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A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal
From January until April 2003 -- for one hundred and one days -- Ã?ne Seierstad worked as a reporter in Bagdad for Scandinavian, German, and Dutch media. Through her articles and live television coverage she reported on the events in Iraq before, during, and after the attacks by the American and British forces. But Seierstad was after a story far less obvious than the military invasion. From the moment she arrived in Baghdad Seierstad was determined to understand the modern secrets of an ancient place and to find out how the Iraqi people really live. In A Hundred and One Days , she introduces us to daily life under the constant threat of attack -- first from the Iraqi government and later from American bombs. Moving from the deafening silence of life under Hussein to the explosions that destroyed the power supply, the water supply, and security, Seierstad sets out to discover: What happens to people when the dam bursts? What do they choose to say when they can suddenly say what they like? What do they miss most when their world changes overnight? Displaying the novelist's eye and lyrical storytelling that have won her awards around the world, Seierstad here brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters to tell the stories we never see on the evening news. The only woman in the world to cover both the fall of Kabul in 2001 and the bombings of Baghdad in 2003, Ã?ne Seierstad has redefined war reporting with her mesmerizing book.
327 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
67 people are currently reading
2917 people want to read
About the author
Åsne Seierstad
13 books1,023 followersÅsne Seierstad is a Norwegian freelance journalist and writer, best known for her accounts of everyday life in war zones – most notably Kabul after 2001, Baghdad in 2002 and the ruined Grozny in 2006.
She has received numerous awards for her journalism and has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
She is fluent in five languages and lives in Norway.
She has received numerous awards for her journalism and has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
She is fluent in five languages and lives in Norway.
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February 25, 2021
As George W.Bush,Dick Cheney,Tony Blair and the neocons orchestrated the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and protests raged around the world,Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad was making plans of her own.
She would stay on in Iraq and let the world know about the great atrocities being committed on the pretext of finding "weapons of mass destruction."
As a massive aerial bombing campaign got underway,Seierstad knew what she had to do.She had to tell it like it was.
The intrepid reporter's war journal depicts the raw suffering of the people of Iraq during the war.
She reports what it was like as people started dying,getting maimed,watching their family members killed,their houses get destroyed,and were left without food,water,medicine and doctors.
This is a searing and graphic account of some of the greatest atrocities in modern history,of a totally unjustified war,launched on false pretexts.
Not an easy book to read,it left me with a lump in my throat.
She would stay on in Iraq and let the world know about the great atrocities being committed on the pretext of finding "weapons of mass destruction."
As a massive aerial bombing campaign got underway,Seierstad knew what she had to do.She had to tell it like it was.
The intrepid reporter's war journal depicts the raw suffering of the people of Iraq during the war.
She reports what it was like as people started dying,getting maimed,watching their family members killed,their houses get destroyed,and were left without food,water,medicine and doctors.
This is a searing and graphic account of some of the greatest atrocities in modern history,of a totally unjustified war,launched on false pretexts.
Not an easy book to read,it left me with a lump in my throat.
Read
December 13, 2019For the first time I send an email to my editors with the title: 'Nothing from Baghdad today'. I am at the epicentre of the world's attention and can find nothing to write about (p232)
Good doesn't seem a respectful word to describe a book of war journalism covering the time that a few journalists waited in Baghdad at the opening of the Second Gulf War, nor does it seem right to say that I enjoyed it, perhaps you can take my enthusiasm as read and my recommendation for granted.
The title evokes a thousand and one nights, while Seierstad certainly tumbles us from one story to another there is an overarching theme - patience, first mentioned when Seierstad is reading about Gertrude Bell's experience with Arabs. Seierstad first impatiently struggles with the management of journalists in pre-war Iraq, her impatient desire to find a story that she can report on, then like all the rest of us non-Iraqis I suppose, probes and searches for some appropriate, acceptable, and headline worthy reaction to the scale of the events, and eventually, on the one hundredth and first night, just as at the end of The Arabian Nights Scheherazade makes her revelation to her husband so Seierstad's translator says what she has to say too - but again, you still need to be patient.
You gain a sense of the absurdity of the business of journalism in this situation. The regime aimed to tightly control what journalists could see, they oversaw their transmissions , the threat of dismal or non-renewal of visas was constant. She was pinned down with very little chance to have anything worth while to say even as her editors needed her to make deadlines. Once war begins the situation doesn't improve as they are under fire , then there is the threat of violence on the streets, and she has been told by two different journalists who made their way north with the Americans that they have been shooting indiscriminately at anyone who doesn't run away from them .
