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Sevdalinka
Postane binasının yanı sıra, Milli Tiyatro, Hukuk Fakültesi ve civarındaki binalar da yanıyor, yeni patlamalarla bu ateş dansına eşlik ediyorlardı. Rüzgarda uçuşan kızıl saçlar gibi savrulan alevleriyle har har yanıyorlardı. Yandıkça, kırmızı bir fona çizilmiş, simsiyah iskeletlere dönüşüyorlardı. Nimeta, taş kesilmiş, geçmişini seyrediyordu alazların ötesinde. Çocukluğu, gençliği, anıları, sevinçleri, kederleri incelenip uzayarak, bükülerek alevlerin arasında göğe yükseliyor, Saraybosna külleriyle birlikte sağa sola savruluyordu. Bosnalı bir gazeteci olan Nimeta, dünya tarihinin en acımasız soykırımlarından birinin yaşadığı Bosna savaşının ortasında kendisi ve ailesi için yaşam mücadelesi verirken, içinde kıyasıya süren bambaşka bir savaşla da başetmek zorundaydı...
307 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
560 people are currently reading
2333 people want to read
About the author
Ayşe Kulin
61 books908 followersAyşe Kulin is a Turkish contemporary novelist and columnist.
Kulin graduated in literature from the American College for Girls in Arnavutköy. She released a collection of short stories titled Güneşe Dön Yüzünü in 1984. A short story from this called Gülizar was made into a film titled Kırık Bebek in 1986, for which she won a screenplay award from the Turkish culture ministry. Kulin worked as a screen writer, cinematographer and producer for many films, television series and advertisements. In 1986, she won the Best Cinematographer Award from the Theatre Writers association for her work in the television series Ayaşlı ve Kiracıları.
In 1996, she wrote a biography of Münir Nureddin Selçuk titled Bir Tatlı Huzur. With a short story called Foto Sabah Resimleri she won the Haldun Taner Short Story Award the same year and the Sait Faik Story Prize the next year. In 1997, she was chosen as the "Writer of the year" by the İstanbul Communication Faculty for her biographical novel Adı Aylin, She won the same award the next year for her short story Geniş Zamanlar. In November 1999, she wrote a novel called Sevdalinka about the Bosnian Civil War and in 2000, a biographical novel called Füreyya. In June 2001, she put out a novel titled Köprü about drama in Turkey's eastern provinces and how they shaped the republic's early history.
In May 2002, Kulin wrote a novel titled Nefes Nefes'e about the Turkish diplomats who saved in the lives of Jews during the holocaust in World War 2.
She has married twice, her latest novels Hayat and Huzun describe her life with her spouses, Mehmet Sarper and Eren Kemahli. Both ended in divorce but she bore 4 sons from the marriages.
Kulin graduated in literature from the American College for Girls in Arnavutköy. She released a collection of short stories titled Güneşe Dön Yüzünü in 1984. A short story from this called Gülizar was made into a film titled Kırık Bebek in 1986, for which she won a screenplay award from the Turkish culture ministry. Kulin worked as a screen writer, cinematographer and producer for many films, television series and advertisements. In 1986, she won the Best Cinematographer Award from the Theatre Writers association for her work in the television series Ayaşlı ve Kiracıları.
In 1996, she wrote a biography of Münir Nureddin Selçuk titled Bir Tatlı Huzur. With a short story called Foto Sabah Resimleri she won the Haldun Taner Short Story Award the same year and the Sait Faik Story Prize the next year. In 1997, she was chosen as the "Writer of the year" by the İstanbul Communication Faculty for her biographical novel Adı Aylin, She won the same award the next year for her short story Geniş Zamanlar. In November 1999, she wrote a novel called Sevdalinka about the Bosnian Civil War and in 2000, a biographical novel called Füreyya. In June 2001, she put out a novel titled Köprü about drama in Turkey's eastern provinces and how they shaped the republic's early history.
In May 2002, Kulin wrote a novel titled Nefes Nefes'e about the Turkish diplomats who saved in the lives of Jews during the holocaust in World War 2.
She has married twice, her latest novels Hayat and Huzun describe her life with her spouses, Mehmet Sarper and Eren Kemahli. Both ended in divorce but she bore 4 sons from the marriages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 275 reviews
October 2, 2014
I kept putting off writing this review. Not because I did not like the book, far from it. It was primarily because the experience of reading this story, talking about it, is intensely emotional for me. I lived this war. Entire generations of citizens of ex-Yugoslavia have had their life path shaped by this war...I am no exception. And though I count myself "lucky" because I haven't lost as much as many...I "got to keep" the most important thing - my immediate family...at the same time the war steals something intangible from anyone it comes in contact with. For me that also meant that nowadays I avoid books and films about (any) war as much as possible. At the same time, most of us who got displaced (for me that meant calling Canada my new home) still carry in us a strong connection to our culture and that bond makes our heart skip a beat each time we recognize "traces of home" in anything. So when I got a copy of Rose of Sarajevo through Netgalley, it was one of those bittersweet moments - I knew I'd need a box of kleenex for reading it.
When I first moved to Canada, I experienced firsthand the difficulties and frustration of trying to explain the complexities of our war to anyone not familiar with the region. I definitely don't envy Ayse Kulin that task. I've gone through that process so many times that a couple of chapters into the book I realized that including maps would've helped that process considerably. A good portion of the book focuses on explaining the historical and political precursors to the war - something that will not be everyone's cup of tea (just a fair warning) but absolutely necessary for the rest of the story.
Nimeta's story will take you on a deeply emotional journey even if you have no connection to the region. She is a dedicated journalist. She is a mother, a wife, a daughter. She is a woman in love with someone she is not supposed to love. A battle between a sense of duty and desires of the heart set against the backdrop of war. I think Ayse Kulin did a great job in telling the story of a strong but fallible woman.
Coincidentally, I actually lived in Istanbul for a year, so I truly enjoyed the parts of the story related to Turkey and this gorgeous city. One thing that did bug me though was that Ayse Kulin kept using Turkish forms of speech and words in the passages that were actually taking place in Bosnia. So Nimeta's mother kept being referred to as Raziyanım, a name which doesn't exist in the region, especially written in that form because Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian language does not contain letters "y" and "ı" whereas Turkish language does. A local phyllodough dish called "burek" is referred to as "börek", once again a Turkish word. I know that these are minor details that most readers won't notice but to me it diminishes, however slightly, the authenticity of the book. (for those of you who didn't realize, the author of the book is actually Turkish)
I did cry. I cried quite a bit. It is practically impossible to stay emotionally detached while reading this story. The story does contain a few graphic parts but to exclude them would be a complete misrepresentation of the realities of war. And as brutal and disturbing as those parts of the story are they are just but a tiny part of the horrors that really did happen.
I really liked Ayse Kulin's writing style and I'd love to read Last train to Istanbul. She did an amazing job in terms of research about the history and politics of the region. I did feel that her point of view was ever so slightly biased (let's just say that her portrayal of the Bosnian president Izetbegovic as a naive and lost leader who got "tricked" by Tudjman and Milosevic is not exactly how I remember things or how many Bosnians from outside of Sarajevo would describe it). The thing is at the end of the day there is no such thing as an "unbiased retelling of the war." I just hope that this book will find its way to western readers and introduce them to this region that will always have a piece of my heart.
By the way "Sarajevo Rose" is an actual expression that was came into existence as a result of the war. It means " a concrete scar caused by a mortar shell's explosion that was later filled with red resin. Mortar rounds landing on concrete create a unique fragmentation pattern that looks almost floral in arrangement. Because Sarajevo was a site of intense urban warfare and suffered thousands of shell explosions during the Siege of Sarajevo, the marked concrete patterns are a unique feature to the city."
When I first moved to Canada, I experienced firsthand the difficulties and frustration of trying to explain the complexities of our war to anyone not familiar with the region. I definitely don't envy Ayse Kulin that task. I've gone through that process so many times that a couple of chapters into the book I realized that including maps would've helped that process considerably. A good portion of the book focuses on explaining the historical and political precursors to the war - something that will not be everyone's cup of tea (just a fair warning) but absolutely necessary for the rest of the story.
