Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95

For anyone who 'missed' the war this is an immense read from both a very localised perspective but also it gives the overall picture and causes of the conflict. One could be forgiven for dismissing the 'comic' book style outright but I can only confirm with others that it is a masterly approach to bringing a conflict to life. It is a work of art on one level and a literary one also. I was old enough to understand the war when it took place but found that it was delivered on the news in a way that failed to illustrate the causes and therefore without the foundations to understand what was going on it passed me by. I bought this together with Martin Bell's ( BBC journalist) 'In Harms Way'. Both are great books in their own right and I now feel enlightened and have a far greater understanding that would enable me to hold my own in any discussion about it. I have also bought the memoirs of Colonel Bob Stewart, who commanded the 1st Cheshire's in their tour as UN peacekeepers, but am yet to read it. This tragic episode in post WW" history has largely been passed over although its repercussions are still being contested in the Court at Hague and the Dutch Courts because of their guilt over the atrocities that they could have perhaps prevented. Any doubts...don't have...buy it.

I have only recently discovered Sacco's works and it pains me, because had I discovered his graphic novels while I was at university, they would have made for interesting background reading for some of the subjects I came to study. Safe Area Gorazde is thought provoking and at times hard to read, if only because it paints a vivid and unapologetic image of the hardships and betrayals that the Islamic people's of Gorazde (and the wider Bosnia) faced during a the early nineties. Do not be disheartened however, as light relief is easily found in the inspiring characters Sacco surrounds himself with over the course of his visits. The overarching story this piece ultimately tells is one of the United Nations' ineptitude throughout the majority of the bloody affair that is the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the resultant Balkan war. At times I found myself more appalled at Western inactivity than at Serbian atrocities. Sacco may well stand as one of the UN's most ardent critics, even if poorly acknowledged.

Great way to get younger folk interested in international affairs

An absolutely amazing take on the war in Bosnia. Country which survived a three pronged agression by its neighbours, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia (1993-1994), with an unhelpful UN to say at least on top and with an international embargo on weapon imports deserves the best and with this book, it got it from Joe Sacco. Well done Joe, you are a legend for taking the time to write and in particular illustrate your experiences. The book is a must have for all those who are keen to know what actually happened in Bosnia, and what the meaning, the true meaning is of SERBIAN EXTREMISM whose bandits and gang of Tchetnik Ultra-Orthodox terrorists did not stop from doing such crimes as killing or even impalling babies, cutting off breasts of mothers whose babies were thrown of the Visegrad Bridge and into the cold river Drina, from mass raping girls as young as 9 and torturing and mass murdering boys and men simply because of their ethnicity.

This graphic novel is excellent in the way it communicates specific events of the Balkan war in visual terms. I feel the illustrations are highly effective in encouraging reader engagement and they are intricate and full of detail. The only reason l didn't give it five stars is because, a. l found the writing style and order of events rather confusing: the story would have worked much better in chronological order in my opinion, and divided into sections accordingly, rather than divided into characters and their recollections of events for example. It meant a lot of going back and forth which was heavy going at times, especially considering the challenging subject matter, which bearing in mind, many readers will know very little about before reading this; and, b. l felt Sacco lacked empathy throughout which in certain areas came across as being patronising (especially regarding the sections on 'the silly girls' which l felt highly inappropriate considering what they had been through and suffered. I can see that his unempathic position stems from his journalistic background and the need for objectivity but when presented with obviously unjust events, l think he could have injected much more personality and feeling into the narrative. Despite this the book is compelling to read and an enormous feat of illustration competence. Even if just to raise awareness of this tragic event (the supposed 'safe area' situation of Gorazde) the book is a must read and will undoubtedly open discussion and meaningful thought.

Any book dealing with such a sad episode is going to be emotional. The novel is superbly written and seems like it captures the events well. Takes a lot to read as it deals with such a difficult subject. Highly recommend if you like historical graphic novels (especially about conflict). This sits on my shelf next to my Tarde books.

