Scan barcode
chelseamartinez's review against another edition
4.0
I think it may be a generational thing to be skeptical of the success of American intervention abroad. At the same time, I have vague notions of the power and import of the UN, mostly from taking Model United Nations in 1994 when I was in 9th grade... ironically right at the tail end of the events in this book. I think from that I mostly learned the structure of various UN bodies, not actual examples of what those bodies (or NATO) has done. With due cause I did not learn about this war... it wasn't history then. But that was the closest thing to a forum for discussing current events we would have had.
Anyhow, Joe Sacco lived in Gorazde for a long time during the end of this war, and tells stories here of young people he met and socialized with. Although you can't tell at the outset, because the initial frame he gives to the stories is the friendliness and hospitality of his new friends, by the end of the book you have a sense of how aware they are of the passing interest journalists (and the rest of the world) had in the war that is ruining their lives. At a few spots a few people point this out; how they perceived Sacco's questions when they first met him, how a fellow bar-goer feels about Americans--distinct from how he feels about American culture, and the hierarchy of people when it comes to travelling the Blue Road. The book does a great job of detailing the individual wreckage to daily life of a continued conflict and helped me to understand the limitations of the compromise that ended the war.
Anyhow, Joe Sacco lived in Gorazde for a long time during the end of this war, and tells stories here of young people he met and socialized with. Although you can't tell at the outset, because the initial frame he gives to the stories is the friendliness and hospitality of his new friends, by the end of the book you have a sense of how aware they are of the passing interest journalists (and the rest of the world) had in the war that is ruining their lives. At a few spots a few people point this out; how they perceived Sacco's questions when they first met him, how a fellow bar-goer feels about Americans--distinct from how he feels about American culture, and the hierarchy of people when it comes to travelling the Blue Road. The book does a great job of detailing the individual wreckage to daily life of a continued conflict and helped me to understand the limitations of the compromise that ended the war.
poenaestante's review against another edition
5.0
gorgeous, vivid, heartbreaking. I have such deep spiritual love for the Bosnian people and even more so now. It gives me chills that so much carnage took place while the word sat idly by. I adore Sacco's work and I only wish that his work was enough to make everyone realize that war is hell.
aylakay851's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
I loved this book. I thought it was better than Palestine, and Palestine was great as well. You can feel Sacco’s connection to the people of Gorazde on every page. It’s emotional and it puts you there with these people.
elturko64's review against another edition
5.0
Safe Area Gorazde is a graphic novel about the tragedy's and genocides that occurred during the war in Bosnia. This comic is not for the feint of heart its brutal, and haunting. And yet its one of the greatest comics in the genre of political journalism. This comic brings an amazing overview of a war I knew little about and gave me goosebumps by the time I finished it. Again this book is not for the feint of heart but I highly recommend it.
marcelo_fontoura's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing! Sacco transports us to the reality pf Bosnia and Gorazde in a very immersive way. In the beginning, it was hard for me to gain some traction, I think because I wasn't used to the organization of the chapters. Afterwards, it went much faster. Great author and great stories.
bookshelf_from_mars's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
tense
slow-paced
5.0
vivekrs's review against another edition
5.0
A graphic novel about a gruesome war, who'd have thought it could be as chilling as this. Joe Sacco's book details the four or so years in the life of a small town called Gorazde in eastern Bosnia which was more or less cut off from the rest of the world. He writes (and draws beautifully), the stories of sadness, death and hopelessness that riddled this part of former Yugoslavia. Though designated a Safe Area by the UN, Gorazde was forsaken when the hour came and had it not been for some rare good luck, it could have gone the same way as its fellow Safe Area, Srebrenica, where 8000 men were massacred in a genocide unlike any post WWII.
All this, I knew nothing of before reading this book. Had Sacco written a non-fiction prose about this with the same intensity, I'd not have read it. Only that it was a graphic novel made me want to and I am much the richer for it. It has not just made me aware of a part of the world I didn't know existed a week back, it also made me feel more strongly about graphic novels as a significant arm of modern literature.
All this, I knew nothing of before reading this book. Had Sacco written a non-fiction prose about this with the same intensity, I'd not have read it. Only that it was a graphic novel made me want to and I am much the richer for it. It has not just made me aware of a part of the world I didn't know existed a week back, it also made me feel more strongly about graphic novels as a significant arm of modern literature.