Nimeta's story will take you on a deeply emotional journey even if you have no connection to the region. She is a dedicated journalist. She is a mother, a wife, a daughter. She is a woman in love with someone she is not supposed to love. A battle between a sense of duty and desires of the heart set against the backdrop of war. I think Ayse Kulin did a great job in telling the story of a strong but fallible woman.
Coincidentally, I actually lived in Istanbul for a year, so I truly enjoyed the parts of the story related to Turkey and this gorgeous city. One thing that did bug me though was that Ayse Kulin kept using Turkish forms of speech and words in the passages that were actually taking place in Bosnia. So Nimeta's mother kept being referred to as Raziyanım, a name which doesn't exist in the region, especially written in that form because Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian language does not contain letters "y" and "ı" whereas Turkish language does. A local phyllodough dish called "burek" is referred to as "börek", once again a Turkish word. I know that these are minor details that most readers won't notice but to me it diminishes, however slightly, the authenticity of the book. (for those of you who didn't realize, the author of the book is actually Turkish)
I did cry. I cried quite a bit. It is practically impossible to stay emotionally detached while reading this story. The story does contain a few graphic parts but to exclude them would be a complete misrepresentation of the realities of war. And as brutal and disturbing as those parts of the story are they are just but a tiny part of the horrors that really did happen.
I really liked Ayse Kulin's writing style and I'd love to read Last train to Istanbul. She did an amazing job in terms of research about the history and politics of the region. I did feel that her point of view was ever so slightly biased (let's just say that her portrayal of the Bosnian president Izetbegovic as a naive and lost leader who got "tricked" by Tudjman and Milosevic is not exactly how I remember things or how many Bosnians from outside of Sarajevo would describe it). The thing is at the end of the day there is no such thing as an "unbiased retelling of the war." I just hope that this book will find its way to western readers and introduce them to this region that will always have a piece of my heart.
By the way "Sarajevo Rose" is an actual expression that was came into existence as a result of the war. It means " a concrete scar caused by a mortar shell's explosion that was later filled with red resin. Mortar rounds landing on concrete create a unique fragmentation pattern that looks almost floral in arrangement. Because Sarajevo was a site of intense urban warfare and suffered thousands of shell explosions during the Siege of Sarajevo, the marked concrete patterns are a unique feature to the city."
September 9, 2014
In the introduction to this book, the author tells us that during the siege of Sarajevo, during the war in Bosnia, that “ten thousand six hundred Bosniaks – of whom 1,600 were children – lost their lives. ”Yes, I knew about these horrible events, but I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know more about the specifics. I did a little research on my own and also discovered that during the Bosnian War, “Of a population of around four million in 1992, two million were made refugees. In the three and a half years of the conflict, more than 100,000 people were killed. “ (Nick Hawton, History Today vol 59 issue 8, 2009) .These are horrific events, to say the least.
Ayse Kulin for the first part of the book, sets the political stage which was good for me since I was not fully aware of the specifics surrounding the history. I have to admit that for almost the first half of the book, I felt as if I was reading a non-fiction piece on the conflict. I also have to admit that I’m not much of a reader of non-fiction, so I almost gave this up. I am so glad that I didn’t .
Kulin then brings the history to life through Nemeta and her family's story and it was a griping. That's what good historical fiction has the capacity to do - give us a glimpse of what it might have been like. The descriptions of the siege of Sarajevo in some scenes were difficult to read, but so necessary to understand what happened here - the bombing, the starving,the raping, the torturing, the murdering .
The story is about this war, but it also is about a flawed woman, about friendships, about family and about love. I recommend this important story.
Thanks to AmazonCrossing and NetGalley.
Ayse Kulin for the first part of the book, sets the political stage which was good for me since I was not fully aware of the specifics surrounding the history. I have to admit that for almost the first half of the book, I felt as if I was reading a non-fiction piece on the conflict. I also have to admit that I’m not much of a reader of non-fiction, so I almost gave this up. I am so glad that I didn’t .
Kulin then brings the history to life through Nemeta and her family's story and it was a griping. That's what good historical fiction has the capacity to do - give us a glimpse of what it might have been like. The descriptions of the siege of Sarajevo in some scenes were difficult to read, but so necessary to understand what happened here - the bombing, the starving,the raping, the torturing, the murdering .
The story is about this war, but it also is about a flawed woman, about friendships, about family and about love. I recommend this important story.
Thanks to AmazonCrossing and NetGalley.
June 29, 2023
A personal novelization of the Yugoslavia Breakup Wars from the Turkish point of view. I didn’t have a horse in that race, but I’m inclined to think that things might have worked out a bit better if Yugoslavia had just hung together.
The story’s good. It gives a real, human dimension to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
The story’s good. It gives a real, human dimension to the breakup of Yugoslavia.
May 10, 2024
The main character is a journalist which gives the author a way to communicate facts about the war. Some beauty might have been lost in translation but it is an effective book
September 3, 2014
I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I visited Croatia over the Summer and was struck by how little I knew of the war that occurred in the region back in the 90s. I wanted to know more about it but wanted to learn from fiction because it's much more enjoyable. And then I saw that this book was due to be released this month and I was able to get a copy through NetGalley which I was really excited about.
Mission Accomplished! This author had meticulously researched the Yugoslavian war and about the history of these cultures as a whole. I learnt so much from this book. In the first half of the book, there was a lot of politics and history which was very interesting and informative, however, I felt that the author didn't seem to have been able to weave it in to the story seamlessly - it seemed a little forced and clunky. I felt like the author wasn't sure what she was going for with the book - a novel or a history book. This dynamic did change as the book progressed though and the last half of the book was more focused on the fictional characters which I really liked.
Some of the history was a little confusing and it is almost assumed by the author that we should know who all the political figures are. I did a lot of searching the internet for confirmation, more background information, and maps of the region. I think the book would have benefited from maps and maybe a list of political figures, their positions, and which country they represented.
At the beginning, I didn't feel invested in the characters because I knew so little about them and the history was focused on more than the characters were. The history was very detailed but nothing else was really described that much - the characters, their houses, their place of work, the town they live in, etc. So while I had a really good grasp on the history and the culture of the region, I didn't get a feel for the individual countries or Sarajevo where the book was mostly set.
Some sections were hard to read, those which detailed the atrocities that occurred there but they were not described in minute details so it's not overly gruesome. This is quite a short book but the author packs in a lot of information and story. I thought the book ended a little abruptly.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and the things that it brought up for me to think about. It was very thought provoking and it was good to read this with another person so we could discuss what happened and our thoughts.
I visited Croatia over the Summer and was struck by how little I knew of the war that occurred in the region back in the 90s. I wanted to know more about it but wanted to learn from fiction because it's much more enjoyable. And then I saw that this book was due to be released this month and I was able to get a copy through NetGalley which I was really excited about.
Mission Accomplished! This author had meticulously researched the Yugoslavian war and about the history of these cultures as a whole. I learnt so much from this book. In the first half of the book, there was a lot of politics and history which was very interesting and informative, however, I felt that the author didn't seem to have been able to weave it in to the story seamlessly - it seemed a little forced and clunky. I felt like the author wasn't sure what she was going for with the book - a novel or a history book. This dynamic did change as the book progressed though and the last half of the book was more focused on the fictional characters which I really liked.
Some of the history was a little confusing and it is almost assumed by the author that we should know who all the political figures are. I did a lot of searching the internet for confirmation, more background information, and maps of the region. I think the book would have benefited from maps and maybe a list of political figures, their positions, and which country they represented.
At the beginning, I didn't feel invested in the characters because I knew so little about them and the history was focused on more than the characters were. The history was very detailed but nothing else was really described that much - the characters, their houses, their place of work, the town they live in, etc. So while I had a really good grasp on the history and the culture of the region, I didn't get a feel for the individual countries or Sarajevo where the book was mostly set.
Some sections were hard to read, those which detailed the atrocities that occurred there but they were not described in minute details so it's not overly gruesome. This is quite a short book but the author packs in a lot of information and story. I thought the book ended a little abruptly.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and the things that it brought up for me to think about. It was very thought provoking and it was good to read this with another person so we could discuss what happened and our thoughts.
October 9, 2019
Schon vor dem Lesen war ich emotional involviert.
Ich weiß wie schwierig es ist die Komplexität dieses Krieges zu erklären, es ist nötig weiter auszuholen um es nachvollziehbar darzustellen, das hat die Autorin wirklich gut umgesetzt.