However it is hardly safe in the hotel - they are fired upon by US troops who manage to kill most of the Sky news team , apart from the technician. The war journalists are a fairly tightly knit team, bumping into each other in one conflict zone after another, but even so there is no time to comfort the bereaved when there are deadlines to meet.
The editors at home want stories, but when it comes down to it, they don't want to offer up the full truth of what the journalist sees - the blood on the hospital floor, the faces of the dead children, they want stories that they can broadcast to people who are eating their dinners. It is something to remember when taking in the news, the stories that can't be told because the journalist has no access and the stories that won't be told because the nobody wants to show the public something that is too bald and too stark. Death and destruction have to be audience appropriate and nobody wants to report that American soldiers are shooting at cows (p246).
The other side of the book gets behind the headline stories. Only twice do people say anything critical of the regime to Seierstad before it falls and then only when those people are certain that the coast is clear. She reports that the Christian population in Iraq had fallen by half, down to three percent, already before the war began while they were already fearful of reprisals - and perhaps this simply followed on from what happened to the Jewish population earlier in the century.
People are persistently fearful of civil war. A reflection maybe of how the population had been divided into winners and losers, Seierstad eventual translator (and sworn sister) Aliya had a comfortable middle class Sunni upbringing and a good job translating Saddam Hussein's speeches and articles into English, Seierstad drags her (eventually) into culture-shock. Sunnis are occasionally dismissive in front of Seierstad about Shias - smelly, dirty, savage.
The US soldiers, as perhaps we all might, ask Iraqis how they feel about the end of the regime, hoping for a positive answer - as if life was so straightforward and simple. Eventually, Aliya curls up in Seierstad's bed and says they say he only cared about himself, she says, in wonder (p321).
Patience.
Good doesn't seem a respectful word to describe a book of war journalism covering the time that a few journalists waited in Baghdad at the opening of the Second Gulf War, nor does it seem right to say that I enjoyed it, perhaps you can take my enthusiasm as read and my recommendation for granted.
The title evokes a thousand and one nights, while Seierstad certainly tumbles us from one story to another there is an overarching theme - patience, first mentioned when Seierstad is reading about Gertrude Bell's experience with Arabs. Seierstad first impatiently struggles with the management of journalists in pre-war Iraq, her impatient desire to find a story that she can report on, then like all the rest of us non-Iraqis I suppose, probes and searches for some appropriate, acceptable, and headline worthy reaction to the scale of the events, and eventually, on the one hundredth and first night, just as at the end of The Arabian Nights Scheherazade makes her revelation to her husband so Seierstad's translator says what she has to say too - but again, you still need to be patient.
You gain a sense of the absurdity of the business of journalism in this situation. The regime aimed to tightly control what journalists could see, they oversaw their transmissions , the threat of dismal or non-renewal of visas was constant. She was pinned down with very little chance to have anything worth while to say even as her editors needed her to make deadlines. Once war begins the situation doesn't improve as they are under fire , then there is the threat of violence on the streets, and she has been told by two different journalists who made their way north with the Americans that they have been shooting indiscriminately at anyone who doesn't run away from them .
However it is hardly safe in the hotel - they are fired upon by US troops who manage to kill most of the Sky news team , apart from the technician. The war journalists are a fairly tightly knit team, bumping into each other in one conflict zone after another, but even so there is no time to comfort the bereaved when there are deadlines to meet.
The editors at home want stories, but when it comes down to it, they don't want to offer up the full truth of what the journalist sees - the blood on the hospital floor, the faces of the dead children, they want stories that they can broadcast to people who are eating their dinners. It is something to remember when taking in the news, the stories that can't be told because the journalist has no access and the stories that won't be told because the nobody wants to show the public something that is too bald and too stark. Death and destruction have to be audience appropriate and nobody wants to report that American soldiers are shooting at cows (p246).
The other side of the book gets behind the headline stories. Only twice do people say anything critical of the regime to Seierstad before it falls and then only when those people are certain that the coast is clear. She reports that the Christian population in Iraq had fallen by half, down to three percent, already before the war began while they were already fearful of reprisals - and perhaps this simply followed on from what happened to the Jewish population earlier in the century.
