Sarajevo, Exodus of a City

I must agree with most everything I've read about Dzevad Karahasan's book. This is not what one would expect to read from someone living in a city under siege, especially given other facts of personal tragedies he mentions in the book. Karahasan, is a Bosnian Muslim that is married to a Serbian woman. As the city is getting shelled and is occupied by Serbian forces, one is thrown off balance by Karahasan's cool recollection of events and anecdotes. Of particular interest is his exchange with a French humanitarian worker. It just shows how two people, through their individual circumstances, can have a difficult time understanding one another.This book is frighteningly honest. The author is never shy about his disenchantment or his occasional thoughts of suicide. Even with that, this is not a depressing book. More than anything, I think it shows how war just sucks the soul and life out of some people. Its like they don't even have the energy to be angry at their aggressors anymore. They just want out.One aspect I certainly wasn't expecting when I picked up this book was the literary criticism. Karahasan was a professor at the University of Sarajevo who taught drama and literature. The book criticizes much modern literature as empty academia. He asserts that while war is destruction and chaos, that things like literature are one of the few civilizing factors in wartime, and that writers have a lot of responsibility.The first chapter is quite awkward, but after that, the book really picks up. At 123 pages, this book is an easy read. For a portrait of life during wartime and for a heavy handed criticism of much of what passes for literature today, this is an excellent book. Even saying what I've said about it, this description doesn't fully capture the scope of this book. It is very hard to describe fully what the author is trying to accomplish, because he goes about it in an odd manner. That being said, pick up this short little book and be prepared to be moved.

I read this book a few years ago, so forgive me if I don't remember all the pertinent details. I can say that this book was incredibly moving with its vivid descriptions of Sarajevo as it once was and as it was during the war. Sarajevo as a city was a victim, and its people were onlookers suffering along with the city. The book is surprising in that it tells the story of the city from the perspective of a resident. One would expect a book of this type (and the time frame in which is was written) to be more a memoir about the way of life that was lost or about the horrors of war. No, the book is more an elegy for the city of Sarajevo and a voice of hope for what the city could be again. This is one of the books that is not easily described but must be read and absorbed personally to fully appreciate its craft.