Customer Reviews

A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal

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Written after her well-known 'The Bookseller of Kabul', Seierstad provides the reader with a compelling account of the run up to, course of, and post war situation in Iraq. The book is as much about the author herself as it is about the people of Iraq. Thus, it is interesting on two levels: firstly as an insight into the life of a war correspondent, and secondly as an exploration of the effects of war on the population of Baghdad.

The book consists of three sections entitled 'Before', 'During' and 'After' respectively. Seierstad doesn't deal directly with the questions surrounding the morality of the Iraq war, but does what all good journalists should do - report the facts and events on the ground as she sees them. Inevitably though, Seierstad hints at her own feelings about the war, particularly when the harsh, blood-stained reality rears its ugly head.

Seierstad is also perceptive enough to have exposed those issues which the coalition forces did not grapple with before taking the decision to go to war; the potentially explosive Shia-Sunni rivalry and the growing influence of Islam. Indeed, the apocalyptic views expressed by some of the Baghdadis Seierstad meets regarding the aftermath of Saddam's overthrow have become eerily true since 2003.

Above all, this book shows that war is not only a destructive force for those directly involved, such as the citizens of Baghdad and the soldiers on both sides, but also for those who find themselves drawn into the war through choice - the war correspondents. Read it for a deeper understanding of what messrs Bush and Blair's 'War on Terror' does to those people who they insist need to be 'liberated' from tyranny.

Asne Seierstad is a brave woman. In this book, she recounts her one hundred and one days in Iraq. The duration spans from before the American invasion/liberation, to a few days after the US "won" the war. Pre, during, and post.

Each of the three periods saw its share of hurdles, as Seierstad recalls with journalistic detail (but novelistic prose). Before the war, the trouble was finding a story at all. She was, at all times, to be accompanied by an interpreter who often served to censor who she could approach and what she could say while also intimidating the interviewee to bite their tongue. In a country where everyone says they love Saddam using the exact same slogans, how can one get a story?!

It is obvious the pitfalls of being smack-dab in the center of Baghdad during an American invasion. Seierstadt recounts her torn feelings about staying and leaving. On the one hand, an obligation to inform. On the other, an instinct towards self-preservation.

While she only stayed a few days into the aftermath of the US "victory," the trouble now was getting the story right. Some praised the US; some were angry at them. Most hated Saddam after all; a few extolled him. Instead of not having a story, the problem now was that everyone - with their new found freedom - could not wait to talk.

Seierstad recounts all of this in what feels somewhere between a personal interest story and a suspense novel. In between her recollection, she interfuses the pieces she wrote as a newspaper reporter. As she says many times throughout the book, her primary aim was to get at the human story behind the geopolitics. She does a good job of it.

This book was of particular interest to me because Seierstad gives an opportunity to get a (seemingly) unbiased glimpse of how Iraq really was and how people really felt about Saddam and the US (before and after the war). Whether you agree or disagree with the war, you will see things you haven't seen before - what day to day life was like in pre-war Iraq. And hopefully, it will get us all thinking about Iraq's future.

Although this as not the caliber of Seierstad's THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL, this is still a strong piece of non-fiction. Seierstad is a Norwegian reporter who eventually ends up reporting for almost 8 news groups before, during, and after America's war in Iraq. Seierstad's tone is engaging, her writing clear concise and tight.

Perhaps the most interesting section of the book is the part entitled "Before," because when she first arrives, instead of interviewing people and getting them to tell her about their hate of the regime, she is made to go on "tourist" trips. She goes to Saddam's Art Centre, a museum that houses two floors devoted to the former Iraqi President. She interviews a man who only paints the President in different poses, a man that has memorized Saddam's face and can paint it by memory. When asked if he gets bored always painting the same subject he retorts, "Our president is a continuous source of inspiration," a reflection of the Iraqi attitude, or at least the required attitude of every Iraqi under Saddam.

Seierstad's interpreter Aliya is a true believer in Saddam and does not waver in her belief until after Baghdad has been taken and she is able to walk with Seierstad through Saddam's palace in Baghdad. An American soldier is their "tour guide" and grills Aliya with questions and then says, "Your president waltzed around under crystal chandeliers while you guys didn't ever have clean water!" Aliya only responded with "Hm." The night before Seierstad leaves Iraq, Aliya says, "People say he never cared about us...They say he only cared about himself."

Seierstad shows the fear under which the Iraqi people lived, their inability to contradict the decisions of their leader for fear of disappearing in the night. The discussion does not come full circle until the "After" section of the book in which people are finally able to speak openly, they are able to celebrate being able to contradict their neighbors in public and private. Certainly a tonal change in Iraq occurred after Saddam's regime collapsed. This book is great documentation of what it was like for one reporter to be in Baghdad during the deposition of Saddam.