People are persistently fearful of civil war. A reflection maybe of how the population had been divided into winners and losers, Seierstad eventual translator (and sworn sister) Aliya had a comfortable middle class Sunni upbringing and a good job translating Saddam Hussein's speeches and articles into English, Seierstad drags her (eventually) into culture-shock. Sunnis are occasionally dismissive in front of Seierstad about Shias - smelly, dirty, savage.
The US soldiers, as perhaps we all might, ask Iraqis how they feel about the end of the regime, hoping for a positive answer - as if life was so straightforward and simple. Eventually, Aliya curls up in Seierstad's bed and says they say he only cared about himself, she says, in wonder (p321).
Patience.
May 20, 2015
Åsne Seierstad is a freelance Norwegian journalist who has spent time in various trouble spots in the world. This book is about time she spent in Baghdad, before, during and after its invasion by America and the UK in 2003.
Most of the book centres on the lead up to the invasion. It was difficult for journalists to stay in Iraq, and there are long descriptions of the administrative machinations she goes through in order to retain her visa. She faces difficulties at every turn... endless promises that are made, broken and then revived - often due to money changing hands. Sometimes due to more flimsy ploys, like the author speaking French to one of Saddam's sons, and getting permission to stay purely because he was a Francophile, and he liked the fact she spoke French. I would have preferred a brief synopsis of these experiences. She was obviously hugely frustrated by the endless tooing and froing in her fight for a visa - and in the end so was I.
One does however get an excellent sense of what it must have been like to be a citizen of Baghdad, or a foreign journalist, in the weeks running up to the invasion. People stocking up not only on food supplies, but also gathering containers for water, or even building wells in their gardens where they could feasibly do so. The absolute silence where Saddam Hussein was concerned. (Throughout the book we get a drip drip drip of the magnitude of his cruel reach over his people.)
The description of the invasion was interesting, and one gets a strong impression of how dangerous it is to be a journalist covering war zones. At one point there was an attack on a Reuters building and several cameramen and technicians were wounded or killed. But of course it was much worse for the citizens of Baghdad. Seierstad said the American soldiers were trigger happy - determined to wreck vengeance for 9/11, shooting randomly into cars and houses. At one stage she even saw them shooting cows. They nevertheless got a mixed reception. The people were so glad to be rid of Saddam, that on one level the Americans were welcome - yet the behaviour of the soldiers and the army was alienating. There were horrendous civilian deaths in bombings and shootings.
There was fear also as to what would happen in the future, given the different religious and political factions in the country, and the anarchic behaviour of criminal groups, who started looting almost immediately - fears that would prove realistic.
The time period after the invasion was covered in just a few pages, and included a poignant conversation with an America soldier, who felt the invasion was more about oil than terrorism, and a conversation with an Iraqi family, who said they had not been able to speak freely since 1967..... The fear of Saddam still lingered over everything.
This book has received wonderful reviews from various newspapers and journals, describing Seierstad's merits as a writer, rather than just her merits as a journalist. I therefore feel rather churlish in being less than enthralled. The book was okay, and there were some very good parts to it, but for me they were too often buried in pedestrian descriptions of everyday life. I would have preferred a bit more history about Saddam and Iraq instead.
Most of the book centres on the lead up to the invasion. It was difficult for journalists to stay in Iraq, and there are long descriptions of the administrative machinations she goes through in order to retain her visa. She faces difficulties at every turn... endless promises that are made, broken and then revived - often due to money changing hands. Sometimes due to more flimsy ploys, like the author speaking French to one of Saddam's sons, and getting permission to stay purely because he was a Francophile, and he liked the fact she spoke French. I would have preferred a brief synopsis of these experiences. She was obviously hugely frustrated by the endless tooing and froing in her fight for a visa - and in the end so was I.
One does however get an excellent sense of what it must have been like to be a citizen of Baghdad, or a foreign journalist, in the weeks running up to the invasion. People stocking up not only on food supplies, but also gathering containers for water, or even building wells in their gardens where they could feasibly do so. The absolute silence where Saddam Hussein was concerned. (Throughout the book we get a drip drip drip of the magnitude of his cruel reach over his people.)