Die Ereignisse die in den 90-er Jahren Bosnien und Herzegowina, Kroatien, Slowenien und Serbien erschüttert und das ehemalige Jugoslawien in ein Blutbad verwandelt haben und den Bürgerkrieg dort in den größten bekannten Genozid seit dem 2. Weltkrieg.
Nimata ist Frau, Mutter, Tochter, Schwester. Als Journalistin ist sie die oft nah am Geschehen und bekommt mit wie die konstante Propaganda von Milosevic den Fanatismus aufleben lässt. Sie verliebt sich einen kroatischen Journalisten, bringt es aber nicht über sich ihre Familie zu verlassen.
Aber genauso wie die Stimmung in ihrem Land, verändert sich auch ihr Leben. Und als das Land auseinander gerissen wird, passiert das auch mit ihrer Familie...
Es ist interessant, informativ und gut recherchiert.
Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass die Informationen die Leser, die mit der Geschichte nicht vertraut sind, den Überblick verlieren. Präsidenten, Minister, Rebellenführer, Städte, Orte, Länder, Daten. Es ist aufschlussreich, aber das Buch ist kurz und sehr faktisch.
Nimatas Geschichte verleiht den Fakten Leben. So sollte Historical Fiction sein. Man lernt und gewinnt einen Eindruck wie es gewesen sein könnte. Menschen verlieren ihre Jobs und hungern, Freunde leiden oder werden zu Feinden, es wird bombardiert, vergewaltigt, gefoltert und gemordet.
Die detaillierten Beschreibungen sind teilweise sehr brutal, es ist aber eben nur ein kleiner Teil dessen, was damals passiert ist. Der Krieg verändert jeden.
Der Plot war emotional, auch die Subplots interessant aber es hat sehr lange gebraucht bis die Autorin diese in die historischen Fakten einweben konnte. Deshalb ist der fiktive Teil hier etwas zu kurz gekommen.
Was mich gestört hat war, dass die Autorin türkische Wörter verwendet hat, anstatt der Turzismen die tatsächlich im Sprachgebrauch sind. Damit verliert es für mich an Authentizität, wobei Leser die die Sprache nicht sprechen sich daran nicht stören dürften.
Izetbegovic der naive Präsident Bosniens, der hereingelegt wurde, Milosevic der das Volk aufhetzt um seinen Willen durchzusetzen, Karadzic als der lange Arm, Tudman, der auf Hilfe gehofft hat um den Konflikt ohne Gewalt zu lösen, woraufhin sein Volk ihm vorwirft es zu opfern.
Jeder gegen Jeden, Menschen, denen die nationale Identität genommen wird. Vereinfacht trifft es so zu. Trotzdem merkt man bei der Darstellung, dass die Autorin Stellung bezieht. Aber das ist ok, es gibt selten eine unbeteiligte Art vom Krieg zu erzählen
Und obwohl das Ende sehr abrupt und unspektakulär daherkommt, ist es im Nachhinein nicht schlecht. Es ist die richtige Botschaft.
Ich weiß wie schwierig es ist die Komplexität dieses Krieges zu erklären, es ist nötig weiter auszuholen um es nachvollziehbar darzustellen, das hat die Autorin wirklich gut umgesetzt.
Die Ereignisse die in den 90-er Jahren Bosnien und Herzegowina, Kroatien, Slowenien und Serbien erschüttert und das ehemalige Jugoslawien in ein Blutbad verwandelt haben und den Bürgerkrieg dort in den größten bekannten Genozid seit dem 2. Weltkrieg.
Nimata ist Frau, Mutter, Tochter, Schwester. Als Journalistin ist sie die oft nah am Geschehen und bekommt mit wie die konstante Propaganda von Milosevic den Fanatismus aufleben lässt. Sie verliebt sich einen kroatischen Journalisten, bringt es aber nicht über sich ihre Familie zu verlassen.
Aber genauso wie die Stimmung in ihrem Land, verändert sich auch ihr Leben. Und als das Land auseinander gerissen wird, passiert das auch mit ihrer Familie...
Es ist interessant, informativ und gut recherchiert.
Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass die Informationen die Leser, die mit der Geschichte nicht vertraut sind, den Überblick verlieren. Präsidenten, Minister, Rebellenführer, Städte, Orte, Länder, Daten. Es ist aufschlussreich, aber das Buch ist kurz und sehr faktisch.
Nimatas Geschichte verleiht den Fakten Leben. So sollte Historical Fiction sein. Man lernt und gewinnt einen Eindruck wie es gewesen sein könnte. Menschen verlieren ihre Jobs und hungern, Freunde leiden oder werden zu Feinden, es wird bombardiert, vergewaltigt, gefoltert und gemordet.
Die detaillierten Beschreibungen sind teilweise sehr brutal, es ist aber eben nur ein kleiner Teil dessen, was damals passiert ist. Der Krieg verändert jeden.
Der Plot war emotional, auch die Subplots interessant aber es hat sehr lange gebraucht bis die Autorin diese in die historischen Fakten einweben konnte. Deshalb ist der fiktive Teil hier etwas zu kurz gekommen.
Was mich gestört hat war, dass die Autorin türkische Wörter verwendet hat, anstatt der Turzismen die tatsächlich im Sprachgebrauch sind. Damit verliert es für mich an Authentizität, wobei Leser die die Sprache nicht sprechen sich daran nicht stören dürften.
Izetbegovic der naive Präsident Bosniens, der hereingelegt wurde, Milosevic der das Volk aufhetzt um seinen Willen durchzusetzen, Karadzic als der lange Arm, Tudman, der auf Hilfe gehofft hat um den Konflikt ohne Gewalt zu lösen, woraufhin sein Volk ihm vorwirft es zu opfern.
Jeder gegen Jeden, Menschen, denen die nationale Identität genommen wird. Vereinfacht trifft es so zu. Trotzdem merkt man bei der Darstellung, dass die Autorin Stellung bezieht. Aber das ist ok, es gibt selten eine unbeteiligte Art vom Krieg zu erzählen
Und obwohl das Ende sehr abrupt und unspektakulär daherkommt, ist es im Nachhinein nicht schlecht. Es ist die richtige Botschaft.
August 16, 2016
Nemita is a journalist in Sarajevo embroiled in an affair causing her to feel torn between her duty towards her husband and family or exiting to her lover's embrace for a life of happiness. Amidst inner conflicts, she finds herself struggling through war as survival of her family becomes paramount.
Rose Of Sarajevo is one detailed, valiant, historical realism. Kulin’s challenge has been to give a literary form to the horrors of Bosnian war, without resorting to despair or simple us-versus-them dichotomies. Kulin records war with precision and apparent objectivity through the life and lens of Nemita..the things that happen around and to her - practical and prosaic and always pragmatic about everything. The book disappointed me where most readers will appreciate it.. the utter lack of pathos and complexity that otherwise can be observed as the most significant force in the narration. Kulin states everything in a matter of fact way with contrived characters which often makes me to lose engagement with any book. Kulin's writing has dimensionality but her persistence with most elements is partial. Certain sections sounded like a desperation to be weighty and artsy, like a painting with all the strategic, careful brush stokes but missing something bigger. Some of my favorite books wade just as deep into the horror of human experience (Farewell to Arms) but with a complex beauty, too, which (in my humble, and clearly unpopular opinion) renders those works more authentic power and depth.
War always generates backlash - the honor and glory that war is supposed to provide is questioned in its aftermath. The blood-lust, the fever-pitch cries of honor and ideas of ethnic cleansing precede war and then simmer down into searching questions about what those terms mean or into scathing parodies. I am not entirely sure whether Rose of Sarajevo is a sober questioning of these virtues or a shambolic parody of them. Especially when Kulin combines Love with War, and both seem to get the same treatment, it becomes even harder to deduce whether Kulin is ridiculing war and its virtues or life and its delusions in general and including love also into it. My thoughts take strength as the ending doesn’t leave us with much to pick up the pieces after.
My disappointment is with monotonous descriptions of the political frenzy which were detailed with much prowess (my knowledge of the Bosnian War before reading this book was laughably sparse but after a thorough reading of historical archives on the same, I found that Kulin's accounts match exactly with history). The book certainly captured Bosnian war and briskly touched upon human struggles during war but lacked spirit making it an ordinary read for me.