It’s said too many times now, History continues to repeat itself with our behaviour. How quick we continue to forget our past mistakes of the the powerful few and how we allow as a people to ignore this behaviour. Shame on us all…

Superb account of the awful war in Bosnia. Brings together the large picture and individual stories to create a gripping account of a journalist's time in Goražde. Telling the story in the form of a graphic novel is stunning. First time I've read a graphic novel written about "real" life - and I was very impressed.

In chapter four of his The "New Journalism" Revisited, Rocco Versaci explains that to many New Journalists "all "truth" is mediated, and we ignore this fact at the expense of our critical faculties" (115). He further contends that many new journalists attempt to acknowledge and consequently overcome the biases of journalism by involving themselves directly in their narrative frameworks, thereby "flaunting their subjectivity" (114). Joe Sacco's 2001 Safe Area Gorazde is an example of new journalism wherein the author places himself firmly within the story and examines all levels of truth, relaying many voices in non-linear fashion to perhaps encapsulate the skewed emotional ups and downs of war. Sacco, it seems, is not searching for a central truth with which to unify his experiences in Bosnia. In the book's prologue (1-2), he is approached by a man who promises to reveal to him the "Real Truth" of the war. Sacco consciously avoids the man and he is never mentioned again. Instead, Sacco choses to exemplify the facet of new journalism which Versaci finds most enduring: "the foregrounding of the individual perspective as an organizing consciousness" (111) except that Sacco relates many consciousnesses, and the result is less than ideally organized. Instead of an organizer, Sacco acts as mediator in Safe Area Gorazde, creating a vivid patchwork of wartime experience by many people he meets, including his principle guide Edin whose trips to Grebak to procure food for his family showcase tenacity in the face of starvation (136) and a gaggle of girls Sacco deems "The Silly Girls" who have one wish, for a pair of "genuine American Levi jeans" (56). They are ultimately disillusioned when the jeans they receive are "not originals" (193) however, displaying another facet of wartime fatigue. Elsewhere, Sacco uses his characters as narrators--sharing their war experiences which are then related to the reader in disturbing detail. When a man relates his terror crossing a river to safety on page 110, his story appears in quotations, as though he is speaking not only to Sacco but to reader, the author cutting back to the man in the narrative's present tense as he stares straight off the page (111), continuously reminding us that we are viewing this account from one subjective consciousness, not from a journalist intent on applying his own bias. Such is the success of Sacco's new journalistic graphic storytelling. By the time the author is chastised for taking interest in Bosnia by a local who asks, "Why you come, money?" (192) the reader knows that Sacco is instead embedded in the war-ravaged country to bear witness; indeed the people he has seen speak very much for themselves.

Our level or should i say, volume of cruelty is nonsensical, bottomless. And there are people who do us a great favour of never letting us forget that, lest we tear each other apart yet again. Thanks to Joe Sacco We should forgive, but we must never forget—- Marjane Satrapi

コミックジャーナリズムという概念が気になって読んでみました。全編を通じて暗さと重さを感じる作品ですが、ところどころ、作者が見つけたささやかなおもしろみのようなものも伝わって、そういう部分にはコミックならではの柔らかさを感じました。基本的には救いがたい世界が描かれた重苦しい作品です。それでも、終わりまで一気に読みました。ジャーナリズムとしてどうかについてはよくわかりません。

Texto original en inglés, todo un imprescindible de la obra de Sacco. No sólo se aprende sobre la guerra de los valcanes sino también sobre sus consecuencias.

