Friday, April 21, 2006

Blood and Vengeance

This powerful and highly momentous book by Chuck Sudetic tells a story of one family’s flight to Srebrenica from Kusupovici following the outbreak of the war in Bosnia in 1992. Sudetic brilliantly describes their plight as well as their happiness and joy. It is one of those rare books that forever stays with you. I have read many books about the war in Bosnia but Blood and Vengeance is irrefutably my favorite one. It is extremely important to me primarily because it offers an in-depth account of the massacre in Srebrenica. Moreover, unlike other books it is personal and involves the reader in the story in a way you never thought possible; one becomes part of the story by sharing the family’s experiences. What better way to describe the war in Bosnia than to describe it from the point of view of those who experienced it firsthand?

I can think of only one book that resembles Sudetic’s book to a certain extent and that is Love Thy Neighbor by Peter Maass. Like Sudetic, Maass also gives an extensive account of the egregious atrocities committed during the Bosnian carnage. Maass witnessed firsthand many of the atrocities described in his book. He was once shown a propaganda film by Serbs about which he later wrote that it would be awarded an Oscar if the Academy indeed awarded an Oscar for the best propaganda film. So elaborate and sophisticated was the Serb propaganda during the war in Bosnia. Serbs were trying to convince Maass that their film showed Muslims brutally slaughtering Serb civilians while in fact the film was actually showing Muslims being killed by Serbs.

Those of you who still have not read Sudetic’s book are strongly advised to do so. It is a masterpiece.

What is your favorite book about the war in Bosnia?

9 comments:

John1975 said...
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John1975 said...
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Kirk Johnson said...
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Shaina said...
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Shaina said...
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