Rose Of Sarajevo is one detailed, valiant, historical realism. Kulin’s challenge has been to give a literary form to the horrors of Bosnian war, without resorting to despair or simple us-versus-them dichotomies. Kulin records war with precision and apparent objectivity through the life and lens of Nemita..the things that happen around and to her - practical and prosaic and always pragmatic about everything. The book disappointed me where most readers will appreciate it.. the utter lack of pathos and complexity that otherwise can be observed as the most significant force in the narration. Kulin states everything in a matter of fact way with contrived characters which often makes me to lose engagement with any book. Kulin's writing has dimensionality but her persistence with most elements is partial. Certain sections sounded like a desperation to be weighty and artsy, like a painting with all the strategic, careful brush stokes but missing something bigger. Some of my favorite books wade just as deep into the horror of human experience (Farewell to Arms) but with a complex beauty, too, which (in my humble, and clearly unpopular opinion) renders those works more authentic power and depth.
War always generates backlash - the honor and glory that war is supposed to provide is questioned in its aftermath. The blood-lust, the fever-pitch cries of honor and ideas of ethnic cleansing precede war and then simmer down into searching questions about what those terms mean or into scathing parodies. I am not entirely sure whether Rose of Sarajevo is a sober questioning of these virtues or a shambolic parody of them. Especially when Kulin combines Love with War, and both seem to get the same treatment, it becomes even harder to deduce whether Kulin is ridiculing war and its virtues or life and its delusions in general and including love also into it. My thoughts take strength as the ending doesn’t leave us with much to pick up the pieces after.
My disappointment is with monotonous descriptions of the political frenzy which were detailed with much prowess (my knowledge of the Bosnian War before reading this book was laughably sparse but after a thorough reading of historical archives on the same, I found that Kulin's accounts match exactly with history). The book certainly captured Bosnian war and briskly touched upon human struggles during war but lacked spirit making it an ordinary read for me.
September 1, 2014
I received this book in exchange for a review through netgalley.
I recently went on a trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and of course I knew about the Yugoslavian war before, but after this trip I got interested in learning more and wanted to read historical fiction set in this period. I was so excited to come across Rose of Sarajevo! The book gave me exactly what I wanted: I now know a lot more about the war than I did before.
The book had a bit of a slow start for me. The first half involves a lot of history and politics, and it's not a smoothless part of the story, so that at times it feels more like a history book. I had the impression that I didn't have enough foreknowledge to fully understand everything and I had a lot of questions while reading, so I ended up doing a lot of research on the internet. I also found the book confusing at times, I knew only one or two of the people from history (Milosevic and Mladic), and I had a hard time remembering whether a certain person was a Croat, Serb, or Bosniak, and whether they were a president, minister, rebel leader or something else, and what their goal in this war was. I did appreciate the step by step account of the events leading up to and happening during the war though, and it is a meticulously researched book. I agree with previous reviewers that a map or timeline would be useful. Although I got used to the history and fiction being distinct parts (it was like the history was given, followed by an account of what was going on in the personal lives of the characters at that point) after a few chapters, I didn't feel very involved with the main characters.
The second part of the book, however, I read in one go. There was much less of a history-book feel, a lot was happening in the lives of the fictional characters, and I felt more attached to them. The ending came a bit suddenly though, I didn't feel like the story was finished.
All in all, a wonderful book that will teach you lots about the Yugoslavian war, but it definitely needs some effort and investment from the reader's side.
I recently went on a trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and of course I knew about the Yugoslavian war before, but after this trip I got interested in learning more and wanted to read historical fiction set in this period. I was so excited to come across Rose of Sarajevo! The book gave me exactly what I wanted: I now know a lot more about the war than I did before.
The book had a bit of a slow start for me. The first half involves a lot of history and politics, and it's not a smoothless part of the story, so that at times it feels more like a history book. I had the impression that I didn't have enough foreknowledge to fully understand everything and I had a lot of questions while reading, so I ended up doing a lot of research on the internet. I also found the book confusing at times, I knew only one or two of the people from history (Milosevic and Mladic), and I had a hard time remembering whether a certain person was a Croat, Serb, or Bosniak, and whether they were a president, minister, rebel leader or something else, and what their goal in this war was. I did appreciate the step by step account of the events leading up to and happening during the war though, and it is a meticulously researched book. I agree with previous reviewers that a map or timeline would be useful. Although I got used to the history and fiction being distinct parts (it was like the history was given, followed by an account of what was going on in the personal lives of the characters at that point) after a few chapters, I didn't feel very involved with the main characters.
The second part of the book, however, I read in one go. There was much less of a history-book feel, a lot was happening in the lives of the fictional characters, and I felt more attached to them. The ending came a bit suddenly though, I didn't feel like the story was finished.
All in all, a wonderful book that will teach you lots about the Yugoslavian war, but it definitely needs some effort and investment from the reader's side.
November 14, 2014
This is a novel in two quite distinct parts. The first tries to set out a fairly detailed and often quite dry history of the implosion of Yugoslavia in the years following the death of Tito. The progression of events is often difficult to follow and the impact of the callous inhumanity of the notably Serbian politicians is diminished, as wrapped up within this recounting of history is a Danielle Steele style romance between two TV journalists, Nimeta a married Bosnian woman, the central character in the novel, and a Croatian man. No doubt this has been done to try to make the terrible facts more accessible, but the characterisation is distinctly shallow and this rather fluffy romance writing just felt all wrong given the horrors swirling around Nimeta. The blend of fact into fiction that is the art of great, readable historical fiction mostly fails but being fair it does improve somewhat in the second half when the fiction is more to the fore. So, as some other reviewers have noted, this book is a bit of a mess. There are a slew of much better novels set amid the carnage and cruelty of this war that are more worthwhile reading before this one. Try The Cellist of Sarajevo or As If I Am Not There as examples.
September 6, 2016
Kulin provides a condensed history lesson of the Bosnian war which sets an affecting backdrop for the main protagonist and her family. The reader will be well versed in Balkans history, full of details matched with a plethora of political players to say the least.
With the backdrop in motion you become emotionally invested with Nimeta along with her family as they find themselves in the midst of unimaginable unrest as survival becomes paramount. The devastation of war, the horrific ethnic cleansing, bombing, the starving, rape and torture, the murdering are vividly depicted through the lens of numerous characters, quite compelling, disturbing.
Nimeta is a woman embroiled in an affair causing her distress as she finds herself ripped apart by her duty to husband and family or exiting to her lover’s embrace for a life of happiness. Agonizing over her situation, her life In chaos, her turmoil is plausible and palpable, ringing true to the reader.
Kulin’s writing style paired with dimensionality of characters never disappoints. Her ability to tap into the emotional and human side of protagonists always present.
Kulin crafts an incredible narrative with fascinating characters stirring the reader with a memorable reading journey. An important story encompassing life, love, friendship and family during a time of madness.
With the backdrop in motion you become emotionally invested with Nimeta along with her family as they find themselves in the midst of unimaginable unrest as survival becomes paramount. The devastation of war, the horrific ethnic cleansing, bombing, the starving, rape and torture, the murdering are vividly depicted through the lens of numerous characters, quite compelling, disturbing.
Nimeta is a woman embroiled in an affair causing her distress as she finds herself ripped apart by her duty to husband and family or exiting to her lover’s embrace for a life of happiness. Agonizing over her situation, her life In chaos, her turmoil is plausible and palpable, ringing true to the reader.
Kulin’s writing style paired with dimensionality of characters never disappoints. Her ability to tap into the emotional and human side of protagonists always present.
Kulin crafts an incredible narrative with fascinating characters stirring the reader with a memorable reading journey. An important story encompassing life, love, friendship and family during a time of madness.
July 24, 2014
I loved Ayse Kulin's book the Last Train to Istanbul. Kulin is a writer who deserves to be better known in the US. She has the ability write a novel that gives the impression of being accurate historically and have interesting character development. I think it is very hard for historical fiction to be both accurate in its history and have its characters be interesting to its readers. Usually writers have to pick either good history or good faction. Also Kulin shows a picture of more moderate(Turkish) Muslim world.
