Books and films that break your heart

I don't much like little books of canned devotions, whether topical, annual, or penitential (never mind that I've written several). Novels and journalistic accounts and films are often a better way of reminding myself that I am dust and ashes. Here are some engrossing, heartbreaking accounts from places where hunger and death are part of everyone's daily experience. All are current and available from Amazon.

Novels
Dave Eggers, What Is the What (Sudan)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun (Nigeria: Biafra)
Athol Fugard, Tsotsi (South Africa)
Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns (Afghanistan)

Nonfiction
Greg Mortenson/David Oliver Relin, Three Cups of Tea (Pakistan)
Ǻsne Seierstad, The Bookseller of Kabul (Afghanistan)
Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains (Haiti)

DVDs
God Grew Tired of Us (Sudan)
The Devil Came On Horseback (Sudan)
Tsotsi (South Africa)