The description of the invasion was interesting, and one gets a strong impression of how dangerous it is to be a journalist covering war zones. At one point there was an attack on a Reuters building and several cameramen and technicians were wounded or killed. But of course it was much worse for the citizens of Baghdad. Seierstad said the American soldiers were trigger happy - determined to wreck vengeance for 9/11, shooting randomly into cars and houses. At one stage she even saw them shooting cows. They nevertheless got a mixed reception. The people were so glad to be rid of Saddam, that on one level the Americans were welcome - yet the behaviour of the soldiers and the army was alienating. There were horrendous civilian deaths in bombings and shootings.
There was fear also as to what would happen in the future, given the different religious and political factions in the country, and the anarchic behaviour of criminal groups, who started looting almost immediately - fears that would prove realistic.
The time period after the invasion was covered in just a few pages, and included a poignant conversation with an America soldier, who felt the invasion was more about oil than terrorism, and a conversation with an Iraqi family, who said they had not been able to speak freely since 1967..... The fear of Saddam still lingered over everything.
This book has received wonderful reviews from various newspapers and journals, describing Seierstad's merits as a writer, rather than just her merits as a journalist. I therefore feel rather churlish in being less than enthralled. The book was okay, and there were some very good parts to it, but for me they were too often buried in pedestrian descriptions of everyday life. I would have preferred a bit more history about Saddam and Iraq instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2017
This is a dated book as the armed American incursion into Iraq is long over, but it retains validity as an account of an impartial witness to the events leading up to the actual arrival of coalition troops on scene. As such, it is a welcome relief from the accounts of those American apologists who justify coalition excesses as "payback" for a non-existent Iraqi involvement in 9/11.
I pity the poor Iraqi people; under Saddam they were oppressed, kidnapped, murdered, raped and submitted to every imaginable indignity, so much so that most of the Iraqi people who were willing to talk to Seierstad actually looked forward to the invasion. They really hadn't expected to be robbed, murdered, and raped by their liberators! Seierstad relays the Iraqi fears: that the country will descend into anarchy and civil war after the Americans depose Saddam. This has proven to be a valid concern as events in present-day Iraq demonstrate.
Seierstad has done an excellent job detailing the frustrations of dealing with an intrusive and encumbering bureaucracy and hints at how the USA-led coalition dropped the ball. Had the troops gone into Iraq with a gentler hand they had an excellent chance to gain Iraqi hearts and minds through positive interaction. Instead, Seierstad witnessed surrendering Iraqi troops being summarily executed and families being decimated by what was essentially an unnecessary conflict. If the Iraqis were leery of the West before, they hated them after.
Recommended as an honest account by a woman who risked everything for the story.
I pity the poor Iraqi people; under Saddam they were oppressed, kidnapped, murdered, raped and submitted to every imaginable indignity, so much so that most of the Iraqi people who were willing to talk to Seierstad actually looked forward to the invasion. They really hadn't expected to be robbed, murdered, and raped by their liberators! Seierstad relays the Iraqi fears: that the country will descend into anarchy and civil war after the Americans depose Saddam. This has proven to be a valid concern as events in present-day Iraq demonstrate.
Seierstad has done an excellent job detailing the frustrations of dealing with an intrusive and encumbering bureaucracy and hints at how the USA-led coalition dropped the ball. Had the troops gone into Iraq with a gentler hand they had an excellent chance to gain Iraqi hearts and minds through positive interaction. Instead, Seierstad witnessed surrendering Iraqi troops being summarily executed and families being decimated by what was essentially an unnecessary conflict. If the Iraqis were leery of the West before, they hated them after.
Recommended as an honest account by a woman who risked everything for the story.
September 24, 2019
Norweska dziennikarka spędziła w Bagdadzie kilka miesięcy w 2003 roku, a konkretnie przed i w trakcie inwazji USA na ten kraj. Jej opowieści są krótkie, to migawki ze świata, którego już nie ma. Seierstad świetnie uchwyciła atmosferę, napięcie, jakie panowało w Iraku tuż przed wojną.
Ten dziennik ukazuje jak trudna była praca dziennikarska pod reżimem Saddama Husseina. Zastraszona ludność obawiała się wyrazić swoje zdanie, dziennikarka nie miała wiele swobód, informacje wychwytywała między wierszami, opisywała głównie nastroje. Gdy groźba wojny staje się rzeczywistością, ludność zaczyna się przygotowywać - zbierać wodę, produkty żywnościowe, kopać studnie. Mieszkańcami Bagdadu targają sprzeczne emocje - lęk przed nieznanym, nadzieja na uwolnienie od dyktatury, niepewność jutra. Te wszystkie odczucia aż pulsują w reportażach Norweżki.