For example the Rose of Sarajevo shows Muslim women who have careers as journalists. Not only are these Muslim women journalists but they travel by themselves, drink alcohol, smoke and have affairs with Christian men. These women have either considered leaving or have left their Muslim husbands. The men who threaten these women's lives aren't Muslim but the Serbs who are Orthodox Christians.
The first half of the novel is somewhat confusing as it goes into the history of the break-up of Yugoslavia. The different ethnic groups are hard to keep track off. I think the book would have benefited by an introduction that give more of the history of Yugoslavia and the different ethnic groups that formed that country.
However, by the second halve of the novel, I realized that the Serbs were Orthodox Christians that seemed bent on a Nazi like expansion of incorporating all areas where the Serbians lived (even if they were the ethnic minority in that location) into the new country of Serbia. The Serbians are out to destroy the Bosnians. The Bosnians are Muslims. The Muslims are in this area of Europe because of the Ottoman Empire. Some are descendents of the Turks and some are descents of the indigenous people of the area who converted to Muslim religion when the Turks occupied the area. Another ethnic group in the area is the Croatians who are Catholic and unlike the Serbians are not genocidal to the Bosnians.
The second half of the book is good but sad as it tries to show a Bosnian family trying to survive a Serbian siege of the city. The people are real and have their human problems.
The Rose of Sarajevo is a good book to read if one doesn’t mind a sad subject and can make it through a somewhat confusing first half of the book.
For example the Rose of Sarajevo shows Muslim women who have careers as journalists. Not only are these Muslim women journalists but they travel by themselves, drink alcohol, smoke and have affairs with Christian men. These women have either considered leaving or have left their Muslim husbands. The men who threaten these women's lives aren't Muslim but the Serbs who are Orthodox Christians.
The first half of the novel is somewhat confusing as it goes into the history of the break-up of Yugoslavia. The different ethnic groups are hard to keep track off. I think the book would have benefited by an introduction that give more of the history of Yugoslavia and the different ethnic groups that formed that country.
However, by the second halve of the novel, I realized that the Serbs were Orthodox Christians that seemed bent on a Nazi like expansion of incorporating all areas where the Serbians lived (even if they were the ethnic minority in that location) into the new country of Serbia. The Serbians are out to destroy the Bosnians. The Bosnians are Muslims. The Muslims are in this area of Europe because of the Ottoman Empire. Some are descendents of the Turks and some are descents of the indigenous people of the area who converted to Muslim religion when the Turks occupied the area. Another ethnic group in the area is the Croatians who are Catholic and unlike the Serbians are not genocidal to the Bosnians.
The second half of the book is good but sad as it tries to show a Bosnian family trying to survive a Serbian siege of the city. The people are real and have their human problems.
The Rose of Sarajevo is a good book to read if one doesn’t mind a sad subject and can make it through a somewhat confusing first half of the book.
January 29, 2015
This was my first encounter with the Balkans history, though I live very close to the region. I didn't know anything about the war in Bosnia and Rose of Sarajevo was a brutal "first date". I read so many books about WW2, about the wars in Iran and Afghanistan, but nothing about this one... and it shocked me. After all the Nazis and the Russians did, there still are things that shock me in every book about war. Rose of Sarajevo tells the story of Nimeta, a Bosniak journalist that falls in love with a Croatian workmate, while she's married with children. The book is not only about the drama of the war (which is very accurately depicted), but also about the drama of an unfaithful wife that struggles to keep her family together and chooses to rip her heart out by ending the affair with the one whom she loves deeply. To me, Nimeta is a monument of strength, she keeps finding resources to stand up again, even if she's broken so many times. I liked Ayse Kulin's style and I am interested in reading more of her books. Not to mention other books about this country's tormented history.
December 26, 2018
Konusu ilgimi çekmişti fakat kitabı bir türlü sevemedim. Tarihi bir romandan çok tarih kitabı gibiydi ve bölümler, konular arasında kopukluklar var gibiydi. Örneğin arada Stefan’ın ailesinin anlatılması ve sonrasında savaş durumuna kısa bir süreliğine dönüp, kitabın birden bitmesi.
July 22, 2017
I wanted to know the history of the region, but this was tedious, didactic, and slanted. The story line was weak.
October 28, 2017
I felt it too rushed. The story and characters lack depth and the writing style is mechanically focused on the 90s balcanic wars. But it's a decent read for those interested about this subject.
July 19, 2014
I have been lucky enough to receive this title as a digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC), and I have to say, both the author and translator deserve kudos for the almost-finished product I read.
The Yugoslavian Peninsula and its recent, bloody history are ingrained in the common consciousness of most people born pre-1990s. Between news coverage and diaries of teens and children who lived through it, in varying degrees of survivorhood, one cannot help but to have knowledge that something horrible happened, regardless of what deeper knowledge they have garnered.
"Rose of Sarajevo" attacked the war in a way I was not expecting. Here, we had not a child, nor a soldier, but a woman with a family, a personality, flaws, and a career -- not a job, but a career, which she uses at different points in the story for personal benefit and towards the end, to give her family a chance to survive. Nimeta, a Muslim Bosniak with ties to Sarajevo, Turkey, Zagreb and abroad, is a deeply flawed, deeply human woman who makes the effort to first cover up, then finally fix her mistakes and flaws.
Kulin's writing style made me feel that Nimeta and I were sharing the same hivemind; her attention to detail and to humanity was at times but touching and chilling, from how Nimeta's mother, Raziyanim, always made sure the children were fed contrasted with the fear she instilled in Nimeta that the children may have been eating pigeon meat to get their needed nourishment, to Nimeta's experience interviewing victims and survivors of the atrocities committed by the armed forces.
There are smaller subplots, including Nimeta's on-again, off-again lover, Stefan, a Croat whom she uses by the end of the story to help save her family. Her best friend - Raziyanim's nightmare - Mirsada, who escaped her own failing marriage when Nimeta stayed in hers for the children, who ran off with her own lover, who created a non-Muslim identity that couldn't save her or her lover in the end. Burhan, Nimeta's first adoring, then loathing husband, who makes one enormous mistake and compounds it with another. All these people serve to contrast Nimeta's dangers with the greater dangers of the region and the fighting; the only issue I took with that was the way that very rarely, the reader seemed to be invited to pity Nimeta, while the horrors around her were much more distressing.
Ultimately, I think my favorite thing about this book was that, even as historical fiction, it was dead-on. Concise. It has been one of the shortest books I have read in the past six months, but it was meaty; Kulin does in a paragraph or two what many other authors need entire chapters to convey. Also, and without speaking to Kulin, one can only guess to whether it was intentional or not, Nimeta's personal flaws and growth seem to first foreshadow, then contrast to the downward spiral of the peninsula. All in all, I wish I could read more about whether or not Nimeta and her family survived, about what they continued to see. But I can't -- right now -- and yet it still seems alright with me.
The Yugoslavian Peninsula and its recent, bloody history are ingrained in the common consciousness of most people born pre-1990s. Between news coverage and diaries of teens and children who lived through it, in varying degrees of survivorhood, one cannot help but to have knowledge that something horrible happened, regardless of what deeper knowledge they have garnered.
"Rose of Sarajevo" attacked the war in a way I was not expecting. Here, we had not a child, nor a soldier, but a woman with a family, a personality, flaws, and a career -- not a job, but a career, which she uses at different points in the story for personal benefit and towards the end, to give her family a chance to survive. Nimeta, a Muslim Bosniak with ties to Sarajevo, Turkey, Zagreb and abroad, is a deeply flawed, deeply human woman who makes the effort to first cover up, then finally fix her mistakes and flaws.
Kulin's writing style made me feel that Nimeta and I were sharing the same hivemind; her attention to detail and to humanity was at times but touching and chilling, from how Nimeta's mother, Raziyanim, always made sure the children were fed contrasted with the fear she instilled in Nimeta that the children may have been eating pigeon meat to get their needed nourishment, to Nimeta's experience interviewing victims and survivors of the atrocities committed by the armed forces.
There are smaller subplots, including Nimeta's on-again, off-again lover, Stefan, a Croat whom she uses by the end of the story to help save her family. Her best friend - Raziyanim's nightmare - Mirsada, who escaped her own failing marriage when Nimeta stayed in hers for the children, who ran off with her own lover, who created a non-Muslim identity that couldn't save her or her lover in the end. Burhan, Nimeta's first adoring, then loathing husband, who makes one enormous mistake and compounds it with another. All these people serve to contrast Nimeta's dangers with the greater dangers of the region and the fighting; the only issue I took with that was the way that very rarely, the reader seemed to be invited to pity Nimeta, while the horrors around her were much more distressing.
