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El mediador: Una historia de Sarajevo
by
Joe Sacco
El conflicto de la antigua Yugoslavia fue una de las grandes vergüenzas de la vieja Europa y de los organismos internacionales. Sarajevo, la actual capital bosnia fue antaño ciudad olímpica en los juegos de invierno y siempre fue una ciudad abierta y donde la mezcla era parte de la identidad singular de la ciudad. Pero desgraciadamente se convirtió por culpa del fanatismo...more
Hardcover, 128 pages
Published
June 25th 2006
by Planeta Deagostini
(first published 2003)
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Apr 02, 2007
Aaron
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Comic journalism fans
A fixer, in the parlance of the international press, is a local who "fixes" visiting journos with access. He provides them with translation and access - sometimes directly to the front lines of battle. In this case, however, what he fixes Joe Sacco with is his own sad story, and story of the shattered lives of some other figures in the Balkan war. As is customary, he weaves multiple stories into the major story line of the book, but in this case he jumps back and forth continuously, making it to...more
The Fixer is another great entry in Joe Sacco's series of comics reportage from the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Although it is clearly not a major work on the level of Safe Area Gorazde, the present volume is nonetheless an important addendum to the larger narrative that Sacco brought home from his trips to the former Yugoslavia. [return][return]This time around, the author focuses on his own frustrations in gathering information in post-combat Sarajevo, and his desparate reliance on the unreliabl...more
This is the story of Nevin, a former soldier who fought for one of the warlords active in Sarajevo in the 90's. The story bounces back between Nevin's war years, and what his life is like after the war. Killing, boozing, shooting pool and dying are pretty much par for the course. This story is much more personal than Sacco's work in "Palestine" but still manages to convey much of the social and political situation of the times.
Sacco once again takes us to some god-forsaken part of the world in order to find the human angle on yet another atrocity, this time to the Balkans and Sarajevo a few years after the end of the conflict there. Here we meet his 'Fixer', the most important man in any war journos life when he's out on assignment in places like this. The fixer is the guy who can set you up, get you in touch with the people you want to talk to, find you the angle you need on your story. But the war is over, and stori...more
Nov 24, 2009
Madeleine
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
graphic-novel-comic,
nonfiction
I decided to read this because I'm impatient for Joe Sacco's new book, Footnotes in Gaza. I wasn't expecting this to be amazing, but it was. I'm coming to the conclusion that pretty much anything Sacco writes and draws is amazing.
I'm old enough to remember the siege of Sarajevo, barely. Actually, I was living in Europe at the time and sort of obsessed with the conflict (hey, I was an intense, political kid...I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone). Here and in Safe Area Gorazde, Sacco really comp...more
I'm old enough to remember the siege of Sarajevo, barely. Actually, I was living in Europe at the time and sort of obsessed with the conflict (hey, I was an intense, political kid...I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone). Here and in Safe Area Gorazde, Sacco really comp...more
Gorazde-kirjan jälkeen luettuna tässä albumissa tuntui olevan juuri ne hyvät ominaisuudet, jotka Gorazdesta puuttuivat. Albumi oli tarinallisempi muutenkin kuin vain sotahistoriamielessä, ja vaikka tekstiä oli tässäkin paljon, oli tämä kuitenkin relevanttia sarjakuvaa. Tämä oli myös uskottavampi siinä mielessä, että tässä oli myös muita pahiksia kuin serbit, eikä mikään ollut kovin mustavalkoista (paitsi se sarjakuva, heh). Sotaahan tämä käsittelee, mutta yhden mielenkiintoisen henkilön nostamin...more
Another tale from the former Yugoslavia by Joe Sacco. I enjoyed this a lot - a good comic. The book focuses on Neven, a "fixer" for international visitors (mostly journalists) who need someone to show them the ropes of Sarajevo. Through Neven, it tells the story of Sarajevo in the Yugoslavian war - the sieges and the internal struggles. One thing it does really well is show the relationship between the unofficial paramilitary groups and the Bosnian government - naturally, it's a pretty ugly stor...more
I was impressed by Joe Sacco's "Palestine", which is why I read this book.
It is also fascinating, although I found it to be a smaller book, somehow. Joe Sacco tells the story of Neven, a veteran of Sarajevo's civil war. Neven is a Serb who fought against the Serbian Nationalists, and now survives as a "fixer", an insider who connects journalists to the people and places they need for their stories. Neven is the ultimate unreliable narrator, and Sacco plays with this aspect, making you doubt him,...more
It is also fascinating, although I found it to be a smaller book, somehow. Joe Sacco tells the story of Neven, a veteran of Sarajevo's civil war. Neven is a Serb who fought against the Serbian Nationalists, and now survives as a "fixer", an insider who connects journalists to the people and places they need for their stories. Neven is the ultimate unreliable narrator, and Sacco plays with this aspect, making you doubt him,...more
Stack black and white drawings and a stark story from a man who lived through, even fought in, the siege of Sarajevo. I found the storyline a little jumpy (despite the inclusion of years in the drawings to tell us when we were jumping). I think the purpose of the changes in timeline was to show cause-and-effect between different times, but I didn't always get that... perhaps because I set the book aside at a lot of the time transitions.
I think this books does a great job of walking a line betwee...more
I think this books does a great job of walking a line betwee...more
Dec 09, 2008
Kase! Wickman
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Claire Fox
Realistically drawn and truthfully told. I didn't think there could be a journalistic graphic novel until I read this, but the reporting is way better than some of the shit I've read in the Globe.