"Palästina", bei 2001 auch in deutscher Sprache erschienen, mag der erste Titel sein, der einem bei Sacco einfällt. Das mag auch daran liegen, dass der Krieg zwischen Juden und Palästinenser immer währen wird, es bleibt alles so verfahren, wie es heute ist und damals war, als Sacco dort weilte. Ein mindestens ebenbürtiger Titel ist "Safe Area Gorazde", und da es sich hier um eine abgeschlossene Abschlachterei (wobei "abgeschlossen" lediglich meint, dass seit langer Zeit keine Kampfhandlungen stattfinden) handelt, wandte ich mich eher dieser Publikation zu, um die äußerst seltene Gattung "Graphic Nonfiction" auszuprobieren. Ich habe selten so lange gebraucht wie hier, um das zu Ende zu lesen. Nicht nur wegen der nicht geringen Seitenzahl und den mannigfaltigen Informationen, die kaleidoskopartig auf den Leser einstürzen. Die Tatsache, dass Sacco dies alles in der ersten Person Singular erlebt hat oder ihm so erzählt worden ist, nötigt mir einen sehr viel höheren Aufmerksamkeitslevel auf. Jedes Kapitel, und sei es nur jenes um die in der bosnischen Enklave "Gorazde" viel gerauchte Marke "Drina" (wie der Fluss), ist derart von Authentizität durchtränkt, dass es fast eine Schande wäre, schnell darüber hinweg zu lesen. Bitte kaufen Sie sich dieses Buch, wenn Sie Interesse an Graphic Novels haben (obwohl das ja hier kein "Roman" ist) und wissen wollen, wie der Nachbar zum Monstrum, Ausweider - kurz gesagt zum Wolf werden kann. Durchleben Sie die Qualen der Opfer, das Leben nach der Katastrophe, das Leben während des dauerhaften Ernstfalles, die kleinen Freuden, die großen Wünsche in einer Kleinstadt, die nahezu abgeschnitten ist vom Rest bzw. von der nächst größeren Stadt Sarajevo. Die Mädchen gieren nach einer Levis 501, und Joe Sacco besorgt das eine oder andere - denn er hat als Journalist einen Sonderstatus, ist kein Gefangener wie die anderen, die der Willkür der Serben ausgeliefert sind. Diese werden - was man nachvollziehen kann, wenn man nicht gerade Peter Handke heißt - freilich nicht sympathisch gezeichnet. Im Gegenteil: Man muss spätestens ab der Mitte in Kauf nehmen, dass einem kein Greuel, wirklich keines, erspart bleibt. Streng genommen müsste das Buch "Ab 18" sein, wenn es nicht eine Reportage in Bildern und Texten wäre. Schön ist, dass sich Sacco nicht in den Vordergrund drängt oder gar den mitleidsvollen Kumpel spielt. Er war von 1992 bis 1995 dort und hat viele Menschen kennen gelernt. Enid zum Beispiel, dem wir im Verlauf der Chronologie sehr nahe kommen. Wir erfahren viel über das, was der Krieg aus Menschen macht, wie er die Infrastruktur zerstört und die Zukunft der Bewohner. Wie in einer reinen Textreportage werden sehr viele Aspekte abgearbeitet, aber das fällt einem erst in der Rückschau auf. Alles greift sehr gut ineinander, auch kleinere Begegnungen und Subthemen fügen sich hervorragend in den Gesamtkontext ein. Joe Sacco ist ein hervorragender Beobachter. Vor allem ist er ein Zeichner höherer Gnaden. Bei Totalen auf die Stadt oder einzelne Straßenzüge gibt er sich große Mühe selbst bei kleineren Details. Seine Gesichter sind sehr einprägsam. Komischerweise war er nicht in der Lage, John Travolta und Samuel L. Jackson zu zeichnen - warum nur? (ja, auch "Pulp Fiction" kommt kurz vor) Sacco hat offensichtlich erst 1998 mit den Zeichnungen begonnen, muss demnach viel fotografiert haben. Fast ist er ein Bürger Gorazdes geworden, so scheint es. Wahrscheinlich der einzige "Comic-Autor", den man viel zu fragen hätte, und zwar am wenigsten über seine Zeichnungen (obwohl die - wie gesagt - zum Besten, zum Allerbesten gehören). Ein absoluter Meilenstein, aber hin und wieder anstrengend. Und es gibt Kapitel darin, die machen wirklich keinen Spaß, weil absonderliche Brutalitäten gezeigt und beschrieben werden. Natürlich konnte und durfte er das nicht weglassen. Trotzdem sollte man vor der Lektüre, besser noch vor dem Kauf, wissen, dass einen schlimme Dinge erwarten.