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andrew_j_r's review against another edition
4.0
This is part of a chain read. My previous book in the chain was the the story of General Rose of UNROFOR in the Balkans war in the early nineties. This book is the diary of a young girl who lived in Sarajevo during that same conflict.
It’s scary to read. I kept a diary at about the same time, and the initial entries (before the war really comes it the city) read just like the kind of things I would have written, complete with short sentences and one word comments.
As the conflict escalates you just realise how dreadful this must have been for everyone caught up in it, especially the children. Occasionally friends die in the shelling. Her family are out of contact with other family and friends and have no idea if they are safe - her grandparents live just on the other side of a bridge, but people are regularly killed by sniper fire on the bridge. Then there is the lack of electricity, gas, water, proper schooling. No new clothes as she grows. Shoes seem to be a big problem too.
The irony is that it is the diary that eventually gets her out of Sarajevo. Someone is looking to publish the war diary of a child, and hers is chosen, which ultimately leads her and her immediate family to safety in Paris.
This book is, I am guessing, edited. But it leaves you with a genuine feel for what is like on the ground if you are an 11-year-old and everything around you is being destroyed. It’s thought-provoking, harrowing and definitely worth a read.
It’s scary to read. I kept a diary at about the same time, and the initial entries (before the war really comes it the city) read just like the kind of things I would have written, complete with short sentences and one word comments.
As the conflict escalates you just realise how dreadful this must have been for everyone caught up in it, especially the children. Occasionally friends die in the shelling. Her family are out of contact with other family and friends and have no idea if they are safe - her grandparents live just on the other side of a bridge, but people are regularly killed by sniper fire on the bridge. Then there is the lack of electricity, gas, water, proper schooling. No new clothes as she grows. Shoes seem to be a big problem too.
The irony is that it is the diary that eventually gets her out of Sarajevo. Someone is looking to publish the war diary of a child, and hers is chosen, which ultimately leads her and her immediate family to safety in Paris.
This book is, I am guessing, edited. But it leaves you with a genuine feel for what is like on the ground if you are an 11-year-old and everything around you is being destroyed. It’s thought-provoking, harrowing and definitely worth a read.
remigves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
lexstorie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
lindapatin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
3.5
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book several times as a child and it's interesting to reread it as an adult. This remains a powerful and moving account. Zlata is very young when she begins writing: barely 11, and she doesn't understand or care about politics. Her life is depicted as a happy and privileged one until the war in Bosnia comes to Sarajevo. What's notable about this account is Zlata's age and the things she picks up on: the physical details of living through a siege, such as lack of food and light, and the constant bombardment of noise or fear. She doesn't have feelings about the politics of the situation, other than that she wants the war to stop. There is something deeply affecting and universal about her account because it focuses so much on the day-to-day life and the small details of the neighbourhood. This book remains fiercely relevant not only because the situation in Bosnia continues to be unstable, but because it gives us a humane and vivid account of the lives of so many children living in war. I'm glad I reread it.