Sarajevo: A War Journal [Hardcover]

Zlatko Dizdarevic (Author), Anselm Hollo (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

Originally written as columns for a Croatian newspaper, Sarajevo vividly describes a life in which unspeakable horrors are daily occurrences. While witnessing the gradual destruction of his city, Dizdarevic emphasizes the heroism of Sarajevo's citizens as they try to survive. Recipient of the International Prize from Reporters Without Borders.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reprinted from Oslobodenje , a Sarajevo newspaper, these beautifully crafted essays reflect everyday existence in a city under continual bombardment, from April 1992 to January 1993. Dizdarevic, editor of the newspaper and a writer with a distinctive voice, conveys the hellish scene impressionistically: a burial under sniper fire; a boy compulsively fetching buckets of water to pour on his dead parents in an attempt to revive them. In a typically eloquent passage, he writes: "I saw a watchmaker's shop that was open for business. What struck me as odd was not that shops are still open, but that there still are people here who are interested in knowing what time it is, and that there are other people who actually know." Dizdarevic's fury surfaces when he writes about the United Nations peacekeeping force, whose presence has come to symbolize "international hypocrisy and political dirty dealing." A Muslim who is married to a Serb, Dizdarevic resists taking sides editorially. These gem-like pieces are about human behavior in a city under siege. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-A disturbing and useful account, certainly a primary source, and one of the most current descriptions of the situation in book form. "We've finally gotten used to people dying for no good reason, and we no longer look for any logic in day-to-day events. Now we must accept that hope is equally pointless." That is from Didzarevic's June 29, 1992 editorial in his paper Oslobodenje, now the only newspaper in Sarajevo. This collection of essays, written from April 1992 through August 1993, vividly describes the carnage and destruction caused by the Serbian bombing of the city. Didzarevic seems rarely to lose his sense of irony and pride as he asks uncomfortable questions and wonders at the lack of aid, both emotional and practical, from the "free world." While detailing the bombing of the newspaper building or of a hospital ward, or reflecting on the loss of friends or the desertion of acquaintances, he maintains a belief in the endurance of the spirit of this venerable city and a disdain for the rest of the world, which permits such suffering and believes the Serbian "lies." The essays are beautifully constructed and very unsettling. The purpose of the book is obviously to encourage support of Sarajevo by the UN as well as by Europe and the U.S. Photographs; a chronology from November 1989-August 1993; maps; and a glossary of key people, places, and events are included.
Susan H. Woodcock, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 193 pages
• Publisher: Fromm Intl; 1st US ed edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880641495
• ISBN-13: 978-0880641494
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,298,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brutal & beautiful account of Sarajevo's destruction, April 22, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sarajevo: A War Journal (Hardcover)

I read this book in December 1995 while in Sarajevo on a humanitarian mission. One of the most dramatic experiences of my life was reading this book by evening, and then by day, walking the destroyed streets that Zlatko Dizdarevic wrote about. It is a brutal, tragic, beautifully-written firsthand account of what the people of Sarajevo and other parts of the former Yugoslavia have been through since 1991, while the world sits idly by. I recommend the book, and I recommend reading it in Sarajevo.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing, Shocking Journal of the Balkan Conflict!, August 23, 2003

By 

Christiana Washington (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sarajevo: A War Journal (Paperback)

The man who wrote this book wrote from his heart, not merely his head. He gave insights that only a true 'survivor' of modern-day war could give. Beautifully written and powerfully emotional, this book is life-changing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading from Books on Bosnia, February 24, 2000

By 

Bosnian Institute "bosinst" (Bosnian Institute, London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sarajevo: A War Journal (Hardcover)

Written in the first years of the siege by an editor at Oslobodjenje, these poignant war stories, compelling descriptions, and perceptive reflections from a city under fire constitute one of the most authoritative testimonies of the entire Bosnian war. A powerful and often scathing articulation of Sarajevo's disillusionment with Western inaction and betrayal of international norms and values. (This short review is from "Book on Bosnia" published by The Bosnian Institute)