Ciąg dalszy: https://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot....
Ten dziennik ukazuje jak trudna była praca dziennikarska pod reżimem Saddama Husseina. Zastraszona ludność obawiała się wyrazić swoje zdanie, dziennikarka nie miała wiele swobód, informacje wychwytywała między wierszami, opisywała głównie nastroje. Gdy groźba wojny staje się rzeczywistością, ludność zaczyna się przygotowywać - zbierać wodę, produkty żywnościowe, kopać studnie. Mieszkańcami Bagdadu targają sprzeczne emocje - lęk przed nieznanym, nadzieja na uwolnienie od dyktatury, niepewność jutra. Te wszystkie odczucia aż pulsują w reportażach Norweżki.
Ciąg dalszy: https://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot....
July 28, 2018
Rather dull compared to her previous book. Felt like she was trying to hard.
April 30, 2012
Something of a modern-day Scheherezade, Norwegian journalist Seierstad continued reporting by satellite to TV audiences in Europe during the 101 days preceding and then during the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. For readers interested in the gathering of news in war zones, her book provides extensive insight into off-camera footwork and dealing with bureaucratic and political obstacles that prevent access to the hearts and minds of everyday citizens, her primary interest as a reporter. When the missiles and bombs begin to rain down on Baghdad, the risk of death itself becomes a primary obstacle.
For readers interested in Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the collapse of his government, Seierstad's book reveals what is often forgotten, given subsequent events, that Iraq had been in the grip of terror and decline for 30 years thanks to a ruthless dictator, whose military adventures in Iran and Kuwait cost countless lives and produced economic sanctions that had their severest impact on a shrinking middle class and the poorest citizens. The country had been run into the ground economically, socially, and spiritually long before the American invasion. That Iraq clings to life at all is a testament to the human will to survive.
Americans will not find their military presence in Iraq regarded in the same way that embedded journalists portrayed it at the time. Seierstad gives a mixed picture of "trigger happy" young men on one hand and other soldiers who reflect an ambivalence about the U.S. government's intentions in Iraq. Likewise, there is a wide range of opinion among Iraqis, from those who welcome the invasion to those who see themselves as trading a hated dictator for an army of occupation that cannot maintain security or provide water and electricity, while dreading the prospect of civil war. Meanwhile, bearded foreigners have gathered at Saddam Hussein's request, to begin a campaign of suicide bombings. This is a compelling, illuminating, and disturbing book, written with considerable skill, and a worthy follow-up to the author's "Bookseller of Kabul."
For readers interested in Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the collapse of his government, Seierstad's book reveals what is often forgotten, given subsequent events, that Iraq had been in the grip of terror and decline for 30 years thanks to a ruthless dictator, whose military adventures in Iran and Kuwait cost countless lives and produced economic sanctions that had their severest impact on a shrinking middle class and the poorest citizens. The country had been run into the ground economically, socially, and spiritually long before the American invasion. That Iraq clings to life at all is a testament to the human will to survive.
Americans will not find their military presence in Iraq regarded in the same way that embedded journalists portrayed it at the time. Seierstad gives a mixed picture of "trigger happy" young men on one hand and other soldiers who reflect an ambivalence about the U.S. government's intentions in Iraq. Likewise, there is a wide range of opinion among Iraqis, from those who welcome the invasion to those who see themselves as trading a hated dictator for an army of occupation that cannot maintain security or provide water and electricity, while dreading the prospect of civil war. Meanwhile, bearded foreigners have gathered at Saddam Hussein's request, to begin a campaign of suicide bombings. This is a compelling, illuminating, and disturbing book, written with considerable skill, and a worthy follow-up to the author's "Bookseller of Kabul."
May 28, 2017
This is a compelling read especially as some 14 years later it helps inform the world we live in today. There are 2 sides to this book - an intriguing account of life as a foreign correspondent and the war story. Regarding the first I am in awe of Seierstad's bravery and want to know more about what motivates her. Regarding the war story it is a timely reminder of how complex the western worlds relationship is with the Middle East and a fierce and frightening reminder of how war impacts drastically and devastatingly on innocent civilians.
August 20, 2025
Asne Seierstad is one of my favorite long-form journalists and this book does not disappoint. I love the snapshot structure of the book, with tiny stories connecting to show a larger picture - Iraq before, during, and after. You get to understand everyone in this book, from Saddam acolytes to human shields, other journalists and regular people facing the turmoil in their lives. Everyone is just imperfect and so very human in a situation no one could be prepared for.
