A review by scarletohhara
Safe Area Gorazde: The Special Edition by Joe Sacco

5.0

A war was going on in many parts of the world when I was in my pre-teens and teens and the history buff in me remembers reading about them in the newspapers back then. Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kuwait, Iran-Iraq - these are names that will always ring memories of war articles and reporting for me, it was the period I remember the most, I can say.

This could be the reason am drawn to Sacco's books, may be. The other undeniable reason is his exceptional journalist-quality narration of the facts - no sugar-coating, no exaggeration, just enough portrayal of violence, facts as they are without taking sides and most of all, retelling of first person accounts in a comics medium. I love it all, especially because he doesn't trivialize the actions committed and lives lost even if they were all in the third world countries. And always gives a good background to where the story might've all started.

Safe Area Gorazde is one such exceptional book, taking you into the interiors of Serb-controlled Bosnia, making you feel the chills down your spine as you read the atrocities committed against the Bosnian Muslims, giving you a glimpse of how life would be if you lived in a safe area which is not really safe and above all, telling you a true story, as it is.