death with machetees. This should place a touch of humility upon those of us who say that Christianity has a message of peace and justice. Paul Rusesabagina says in the book, "I felt that God left me on my own during the genocide. .... I share this yearning in my heart with other Rwandans, was God hiding from us during the killing?"

...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 08, 2013 Stephanie Jewett rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013 , memoir , non-fiction , personal-history , survival

A quick read, but not a light one- in fact, after reading this on the train on the way home from work, I had to read something funny because I was so sad. And also angry that for 100 days the rest of the world did nothing to stop it: the US just debated whether or not it was really genocide, and the UN just pulled all of their people out, abandoning thousands to torture and murder.

The author is the subject of the film, Hotel Rwanda. His story of his efforts to save his family and as many of his ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2012 Histteach24 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although I've read so many books about Rwanda, I really enjoyed this book because you get a personal perspective from Paul himself. I learned a great deal about the history of the ethnic divide and Rwandan culture that I did not know before. It gave new insight to the background of the genocide. I also felt that Paul's poetic way of using metaphors to explain his thought process made this an easy read that flowed. He is a keen observer of human nature and human spirit. Many people have questione ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Dec 31, 2007 Lynne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those trying to understand genocide, evil, courage

Shelves: 2007-2008 , non-fiction

Rusesabagina and his co-author, Tim Zoellner, in simple, direct language tell what it is like to be in hell...the genocide in Rwanda. The book makes it clear that history and fear can come together to unleash evil. The government controlled media play a critical role as well here. They also make the point that no human being is simply evil, that each has a soft side. It is that to which Rusesabagina appealed time and time again to save the people in his hotel. The book begins with a wonderful lo ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 20, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography , history

Paul Rusesabagina is an Oscar Schindler for Africa, for the late 20th century. Less than fifty years after the Nuremburg trials, with endless 'never again' promises ringing in the world's ears, a French-sponsored government killed a million people in a matter of weeks, leaving their corpses where they fell in their lust for another kill. The Clinton administration refused to help, the Mitterand presidency actively supported the killers, the Belgians bulked at the monster they had created and the ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 03, 2010 Chenoa Siegenthaler rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book is a very well-written account of Rusesabagina's experience as a hotel manager during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. He also explores the historical and sociological context for the events. It blew my mind. It's almost unbelievable to me that so many people could be led to do so many horrible deeds; and yet this book explores how this happened in such a way that it's a bit more within my comprehension how such things happen. I think this is a very important thing to be aware of, given t ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 28, 2015 Christian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Christian Silva
Review for “An Ordinary Man” by Paul Rusesabagina

“More than five lives a minute” was the way that Paul described the massacre in Rwanda. “An Ordinary Man” is a book that describes the massacre occurring in Rwanda during the mid 90s. Paul Rusesabagina succeeds with this outstanding book in many ways. When reading this book you will get more than what you asked for. At first I honestly thought that it was a book on the specific information on the massacre/war in Rwanda from a ref Christian Silva
Review for “An Ordinary Man” by Paul Rusesabagina

“More than five lives a minute” was the way that Paul described the massacre in Rwanda. “An Ordinary Man” is a book that describes the massacre occurring in Rwanda during the mid 90s. Paul Rusesabagina succeeds with this outstanding book in many ways. When reading this book you will get more than what you asked for. At first I honestly thought that it was a book on the specific information on the massacre/war in Rwanda from a refugee’s perspective but in reality its a book that shows a double sided perspective on the situation. Paul is a smart man when it comes down to dealing with fragile situations, he maintains his professional attitude, sees the gravity of the situation yet stays calm. Paul will keep his readers tuned into the book by showing his point of view of the situation from a hotel manager’s point of view and from a father’s point of view
Paul keeps his readers hooked from every perspective. When Paul talks about the situation from a father’s point of view the reader will feel sympathy for him. When Paul gets into detail of the massacre and describes the terror that he lived in the hotel knowing that his family is in danger the reader can feel what it must of been like being in his shoes. From his perspective as a manager he still has the same fear however, simultaneously knows that he is responsible for the people in his hotel. Either way the amount of pressure and fear that he experienced was was nearly unbearable. We as the readers can infer that he was absolutely terrified by the way he described his feelings. Throughout the story he tried to stay as calm as possible because he knew that fear would only turn things upside down.
The leadership that Paul demonstrated is worthy of an award, not many would do what he did. Paul shows his strong character throughout the entire story. Also another reason why this story is so amazing is because he not only explained what was going on to him and his family but he also went into important details regarding the genocide, an example would be how he started to describe how things were before and after the event. This makes this book stand out from the others because no other book that I have read contains description on both the main characters point of view on the situation (like most books would) and the description on the situation at the same time. This truly is a unique book one that well deserves a 5 out of 5.
I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in historical fiction, this is a book that will definitely keep you hooked the entire time. If your like me and likes to read books based on true events than I can promise you that you wont regret reading this book. This is one of few books that you will have a hard time putting down and most of all leave you with a different perspective on life, this truly book changes you.
...more