Ultimately, I think my favorite thing about this book was that, even as historical fiction, it was dead-on. Concise. It has been one of the shortest books I have read in the past six months, but it was meaty; Kulin does in a paragraph or two what many other authors need entire chapters to convey. Also, and without speaking to Kulin, one can only guess to whether it was intentional or not, Nimeta's personal flaws and growth seem to first foreshadow, then contrast to the downward spiral of the peninsula. All in all, I wish I could read more about whether or not Nimeta and her family survived, about what they continued to see. But I can't -- right now -- and yet it still seems alright with me.
July 12, 2017
Ultimately, it didn’t matter that the words leaving Milošević’s mouth were a fabrication. It only mattered that they were designed to inflame.
To help them achieve their goal, Serbian television broadcast a constant stream of propaganda alleging that the Serbs were under threat from the Albanians, that their lives were in danger,...
My knowledge of the conflict in Yugoslavia in the 1980s and 90s was fuzzy at best. This book set me straight, with a little help from wikipedia. But I do remember the 1984 winter Olympics. Joan Lunden, a reporter walked through Sarajevo marveling at the fact that so many different ethnicities and religions got along as one country. It was great reporting that didn't uncover the hidden sentiment hiding just below the surface.
In this novel, Kulin tells this story through a muslim journalist, wife, mother, daughter, lover - Nemita. It takes us through the naivté of the population to start, the astonishment of what might happen, and as history moved quickly, the brutal reality of living through Serbian's massacre. There are parts of the book that are hard to read, impossible to imagine without the frank description of the horrors of war. Intertwined with the war that surrounds her, Nemita - dutiful, responsible and in love with the wrong man, tries to keep a semblance of normalcy.
The lead up to the beginning of the destruction of Yugoslavia makes me think of some of what we are going through today. We never seem to learn.
To help them achieve their goal, Serbian television broadcast a constant stream of propaganda alleging that the Serbs were under threat from the Albanians, that their lives were in danger,...
My knowledge of the conflict in Yugoslavia in the 1980s and 90s was fuzzy at best. This book set me straight, with a little help from wikipedia. But I do remember the 1984 winter Olympics. Joan Lunden, a reporter walked through Sarajevo marveling at the fact that so many different ethnicities and religions got along as one country. It was great reporting that didn't uncover the hidden sentiment hiding just below the surface.
In this novel, Kulin tells this story through a muslim journalist, wife, mother, daughter, lover - Nemita. It takes us through the naivté of the population to start, the astonishment of what might happen, and as history moved quickly, the brutal reality of living through Serbian's massacre. There are parts of the book that are hard to read, impossible to imagine without the frank description of the horrors of war. Intertwined with the war that surrounds her, Nemita - dutiful, responsible and in love with the wrong man, tries to keep a semblance of normalcy.
The lead up to the beginning of the destruction of Yugoslavia makes me think of some of what we are going through today. We never seem to learn.
May 13, 2015
This feels like the author's attempt to novelize the entire history of the Balkans from the mid-80s through around 1993. I mean, there are characters and everything, but they are flat and lifeless, and I felt absolutely nothing for them, even as they suffered injury/rape/murder and all that. It's really weird how a bad author can turn something that should affect me emotionally in a very strong way into something that affects me less than reading about the events on Wikipedia. The whole thing felt very contrived and amateurish, and I was frankly surprised to read that the author has a rather good reputation as a writer, at least in Turkey. It feels very self-published to me, though that could be the translation. To give an example, the main character's son pipes in at odd moments asking his parents to explain the situation to him in terms he can understand, thus providing a very artificial way for the author to start talking about Bosnian history. It just feels very manipulated.
Good thing I only paid $1.99 for this. I bought one of the author's other books, Last Train to Istanbul: A Novel, at the same time for the same price, and I'm willing to give it a try to see if it's any better.
Good thing I only paid $1.99 for this. I bought one of the author's other books, Last Train to Istanbul: A Novel, at the same time for the same price, and I'm willing to give it a try to see if it's any better.
October 30, 2016
Bosna katliamını çok iyi anlatan Ayşe Kulin bu olayı araştırmama rağmen ne kadar eksik kaldığımı göstermiş. Bizzat o topraklara giderek insanlarla konuşarak gerçekleri yazan yazar bu olayları bize aktarmasıyla kan dondurucu gerçekleri kitabında çok iyi aktarmış. Tek suçları (!) müslüman olan ve ortamdaki siyasi karmaşıklığa en çok uyumlulukla yaklaşan taraf olmasına karşın Bosna en çok zulmü gören taraf olmuş ne yazık ki... Her yerde "insan hakları" diye kendini gösteren avrupa devletleri ise olanları görmezden gelmeyi tercih etmiş bizi çok şaşırtarak (!)
Konuya daha fazla girmeyeyim. Herkesin bu kitabı okuyup özümsemesi gerekiyor bence çünkü ordaki ruhen ve bedenen kayıplar verenler herşeyden önce insandı...
Konuya daha fazla girmeyeyim. Herkesin bu kitabı okuyup özümsemesi gerekiyor bence çünkü ordaki ruhen ve bedenen kayıplar verenler herşeyden önce insandı...
August 1, 2014
I received this ARC from netgalley.com. I found the book very compelling albeit a bit confusing in the beginning unless you know the configuration of old Yugoslavia. A map would have been a handy reference. Once I figured out the various republics, the book started making sense. At times it was difficult reading about the atrocities the Serbs committed on the Bosniaks. But all and all a compelling book about the Bosnia-Serb conflict
December 29, 2016
80'li yillarin sonu 90'li yillarin basinda(ve tabi sonrasinda) dogan herkese, siddetle okumalarini tavsiye edecegim bir kitap. Onceki yillarda doganlar zaten donemi yasadiklari icin, butun bu olanlara bire bir sahit olmuslardir, bu gercekleri okumayi bir daha yurekleri kaldirirmi bilemiyorum...
Edit: Konuyu daha detayli ogrenmek isteyenlere, "BBC-Death of Yugoslavia" belgeseli de tavsiye edilir.
Edit: Konuyu daha detayli ogrenmek isteyenlere, "BBC-Death of Yugoslavia" belgeseli de tavsiye edilir.
September 15, 2010
90larda cok kucuk cocuklar degildik, nasil olduda boyle bir dramdan bi haber buyuduk. Ayse Kulin herzamanki muazzam anlatimiyla savasi, aski, ozlemi en yogun sekilde yasatiyor
August 27, 2017
Kitabın konusu ve değindiği olay harika. Ancak birçok Modern Türk romanı gibi edebi yönünde, anlatım tarzında basitlik sezdim. Kitabın sonuna doğru anlatım daha kuvvetlendi bana kalırsa.
October 11, 2021
Bayildim. Yazarın dili, hikayeye kattığı kimliği, gerçekten yaşananlar tüyler ürpertici ve uyandırıcı.
Bosna Hersekteki Sırp katliamını bir aşkın penceresinden okuduğumuz, kimliklerin iç içe geçtiği, bakışların ve refahlsrin getirdikleri yüzünden yaşananlar; tekrarlar ve karsilasmalarla sürükleyici ve meraknuyandirici bir kitap. Yapılanlar dehşet uyandırıcı içinizin kaldıramayacağı igrencliklere savaş diyerek sadece geçilmesi ayrıca bir iğrençlik gözümde. Küçücük çocuklardan en yanlışına kadar bir katliam değil yapılan bence kesinlikle kimliklerini kendi bedenlerinden bile silmeye çalışmak...
Bosna Hersekteki Sırp katliamını bir aşkın penceresinden okuduğumuz, kimliklerin iç içe geçtiği, bakışların ve refahlsrin getirdikleri yüzünden yaşananlar; tekrarlar ve karsilasmalarla sürükleyici ve meraknuyandirici bir kitap. Yapılanlar dehşet uyandırıcı içinizin kaldıramayacağı igrencliklere savaş diyerek sadece geçilmesi ayrıca bir iğrençlik gözümde. Küçücük çocuklardan en yanlışına kadar bir katliam değil yapılan bence kesinlikle kimliklerini kendi bedenlerinden bile silmeye çalışmak...