This book makes one respect conflict journalists a lot more. I surely do.
This book makes one respect conflict journalists a lot more. I surely do.
September 11, 2017
Voor mij is de graphic novel 'Footnotes in Gaza' (2009) van Joe Sacco nog altijd onovertroffen als het werk over de onmogelijkheid voor een oorlogscorrespondent om feit van fictie te kunnen onderscheiden. Nog los van de eigen positie die een journalist in zijn of haar verslaggeving meeneemt, wordt het verhaal beïnvloed en gestuurd door andere factoren: de herinneringen en trauma's van geïnterviewden, de politieke machtsblokken die bepalen wat wel en wat niet gezien of gehoord mag worden. Åsne Seierstad prikt in 'Honderd-en-een Dag in Bagdad' (2003) ook door de mythe van de journalist die een objectief beeld geeft van de werkelijkheid. Meer nog dan over de tweede Irak-oorlog, waar zij vlak voor, tijdens en vlak na aanwezig was, gaat het over haar eigen frustraties om propaganda- en censuurpraktijken van het regime. Visa worden ingetrokken als het regime kritische geluiden wil weren.Opgelegde begeleiding houdt het journaille keurig weg bij de plekken waar het nieuws plaatsvindt. Geportretteerden laten nooit het achterste van hun tong zien, omdat ze niet in compromitterende situaties willen komen. Het boek is zo opgezet dat deze memoires een kritische aanvulling vormen op de 'objectieve registraties' waar ze destijds mee in de westerse media verscheen.
May 4, 2008
Asne Seierstad is an intriguing person. A Norwegian blend of beauty, toughness and compassion, she possesses all the powers of observation and reporting skill that make for a riveting tale of the first 101 days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The first half of the book sees Seierstad navigating the bureaucracy of Iraq, which was staggering in its ineptitude, callousness and corruption. As a condition of her journalism visa, she was required to have a "minder"/translator who was there to both facilitate her movement through the local culture, and to keep an eye on what she was writing. Initially, this proved very discouraging; but eventually, she meets a woman, "Aliya", who is both a talented translator and fearful of what trouble this aggressive journalist might get her into. Eventually, they strike a very close bond, and gradually develop a certain amount of empathy for each other.
Seierstad was both writing for newspapers and broadcasting for Scandinavian television - at one point seven outlets in all; and aside from finding stories on a daily basis and securing her broadcasting equipment, she had to regularly work to keep herself from being expelled from the country. Often this required bribing officials; but Seierstad was determined not to be denied this opportunity.
You see the Iraqi people as prisoners of the Stalinist-inspired culture of Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein: where there was NO dissent of any kind, and even family members were spying and informing on one-another; but strangely enough, there was a certain order to Iraqi society you see unravel with the first U.S. bombing raids into Baghdad. City residents, sensing war is near, begin to stockpile supplies and find adequate shelter.
The second half of the book shows Seierstad opting to stay in Baghdad, and her chronicling of the initial months of the war is devastating. She discusses a Mosque which was converted into a "MASH" unit, and notes in excrutiating detail the broken and burned bodies of the Iraqi people caught in the bombing. She has several friends from other news services who've also decided to stay, and even some of them are caught in the carnage.
As the Americans take the Baghdad airport and move into the city, she observes the destruction of the statue of Saddam and the mixed reactions of the Iraqis - they were happy to be liberated, but also were hesitant to welcome an "occupying" force.
The book's epilogue describes how complex the situation in Iraq has become in the time following the initial bombings. It's definitely prescient in that sense. I very much enjoyed the book; but would warn that it can also be quite emotionally wrenching - not to mention graphic in its depiction of casualties.
The first half of the book sees Seierstad navigating the bureaucracy of Iraq, which was staggering in its ineptitude, callousness and corruption. As a condition of her journalism visa, she was required to have a "minder"/translator who was there to both facilitate her movement through the local culture, and to keep an eye on what she was writing. Initially, this proved very discouraging; but eventually, she meets a woman, "Aliya", who is both a talented translator and fearful of what trouble this aggressive journalist might get her into. Eventually, they strike a very close bond, and gradually develop a certain amount of empathy for each other.