flag Like · see review

Aug 25, 2014 Kit rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought about writing to Paul Rusesabagina after I read his book, not exactly sure what to say or what to tell him. I've found out later that he receives thousands of email per day. Whether this is his version of a "Rwandan no" to block off potential suitors via his emails, or whether the four digits implied in this comment is a matter of fact, I can't be sure. But I will send him an email anyway.

I remember a saying from a movie, in an attempt to differentiate between fact and fiction. Well, i I thought about writing to Paul Rusesabagina after I read his book, not exactly sure what to say or what to tell him. I've found out later that he receives thousands of email per day. Whether this is his version of a "Rwandan no" to block off potential suitors via his emails, or whether the four digits implied in this comment is a matter of fact, I can't be sure. But I will send him an email anyway.

I remember a saying from a movie, in an attempt to differentiate between fact and fiction. Well, it says, "Fiction is to make sense". Fact, well fact, just sometimes doesn't. It is naive to think that you'd read a book, curious about the context, but ultimately seeking answers, especially when the questions are why. The author himself struggles to find the reasons, despite being in the epicenter of the genocide, to explain why the genocide happened. But I did pick up the book partly for that reason. In hindsight, it is like trying to be a jury for a cold case, absurd and futile in itself.

I haven't really had the flavor for genocides, on the contrary. But I was born in a country where mass murders were covered up; and I live in Cambodia, where in just over three years, the Khmer Rouge brought fourteen centuries of development to a halt and back to null. I came to Cambodia in the first place to see how people live after something like that, trying to play my role as a defunct jury, and obviously came up inconclusive. Those I talked to who lived through the genocide talk about the events somberly, but they have other things to concern themselves with, such as family and food.

No, none of it really makes sense. And if you're looking for answers you will come out disappointed. It really is about the things in between that counted during the times of genocide: the attitude of common people, the temperance of murderers and ultimately, the actions of survivors.

I admire Paul because of his intentions of saving lives, but I admire him most for the grit he applies towards his principles, especially in relation to his work: In the end of the day, he was a man doing his job -"That was (his) greatest and only pride in the matter". Paul sits on the opposite side of the morality spectrum from Hannah Arendt's Adolf Eichmann, who justified that he was just doing his job in planning the logistics for the murders of millions of Jews.

It was years of driving a taxi in Belgium before his story spread to the appropriate audience, ten years too late. But in those years spent in humility, he rose above the level of the typical hero, quietly celebrated and mute. It is better to be a good man than a great man, as great men come a dime a dozen, but good men, if you're lucky, you'd only meet a handful in your life. The title is appropriate, regardless of irony or false humility it may carry with it. ...more

flag Like · see review

Oct 05, 2014 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Paul Rusesabagina calls himself an "ordinary man," but what he did to save lives during the Rwandan genocide was far from ordinary. I was inspired to read his book after I heard his moving speech at the Alexander Street Press breakfast at the American Library Association conference in Las Vegas in June 2014. His account of what happened in Rwanda is horrifying, but he does an extraordinary job of explaining how it came about and how it ran its course. He doesn't hesitate to identify those respon ...more

flag Like · see review

Aug 26, 2015 Nick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction , very_thought_provoking

An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography is the account of Paul Rusesabagina, the man the film Hotel Rwanda is based on. In this account, Paul looks back on his life, from his simple childhood in a tiny rural village with his popular father, to his time studying to be a pastor, to his working in the hotel industry. After that, of course, he gives his version of what happened to him while working at the Hôtel Diplomate and Milles Collines during the Rwandan Civil War and Genocide, and his life in the af ...more

flag Like · see review

Feb 24, 2010 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

Remember the movie "Hotel Rwanda"? Well, this autobiography is by the hotel manager who managed to protect over 1200 people during that country's 1994 genocide. It pays a tribute to the man's father, a wise elder in his village who taught his son to be fair and honest and to work things out through the use of words when at all possible. How the author kept his cool in the midst of total insanity is admirable. His comments at the end of the book are insightful.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Aug 16, 2012 Lauren Morris rated it 5 of 5 stars