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August 14, 2016Nemita is a journalist in Sarajevo embroiled in an affair causing her to feel torn between her duty towards her husband and family or exiting to her lover's embrace for a life of happiness. Amidst inner conflicts, she finds herself struggling through war as survival of her family becomes paramount.
Rose Of Sarajevo is one detailed, valiant, historical realism. Kulin’s challenge has been to give a literary form to the horrors of Bosnian war, without resorting to despair or simple us-versus-them dichotomies. Kulin records war with precision and apparent objectivity through the life and lens of Nemita..the things that happen around and to her - practical and prosaic and always pragmatic about everything. The book disappointed me where most readers will appreciate it.. the utter lack of pathos and complexity that otherwise can be observed as the most significant force in the narration. Kulin states everything in a matter of fact way with contrived characters which often makes me to lose engagement with any book. Kulin's writing has dimensionality but her persistence with most elements is partial. Certain sections sounded like a desperation to be weighty and artsy, like a painting with all the strategic, careful brush stokes but missing something bigger. Some of my favorite books wade just as deep into the horror of human experience (Farewell to Arms) but with a complex beauty, too, which (in my humble, and clearly unpopular opinion) renders those works more authentic power and depth.
War always generates backlash - the honor and glory that war is supposed to provide is questioned in its aftermath. The blood-lust, the fever-pitch cries of honor and ideas of ethnic cleansing precede war and then simmer down into searching questions about what those terms mean or into scathing parodies. I am not entirely sure whether Rose of Sarajevo is a sober questioning of these virtues or a shambolic parody of them. Especially when Kulin combines Love with War, and both seem to get the same treatment, it becomes even harder to deduce whether Kulin is ridiculing war and its virtues or life and its delusions in general and including love also into it. My thoughts take strength as the ending doesn’t leave us with much to pick up the pieces after.
My disappointment is with monotonous descriptions of the political frenzy which were detailed with much prowess (my knowledge of the Bosnian War before reading this book was laughably sparse but after a thorough reading of historical archives on the same, I found that Kulin's accounts match exactly with history). The book certainly captured Bosnian war and briskly touched upon human struggles during war but lacked spirit making it an ordinary read for me.
Rose Of Sarajevo is one detailed, valiant, historical realism. Kulin’s challenge has been to give a literary form to the horrors of Bosnian war, without resorting to despair or simple us-versus-them dichotomies. Kulin records war with precision and apparent objectivity through the life and lens of Nemita..the things that happen around and to her - practical and prosaic and always pragmatic about everything. The book disappointed me where most readers will appreciate it.. the utter lack of pathos and complexity that otherwise can be observed as the most significant force in the narration. Kulin states everything in a matter of fact way with contrived characters which often makes me to lose engagement with any book. Kulin's writing has dimensionality but her persistence with most elements is partial. Certain sections sounded like a desperation to be weighty and artsy, like a painting with all the strategic, careful brush stokes but missing something bigger. Some of my favorite books wade just as deep into the horror of human experience (Farewell to Arms) but with a complex beauty, too, which (in my humble, and clearly unpopular opinion) renders those works more authentic power and depth.
War always generates backlash - the honor and glory that war is supposed to provide is questioned in its aftermath. The blood-lust, the fever-pitch cries of honor and ideas of ethnic cleansing precede war and then simmer down into searching questions about what those terms mean or into scathing parodies. I am not entirely sure whether Rose of Sarajevo is a sober questioning of these virtues or a shambolic parody of them. Especially when Kulin combines Love with War, and both seem to get the same treatment, it becomes even harder to deduce whether Kulin is ridiculing war and its virtues or life and its delusions in general and including love also into it. My thoughts take strength as the ending doesn’t leave us with much to pick up the pieces after.
My disappointment is with monotonous descriptions of the political frenzy which were detailed with much prowess (my knowledge of the Bosnian War before reading this book was laughably sparse but after a thorough reading of historical archives on the same, I found that Kulin's accounts match exactly with history). The book certainly captured Bosnian war and briskly touched upon human struggles during war but lacked spirit making it an ordinary read for me.
March 7, 2016
Our memory, consumed by the constant latest news that targets us from everywhere, become shorter and shorter, to the point that is almost hard to remember that just over ten years ago, not far from where we live our lives perpetually surprises from any threat, other people, that as we lived lives perpetually surprises from any threat, and in disbelief that something could happen to them, found themselves overwhelmed by a war. When we think of war, we think of someone who comes from outside to take away something that is ours. But no. The war that has engulfed and pulverized the former Yugoslavia was born from within, encouraged, nurtured and made from hypertrophic an incredible avalanche of lies, and from the speaking "the belly" that is dangerously increasing fashion. Written with the light hand of a small novel, and having as the core narrative a troubled love story, Rose of Sarajevo writes a accurate, timely and brutal diary of the events of a war waged in the name of ethnicity and religion, both concepts which only serve to apply a pale coat of necessity upon greediness and blind malice.
Thank Amazon and Netgalley Publishing for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
La nostra memoria, divorata dalla costante attualità che ci bersaglia da ogni dove, diventa sempre più corta, al punto che facciamo quasi fatica a ricordarci che poco più di dieci anni fa, a pochi chilometri da dove viviamo le nostre vite perennemente sorprese da qualsiasi minaccia, altre persone, che come noi vivevano vite perennemente sorprese da qualsiasi minaccia, e incredule che a loro potesse capitare qualcosa, si sono ritrovate travolte da una guerra. Quando pensiamo alla guerra pensiamo a qualcuno che viene da fuori per portarci via qualcosa che è nostro. E invece no. La guerra che ha travolto e polverizzato la ex Jugoslavia è nata da dentro, fomentata, nutrita e resa ipertrofica da una incredibile valanga di menzogne, e da quel parlare "alla pancia" che è sempre più pericolosamente di moda. Scritto con la mano lieve di un romanzo, e avente come nucleo narrativo una contrastata storia d'amore, Rose of Serajevo scrive un diario preciso, puntuale e brutale degli avvenimenti di una guerra scatenata in nome di un'etnia e di una religione, entrambi concetti che servono solo a stendere una pallida mano di necessità sull'ingordigia e sulla cattiveria cieca.
Ringrazio Amazon Publishing e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.
Thank Amazon and Netgalley Publishing for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
La nostra memoria, divorata dalla costante attualità che ci bersaglia da ogni dove, diventa sempre più corta, al punto che facciamo quasi fatica a ricordarci che poco più di dieci anni fa, a pochi chilometri da dove viviamo le nostre vite perennemente sorprese da qualsiasi minaccia, altre persone, che come noi vivevano vite perennemente sorprese da qualsiasi minaccia, e incredule che a loro potesse capitare qualcosa, si sono ritrovate travolte da una guerra. Quando pensiamo alla guerra pensiamo a qualcuno che viene da fuori per portarci via qualcosa che è nostro. E invece no. La guerra che ha travolto e polverizzato la ex Jugoslavia è nata da dentro, fomentata, nutrita e resa ipertrofica da una incredibile valanga di menzogne, e da quel parlare "alla pancia" che è sempre più pericolosamente di moda. Scritto con la mano lieve di un romanzo, e avente come nucleo narrativo una contrastata storia d'amore, Rose of Serajevo scrive un diario preciso, puntuale e brutale degli avvenimenti di una guerra scatenata in nome di un'etnia e di una religione, entrambi concetti che servono solo a stendere una pallida mano di necessità sull'ingordigia e sulla cattiveria cieca.
Ringrazio Amazon Publishing e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.
December 16, 2015
This book is uncertain about what it wants to be. Does it want to be a way to educate people about the Bosnian War? Does it want to be a love story? It tries to do both at once and fails because it splits itself too thin. Members of its audience who read it for one or the other will come away unsatisfied.
In the beginning, the story holds promise for being a way to provide information about the run-up to the Bosnian War outside of the realm of history books. The issue is complex, so having the events play out through the eyes of a journalist watching them could be a valuable addition to the body of information already available. However, because the book also wants to be a love story, the events happening in the region are secondary to the main character’s emotional life, which is shallow and uninteresting.
