Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and ForgivenessStrength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness
Score Modern
What it's about
Deo was a young medical student in Burundi when the violence between Hutu and Tutsi that ended in genocide forced him to flee for his life. He arrived in New York with two hundred dollars and no English, slept in Central Park and delivered groceries, until a series of kind strangers helped him get to Columbia University and medical school. Then he went home to build a clinic.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, tells an inspiring story of survival and second chances.
You'll love it if you liked
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
The Undocumented Americans
My Own CountryGood to know
It describes the violence Deo fled. It moves back and forth between his past and present.
By the numbers
- Readers50 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics24 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller30 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #225 of the 290 memoirs and biographies we rank
- #970 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1791 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
More by Tracy Kidder
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The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
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Quick answers
Is Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It ranks #1,791 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 65.7 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness about?
Deo was a young medical student in Burundi when the violence between Hutu and Tutsi that ended in genocide forced him to flee for his life. He arrived in New York with two hundred dollars and no English, slept in Central Park and delivered groceries, until a series of kind strangers helped him get to Columbia University and medical school. Then he went home to build a clinic.
How long does it take to read Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness?
About 7 hours (277 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness?
If you liked it, try A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio or My Own Country by Abraham Verghese.