Something of a modern-day Scheherezade, Norwegian journalist Seierstad continued reporting by satellite to TV audiences in Europe during the 101 days preceding and then during the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. For readers interested in the gathering of news in war zones, her book provides extensive insight into off-camera footwork and dealing with bureaucratic and political obstacles that prevent access to the hearts and minds of everyday citizens, her primary interest as a reporter. When the missiles and bombs begin to rain down on Baghdad, the risk of death itself becomes a primary obstacle.

For readers interested in Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the collapse of his government, Seierstad's book reveals what is often forgotten, given subsequent events, that Iraq had been in the grip of terror and decline for 30 years thanks to a ruthless dictator, whose military adventures in Iran and Kuwait cost countless lives and produced economic sanctions that had their severest impact on a shrinking middle class and the poorest citizens. The country had been run into the ground economically, socially, and spiritually long before the American invasion. That Iraq clings to life at all is a testament to the human will to survive.

Americans will not find their military presence in Iraq regarded in the same way that embedded journalists portrayed it at the time. Seierstad gives a mixed picture of "trigger happy" young men on one hand and other soldiers who reflect an ambivalence about the U.S. government's intentions in Iraq. Likewise, there is a wide range of opinion among Iraqis, from those who welcome the invasion to those who see themselves as trading a hated dictator for an army of occupation that cannot maintain security or provide water and electricity, while dreading the prospect of civil war. Meanwhile, bearded foreigners have gathered at Saddam Hussein's request, to begin a campaign of suicide bombings. This is a compelling, illuminating, and disturbing book, written with considerable skill, and a worthy follow-up to the author's "Bookseller of Kabul."

You should read this book if you want to get a feel for the life of a war correspondent in Baghdad immediately before, during, and immediately after the military action that removed Saddam from power.

Seierstad has written a light treatment of her experience as a journalist covering the war in Baghdad. There is little in the book that presents the feelings or thoughts of Iraqis towards Saddam - before the war Iraqis were too frightened to say anything about the regime and Seierstad only touches on the issue after Saddam is deposed. If you are looking for significant description of, or insight into, Iraq under Saddam, you will not find it in this book. Rather, the author presents a monologue of what is was like to be a war correspondent, describing the difficulty of getting into Iraq, staying there, being watched, and so on. The portion of the book that discusses the actual war events in Baghdad is interesting and a reader can get a sense of the fear and uncertainty that pervaded the city.

Iraqis are portrayed as people, but we get little character development. I imagine this is largely due both to the reluctance of Iraqis to talk to Seierstad and to the author's tendency to write superficially, describing events and interviews, and making observations about life in Baghdad. The book does not go into any one subject in any depth, although it is a quick read for for some insight into one journalist's experience.

I read this book after having read the "Book Seller of Kabul" and was glad i did. Her true-life experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq give an insight into these people and why they have such a love/hate relationship with the American people.

The author's honesty and sincerety shine through this tale of the fall of Baghdad. Her portraits of the Iraqi people, both before and after the war, really made them real to me.

Asne Seierstad has managed to combine empathy, compassion, emotional attachment to the city and people of Baghdad with phenomenal objective reporting. Refreshing to read about the war from a non-US perspective. Highly recommended.

the book wasnt what i expected. journalist in bagdad made me think more would be said about the fighting but she was in the city and didnt see much. this was interesting bc it's a view you dont think about, the people that dont get to see the full picture, just clips of it. parts were good, others very dull and boring but so is life. i prefered ''bkseller of kabul'' and it's writing style but this was still quite interesting.

I think one of the most remarkable things about this book is that the author is able to avoid judgmental language even though she lived through the American shelling of the hotel that killed two journalists where she was staying and even though she toured the homes and hospitals and saw the deaths of children and others during the invasion. Whether she is touring Saddam City (now Sadr City) or one of Saddam Hussein's palaces or reporting on announcements of imminent victory coming out of the Iraqi Ministry of Information, she just lets the words, sights and sounds tell the story of everything she goes through before, during and after the American attack on Baghdad in 2003. Some Iraqis are humiliated that the Americans invade, some welcome the overthrow of the dictator but want the Americans to leave immediately, some want them to stay a couple of years to avoid civil war . . . all points of view are recounted.

Another point that comes out of the book is that it's evident that the people on the ground had a good sense of what awaited them following the American invasion.

I think when you're reading a book about a foreign place whether it's travel or journalism, the final question is whether you want to spend time with this author. Do you want to travel across Asia in a train with Paul Theroux? Do you want to vagabond down the Andes with H.A. Franck? It all depends on the voice, the perspective, the balance, the kindness and the humanity. For my part, I'm very happy to spend 101 days in Baghdad with Asne Seierstad.