The Fixer is a unique look at an odd bit of history. It weaves in general history of the Bosnian war in the early and mid-90s. But the conflict itself is not the main focus of the narrative. Who knew that you could make a seriously good living in a war-torn country by finding people with horrific stories to tell for the droves of journalists that flock to these types of conflicts? And although this profession is the title of the work, this still isn't really the focus. Instead, the story revolve...more
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1141540.html[return][return]This is, in a sense, a sequel to Sacco's brilliant Safe Area Gorazde, but following just one person, Neven, a Sarajevo Serb, a former fighter on the Bosnian side in the war who Sacco got to know as his "fixer" when he first visited Sarajevo just after the war ended in 1995. (I first went there myself in early 1997, and the city of Sacco's book is definitely the one I knew.)[return][return]Anyone who has worked in that sort of environment kno...more
I guess when you read the subtitle "A Story From Sarajevo" you should know that this not a pretty story. it's the story of Neven, whom the author meets in Sarajevo. Neven is a man who is willing to sell his war stories to the press and get them the "inside" story - he's a crass, chain smoking veteran of an incredibly complicated war. The way the story is told, I never completely believed anything Neven said - which probably exactly the point. Journalists are constantly having to decide whether w...more
Graphic novels can be a challenge for me – I like them, yet find it difficult to "look" at the pictures, I'm so word oriented. The pictures obviously are a major part of this historical look at Sarajevo which skips around in time between the early 1980s and the 2000s. Sacco was (is?) a war reporter who does a great job with graphic journalism. I'll be reading more by him, maybe Palestine next.
Not my favorite work of Joe Sacco but an interesting examination of the difficulty inherent in determining fact from fiction as well as an exploration of a very charismatic character.
Also one of my favorite descriptions:
"But the bond between us runs deeper than my pocket. It is a bond that hearkens back to the schoolyard, where certain kinds of boys who are still afraid of girls find snobbish brotherhood in matching Everests of knowledge about the stuff between the toes of war."
Also one of my favorite descriptions:
"But the bond between us runs deeper than my pocket. It is a bond that hearkens back to the schoolyard, where certain kinds of boys who are still afraid of girls find snobbish brotherhood in matching Everests of knowledge about the stuff between the toes of war."
Perfect leesvoer voor wie nog denkt dat de oorlog een kwestie is van de goodies tegen de baddies. Gaat vnl. over de krijgsheren die Sarajevo 'beschermden' onder het mom van allerlei maffieuze praktijken. De 'fixer' is een cynische Sarajevaan die, moegestreden en aan de kant geschoven door 'zijn' krijgsheer, geld vraagt in ruil voor journalistieke assistentie. In de onnavolgbare Sacco stijl.
I liked this as I like Joe Sacco's work in general. This didn't blow my mind, but was more of a good thing. My favorite part about Joe Sacco is he tells a story about a place and a war, but also about Journalism, it's problems, problems with people, difficulty and grayness of being a journalist, especially in a war area.
Good stuff, quick read, I'm ready for the other Bosnia stories.
Good stuff, quick read, I'm ready for the other Bosnia stories.
God, I love Joe Sacco. His work - including this piece - is smart and concise and compassionate and sad and angry, all at once. He's wonderful. My favourite thing about him is the way he presents the people he tells us about - they all come across as complex, imperfect, three-dimensional human beings. A terrrific read.
Interesting story. This book isn't as good as Palestine, but it's shorter and the story isn't as detailed. However, Sacco is a wonderful commentator on the moral inadequacies of our time, and while this book lacks the depth of Palestine, he still opens a door to a very real and quite horrifying world.
Jan 11, 2013
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Excellent account of Sarajevo at the end of the war. Sacco has an engaging style and his use of comic art helps to create a real sense of place. No one conveys the horror of war for ordinary people more effectively.
Boring story:( I love the drawings and a biographical account of what happened in Sarajevo could have been really interesting. Unfortunately the artist was a little to obsessed with putting himself in the story.
This time out, Sacco keeps his journalistic gaze more focused than ever, providing a somber, shocking, funny and sympathetic biography of a wartime "fixer" (he serves as a guide for foreign journalists, getting them their money shots for a fee). Nevin is such an rich character -- a bit hard-luck soldier-of-fortune mixed with a sad-sack Munchausen.
Sacco treats horrible subject matter humanely and with a subtle sense of humor while honoring the people whose lives were shattered in Sarajevo. I got a great education from this book.
Not as good as Safe Area Gordaze but still incredibly interesting.
I think graphic journalism should be a growing field, does a great job of establishing a mood.
I think graphic journalism should be a growing field, does a great job of establishing a mood.
I thought Palestine was great, and hoped that I would be able to learn something about the Bosnian conflict (war?). I was not disappointed.
While very, very good, I wasn't as impressed with this one as the other stories from Bosnia (Safe Area Gorazde, Soba, etc)
Some of the figures Sacco draws look like the halfway point between Doonesbury and Robert Crumb, but the story is fantastic.
Great artwork and storytelling, but war journalism can't exactly be considered enjoyable. Haha. An informative read.
Great stuff though the main story (Fixer) goes on just a tad long. Everybody should read this guy's work.
I just read this today. It was really interesting, and I really should learn more about Bosnia.
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Joe Sacco was born in Malta on October 2, 1960. At the age of one, he moved with his family to Australia, where he spent his childhood until 1972, when they moved to Los Angeles. He began his journalism career working on the Sunset High School newspaper in Beaverton, Oregon. While journalism was his primary focus, this was also the period of time in which he developed his penchant for humor and sa...more
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May 12, 2009 06:13pm