Stories of love in the midst of war are supposed to attest to the perpetuation of hope and a constant that cannot be destroyed even when the world is falling apart. But they also serve to romanticize war, which has the effect of reducing its seriousness.
And in that regard, this book cannot be taken seriously. It feels a cheap. Furthermore, while something may be lost in translation, the characters are wooden and stereotypical. They do not grow or develop, their dialogue is stiff and expected. It’s difficult to care about them. Nimeta, the main character, is self-blaming while she accepts the blame from others—we want her to show some strength, some originality of thought and action. The grandmother is a nag who doesn’t vary from clichéd grumbling and criticism—we want her to show some compassion and understanding. The husband wants to throw his macho weight around—we wish we had some reason to care if he stays or goes. And the lover doesn’t offer any compelling reason why the reader should want Nimeta to run away with him.
The most important reason to read this book is for an account of war crimes that are distributed so that they can be digested gradually because dedicated accounts would turn many people off without any type of balancing factor. They are difficult to read about, but that story—the real story and not the one about Nimeta’s love troubles—is one that should not be overlooked. After all, how many readers became aware of the Bosnian War only after reading this book?
In the beginning, the story holds promise for being a way to provide information about the run-up to the Bosnian War outside of the realm of history books. The issue is complex, so having the events play out through the eyes of a journalist watching them could be a valuable addition to the body of information already available. However, because the book also wants to be a love story, the events happening in the region are secondary to the main character’s emotional life, which is shallow and uninteresting.
Stories of love in the midst of war are supposed to attest to the perpetuation of hope and a constant that cannot be destroyed even when the world is falling apart. But they also serve to romanticize war, which has the effect of reducing its seriousness.
And in that regard, this book cannot be taken seriously. It feels a cheap. Furthermore, while something may be lost in translation, the characters are wooden and stereotypical. They do not grow or develop, their dialogue is stiff and expected. It’s difficult to care about them. Nimeta, the main character, is self-blaming while she accepts the blame from others—we want her to show some strength, some originality of thought and action. The grandmother is a nag who doesn’t vary from clichéd grumbling and criticism—we want her to show some compassion and understanding. The husband wants to throw his macho weight around—we wish we had some reason to care if he stays or goes. And the lover doesn’t offer any compelling reason why the reader should want Nimeta to run away with him.
The most important reason to read this book is for an account of war crimes that are distributed so that they can be digested gradually because dedicated accounts would turn many people off without any type of balancing factor. They are difficult to read about, but that story—the real story and not the one about Nimeta’s love troubles—is one that should not be overlooked. After all, how many readers became aware of the Bosnian War only after reading this book?
May 12, 2015
I have a lot of interest in Balkan history and the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. I've traveled to and studied the region so I was really excited to read this book. I loved Kulin's "Last Train to Istanbul"...absolutely loved it. I finished that just before starting "Rose of Sarajevo." By contrast, I really disliked this book. It was very well researched and seemingly accurate but it felt like it was a history book that tired to be historical fiction. After long drawn out parts of history, it slowly and awkwardly transitions back to the characters. While I felt that these parts of the history were vital to the telling of the story, they could have been better interwoven into the fictional part of the story.
As for Nimeta, the main character. I grew to really dislike her. I don't understand how a woman, a mother, could encounter a bombing on her way to work and then, after struggling with whether to still go to work or go home to make sure her children are safe, make the decision to go to work anyway and check on her children later. That really bothered me. There were a lot of other idiosyncrasies about her that really bugged me. After her brother loses his wife and son, she goes off on him saying, "I know you blame yourself for not being home that terrible day...but nothing would have turned out differently, except that you'd be a corpse today instead of a deaf-mute." Isn't that the point...isn't that why he walled up and went silent? Because he would have rather been dead? I understand that she was hurting but that didn't come across. What came across was her being exceptionally selfish...in almost all aspects of her life.
As for Nimeta, the main character. I grew to really dislike her. I don't understand how a woman, a mother, could encounter a bombing on her way to work and then, after struggling with whether to still go to work or go home to make sure her children are safe, make the decision to go to work anyway and check on her children later. That really bothered me. There were a lot of other idiosyncrasies about her that really bugged me. After her brother loses his wife and son, she goes off on him saying, "I know you blame yourself for not being home that terrible day...but nothing would have turned out differently, except that you'd be a corpse today instead of a deaf-mute." Isn't that the point...isn't that why he walled up and went silent? Because he would have rather been dead? I understand that she was hurting but that didn't come across. What came across was her being exceptionally selfish...in almost all aspects of her life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2014
I received this book from the goodreads First Reads program in exchange for an honest review.
While I enjoyed the content and idea of the story, following a woman as she struggles through an extremely violent and bloody civil war and how she deals with her life unraveling around her, there were many instances where I couldn't help but roll my eyes or need to put the book down because I just couldn't read it any more.
This version is clearly a translation; while that typically doesn't matter when I'm reading it very often felt like it was translated word for word with no allowance given for turns of phrase as we move from one language to another or for subtleties in speech. I very often found myself thinking no one talks like that, this writer isn't great, only to correct myself and blame it on the translator. I felt that moments like that took a lot away from the story.
The story itself was decent, but being told from one side of a civil war makes it come off as the other side was filled with evil and only the protagonist's side had any good people on it and they never did anything to deserve the horrible treatment at the hands of their persecutors. I understand it was horrible, but especially in the beginning of the book that theme was being shoved down my throat over and over so it got to be a little much for me.
I didn't love the protagonist and thought she came off as being pretty shallow and self-pitying. Overall it took a lot of effort to finally finish this book and I doubt I would ever recommend it to anyone.
While I enjoyed the content and idea of the story, following a woman as she struggles through an extremely violent and bloody civil war and how she deals with her life unraveling around her, there were many instances where I couldn't help but roll my eyes or need to put the book down because I just couldn't read it any more.
This version is clearly a translation; while that typically doesn't matter when I'm reading it very often felt like it was translated word for word with no allowance given for turns of phrase as we move from one language to another or for subtleties in speech. I very often found myself thinking no one talks like that, this writer isn't great, only to correct myself and blame it on the translator. I felt that moments like that took a lot away from the story.
The story itself was decent, but being told from one side of a civil war makes it come off as the other side was filled with evil and only the protagonist's side had any good people on it and they never did anything to deserve the horrible treatment at the hands of their persecutors. I understand it was horrible, but especially in the beginning of the book that theme was being shoved down my throat over and over so it got to be a little much for me.
I didn't love the protagonist and thought she came off as being pretty shallow and self-pitying. Overall it took a lot of effort to finally finish this book and I doubt I would ever recommend it to anyone.
August 29, 2014
Nimeta is a Muslim Bosniak journalist whose life is thrown into turmoil when the Balkan crisis of the 1990s erupts. Mirroring the turmoil in the area is the turmoil in her own heart when she meets and falls in love with a fellow Croatian journalist and is torn between him and her husband and family. Suddenly everything is at risk, in particular the very survival of those dear to her.
The personal story is a relatively compelling love story between two people from different worlds, but it is the conflict itself that takes centre stage. Although the author does her best to make the political situation clear, I still found it all very confusing, and I feel the book would have benefited from, at the very least, a map, and preferably a timeline and brief history of the area and an explanation of how the situation erupted. After reading the book, I did have a slightly clearer idea but it is such a complex issue that it is perhaps not the author’s fault if I still don’t fully understand.
The book is relatively well-written, but I remained fairly unengaged with the characters in spite of their ordeals, and I’ve read more moving accounts of the siege of Sarajevo. Nevertheless, this human story of survival makes for a good read whilst putting a human face onto the savagery of the Balkan wars.
The personal story is a relatively compelling love story between two people from different worlds, but it is the conflict itself that takes centre stage. Although the author does her best to make the political situation clear, I still found it all very confusing, and I feel the book would have benefited from, at the very least, a map, and preferably a timeline and brief history of the area and an explanation of how the situation erupted. After reading the book, I did have a slightly clearer idea but it is such a complex issue that it is perhaps not the author’s fault if I still don’t fully understand.
The book is relatively well-written, but I remained fairly unengaged with the characters in spite of their ordeals, and I’ve read more moving accounts of the siege of Sarajevo. Nevertheless, this human story of survival makes for a good read whilst putting a human face onto the savagery of the Balkan wars.
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