Sarajevo Marlboro

Title: Sarajevo Marlboro
Author: Miljenko Jergovic
Publisher: Archipelago books
Pages: 195
Yearly Count: 22

I like books about all different countries, but books about countries during wartime many times either are filled with all the gore and no character development and the rest are obviously written by either someone who is trying to protect the reader from any wartime reality, or he/she has no idea of the devastation of a war-zone.
Sarajevo Marlboro however is one of those that I believe has the perfect amount of character development, and the author allows the characters to analyze the wartime situation with truth and real feelings. To be honest I don't know a lot about the situation in Sarajevo in the mid 90's, and I don't know much about it now, but I felt that I got a glimpse of accurate social history through Sarajevo Marlboro.

Miljenko Jergovic creates 29 short stories during the time of war (Serbs, Croats and Muslims). The humans, real citizens, they were the focus, humanity was centre stage and war was exploding all around them as they lived on, or did not. I was captivated because I admired their strength, determination and perseverance. It is through them Jergovic depicts the scene and the gruesome tale of war. Weather you believe in war, or don't it is happening currently and has been going on all over for generations and generations. This for me was the human side, the side that often lies hidden under death tolls and arguments as to if there really should be a war or not. The portrayal of humanity, from so many different perspectives is demonstrated in Sarajevo Marlboro. Since the author chose to jump from this life to that, and this family to that you feel like you are allowed in, and become part of them for the time when Jergovic is telling their story, they engulf you, you care about them you fear for them, you grieve for them, and you hope for a better future for those who have now become your friends.

For me personally the way Jergovic chose to write these stories made the book, if he would have tried to encapsulate the entire picture of devastation in one shot, or the horror of war in just one image there would have been no way that a person who had not been there would be able to tolerate reading the gruesomeness of the truth. Because he chose to drop the reader in on 29 different families, 29 different situations, and 29 different glimpses of the war it felt broken up enough to allow the terror to enter in bit by bit. All the stories together form a whole, they are a complete and gruesome picture of war, but in the eyes of the people there is also so much hope, and life that it is somehow made more bearable. I saw their determination to live, and dreams of a different future.

Here is a little excerpt from the inside cover about the author Miljenko Jergovic:

"Croatian by birth, Jergovic spent his childhood in Sarajevo and chose to remain there throughout most of the war. A dazzling storyteller, he brings a profoundly human, razor-sharp understanding of the fate of the city's young Muslims, Croats, Serbs with a subterranean humor and profoundly personal vision. Their offbeat lives and daily dramas in the foreground, the killing zone in the background."

I loved this book, and can't wait to get another one of Miljenko Jergovic's titles in my hands. I am captivated by his writing style and the heart that is is obvious that he has for his people.

Spring break - old and new friends

Hello everyone. This is B here, the other half of B & b ex libris. Work and school keep me from posting very often (and also from reading fun books) but I'm finishing a wonderful spring break and I've had the chance to catch up with an old friend and get introduced to two new friends.

First, catching up with an old friend - the first book I finished was Pontoon, Garrison Keillor's new novel. Keillor is one of my favorite authors of all time, and his new novel is short, sweet and a pleasure to read. Like most of Keillor's novels, it never really seems to start and it never really seems to end. It feels more like you're listening to an interesting story told by a good friend on a summer afternoon. Pontoon centers around a very strange funeral and a very strange wedding, both taking place in Keillor's legendary town of Lake Wobegon. If you're looking for a fun, quick read that will make you laugh and nod in agreement at how weird people are, definitely pick this one up.

Next, my wife introduced me to a new friend. I read Sarajevo Marlboro, a collection of short stories by Miljenko Jergovic (I know, I hadn't heard of him either - but trust me, he's a hidden gem). Jergovic is a native of the country formerly known as Yugoslavia, and this collection of stories are all about the war that happened there. I'll be honest - I know next to nothing about this part of the world or about the war in Yugoslavia - but this book was a great way to learn more. It focuses on how people's lives are interrupted by war and also how people find normalcy during war. Even if you don't know much about Yugoslavia, the book is still fascinating because it's about ordinary people and the interesting ways they deal with loss and tragedy. Sarajevo Marlboro is published by Archipelago Books - an awesome independent house. Support them and check out their offerings.

Finally, I have bumped into an interesting author I haven't met before - Margaret Atwood. After finishing Sarajevo Marlboro, I was in such a reading mood that I literally put it down and reached for the next book on the shelf that looked interesting. I'm glad that I decided to grab Cat's Eye by Atwood. I am about a fourth of the way through it and I can hardly put it down. More on this later.

So, if you are a student or took a vacation and spring break was a chance for you to do some reading, which old friends did you catch up with and/or which new ones did you meet?