lauren_endnotes's review
▪️SARAJEVO BLUES by Semezdin Mehmedinović, translated from the Bosnian by Ammiel Alcalay, 1995/1998 by @citylightsbooks
#ReadtheWorld21
#ReadtheWorld21
heatherinjapan's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
No rating for this one.
I don't think I've read such a work of literature before that affected me so much mentally and physiologically. Reading these essays and poems was like I was slowly submerging into a feeling of emptiness and being devoid of hope or happiness. It's affected me quite a bit for the week after reading it. While the words don't stick in my mind, the feeling doesn't really leave you for a while. While I can't say I enjoyed this, the author was very successful in getting across the feelings he had during this time in Bosnia.
Definitely not for the faint of heart and be sure you're in an okay place mentally before reading.
I don't think I've read such a work of literature before that affected me so much mentally and physiologically. Reading these essays and poems was like I was slowly submerging into a feeling of emptiness and being devoid of hope or happiness. It's affected me quite a bit for the week after reading it. While the words don't stick in my mind, the feeling doesn't really leave you for a while. While I can't say I enjoyed this, the author was very successful in getting across the feelings he had during this time in Bosnia.
Definitely not for the faint of heart and be sure you're in an okay place mentally before reading.
jessica_sim's review
5.0
I felt haunted by this book when I read it as a student but now it attacks me and drags me down with it. I’m older, I experienced more, I’ve been there myself. I cannot remember it being so gruesome, but it undoubtedly was because nothing changed about the printed words here, I changed and time changed. Maybe the world changed too.
hancaavdic's review
5.0
4.5 stars
What a beautiful collection. This is seriously nothing like anything I've ever read. So raw, breathtaking, and heartbreaking. I love the content on Sarajevo--it feels so familiar and personal to me, but he writes it in such a way that is still fresh and new to me. I love how Semezdin does not sugarcoat the atrocities Bosnian civilians endured during the siege/war/genocides. This is the kind of writing, the kind of stories, that everyone needs on their shelves. I hope to read more of his work.
What a beautiful collection. This is seriously nothing like anything I've ever read. So raw, breathtaking, and heartbreaking. I love the content on Sarajevo--it feels so familiar and personal to me, but he writes it in such a way that is still fresh and new to me. I love how Semezdin does not sugarcoat the atrocities Bosnian civilians endured during the siege/war/genocides. This is the kind of writing, the kind of stories, that everyone needs on their shelves. I hope to read more of his work.
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