I could not put this one down! Rusesabagina does an amazing job at re-telling his role during the Rwandan Genocide. His story is vivid and filled with background knowledge on the country of Rwanda and why it is so hard for Rwanda to escape it's history of war and bloodshed. I found myself folding pages and making notes for how I will use this in class. Definitely want to have the students read excerpts from the book when we study this in class.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 05, 2014 Miriam Michalak rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

It's 20 years since the genocide in Rwanda so an appropriate time to read Paul Rusesabagina's story.

Paul became known as the man who hid 1,200 people inside the Hotel Mille Collines, in Rwanda's capital city of Kigali, in 1994. His story was made famous with the film Hotel Rwanda which I had watched a while back. This book fills out the details, explains the tribal/political/historical background toe the genocide and we read of Paul's personal perspective on what happened back then.

Paul is an 'O ...more

flag Like · see review

Apr 13, 2014 Cnelsonquilt rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book gets a 5 because Paul Rusesabagina was amazing! It is hard to comprehend how genocide can happen. He was able to explain the history and interactions of his country and the people. Basically good people. He was able to accomplish amazing things in saving those he sheltered in "Hotel Rwanda". It is embarrassing to realize how little the US did and the United Nations to stop it and help. It has happened in countries more than once, the largest and most prolonged being in Germany. It is f ...more

flag Like · see review

Nov 30, 2014 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is probably the most important book I've read this year. While some of the timing confused me, it was overall very well-written. It went into great detail in a very distinct perspective.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 04, 2014 M. Starks rated it 5 of 5 stars

I heard about the genocide when I was still in Junior high all those years ago, and I remember how it made me sick to my stomach knowing that people were being murdered in horrific ways all because of the the way they looked. As a child, I had longed to do something but had stuffed my feelings down because I didn't know where to start or what I, a child, could possibly even do. This story is from an amazing man who did all in his power what he could to save four hours (explained in the introduct ...more

flag Like · see review

Aug 09, 2015 Daisy Nyang rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes there are no words for such horrendous events, but this book goes a way there, puts events into perspective for us, helping us to understand what happened and why. This is one persons story and heartbreaking account, that everyone should read. Something's are so bad they are unimaginable. This book gives and insight into the horrendous events of 1994. This book is easy to read, focusing on what happens, why, and personal accounts and how it effected people. It must be remembered, this ...more

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Book vs. Movie	1	4	Dec 02, 2012 08:15PM

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Non Fiction

144 users

Cultural > Africa

86 users

Biography

61 users

Autobiography > Memoir

51 users

History

46 users

War

28 users

Biography > Autobiography

23 users

Biography Memoir

19 users

Inspirational

9 users

Historical

10 users

See top shelves...

Books by Paul Rusesabagina

Hotel Rwanda: Bringing The True Story Of An African Hero To Film

Strength & Compassion: Photographs and Essays

More…

Share This Book

Share on your website

title link	preview: An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography
avg rating	preview: An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography Goodreads rating: 4.23 (3270 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97920.An_Ordinary_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348892694l/97920.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97920.An_Ordinary_Man?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography by Paul Rusesabagina[/url]

+ Share on your website

Trivia About An Ordinary Man: ...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from An Ordinary Man: An Au...

“This is why I say that the individual's most potent weapon is a stubborn belief in the triumph of common decency.” — 11 likes

“Kindness is not an illusion and violence is not a rule. The true resting state of human affairs is not represented by a man hacking his neighbor into pieces with a machete. That is a sick aberration. No, the true state of human affairs is life as it ought to be lived.” — 11 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina

An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Books by Paul Rusesabagina

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About An Ordinary Man: ...

Quotes from An Ordinary Man: An Au...

See a Problem?

Preview — An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina

An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic Discuss This Book

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Books by Paul Rusesabagina

Share This Book

Share on your website

Trivia About An Ordinary Man: ...

Quotes from An Ordinary Man: An Au...

new topic
Discuss This Book