Seierstad was both writing for newspapers and broadcasting for Scandinavian television - at one point seven outlets in all; and aside from finding stories on a daily basis and securing her broadcasting equipment, she had to regularly work to keep herself from being expelled from the country. Often this required bribing officials; but Seierstad was determined not to be denied this opportunity.
You see the Iraqi people as prisoners of the Stalinist-inspired culture of Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein: where there was NO dissent of any kind, and even family members were spying and informing on one-another; but strangely enough, there was a certain order to Iraqi society you see unravel with the first U.S. bombing raids into Baghdad. City residents, sensing war is near, begin to stockpile supplies and find adequate shelter.
The second half of the book shows Seierstad opting to stay in Baghdad, and her chronicling of the initial months of the war is devastating. She discusses a Mosque which was converted into a "MASH" unit, and notes in excrutiating detail the broken and burned bodies of the Iraqi people caught in the bombing. She has several friends from other news services who've also decided to stay, and even some of them are caught in the carnage.
As the Americans take the Baghdad airport and move into the city, she observes the destruction of the statue of Saddam and the mixed reactions of the Iraqis - they were happy to be liberated, but also were hesitant to welcome an "occupying" force.
The book's epilogue describes how complex the situation in Iraq has become in the time following the initial bombings. It's definitely prescient in that sense. I very much enjoyed the book; but would warn that it can also be quite emotionally wrenching - not to mention graphic in its depiction of casualties.
July 24, 2009
I have mixed personal feeling about this book. The writing and the way it flows is great. I have never been a supporter of Bush's war in Iraq, but I knew that the fear and torture that the iraquis endured will under Saddam had to be stopped. I never understood why the iraqui people were so fond of saddam but after reading this book i understood, that with fear you can suppress your people. That loving saddam is tought in the schools and how he is EVERYWHERE. It also shows how most of the middle class iraquis where not aware of the atrocities that saddam committed on his people. Of course here in the US we only saw how the army was advancing, and running out all of Saddam's men, but we never saw how the "heroes" win their way into the city. This book depict a lot of details of women and children (innocent people) where killed without a second thought. How the US army said they were only going to target Saddam's HQ but it seems like they had a few slip-up and bombing civilian homes. How most of our 'heroes' didn't even know the reason why they where in iraq, they just knew they had a job to do. it is truly sad to read and know that a lot of innocent children where brutely killed.
February 20, 2009
This is similar to the book written by Anne Garrels about reporting from Iraq just prior to, during, and after the beginning of the war between the U.S. and Iraq. Both experienced the same problems of dealing with the Iraqi military and propaganda systems and trying to do their jobs at the same time, all while being cobbled by the minder forced on them by Iraq. Seierstad was lucky enough to replace her first minder with a much better and more sympathetic female after a couple of weeks. Seierstad's focus was on interviewing the locals to see what they thought of the coming war and how it was affecting them. She was fortunate enough to do so even though her minders either tried to prevent it or did little or nothing to aid her. Seierstad's portraits of the Iraqi sympathies and problems were expected and made me angry once again about the insanity of the war. She was lucky enough to come across a priest and a bookseller whose interviews were very enlightening. It was also interesting to read another account of the attack on the hotel where the journalists were staying and to see the aftermath through the eyes of a different journalist. Recommended.
November 9, 2014
The author worked as a news reporter in Baghdad before, during, and just after the 2003 war which toppled Saddam’s power. This is an account of those experiences - the citizens she met and talked to, the colleagues she worked with, and the system she was forced to work within with “minders” and translators. It’s also an account of the emotional roller coaster she rode by being in the middle of a war zone.
I found that I really enjoyed this largely because of the different perspective that it cast on world events. I remember watching the news stories on TV during the war. But it is quite a different thing to read about it from the perspective of someone who lived right in the middle of it. It’s also interesting to read the comments of how the Iraqi citizens viewed the Americans. It is something that I didn’t think about at all at the time. Thought provoking.
I found that I really enjoyed this largely because of the different perspective that it cast on world events. I remember watching the news stories on TV during the war. But it is quite a different thing to read about it from the perspective of someone who lived right in the middle of it. It’s also interesting to read the comments of how the Iraqi citizens viewed the Americans. It is something that I didn’t think about at all at the time. Thought provoking.
December 24, 2024
A memoir about life in Iraq during the U.S. invasion in 2003. As a journalist, Seierstad shares her experiences in Baghdad, showing the struggles and strength of the Iraqi people during the war. Her writing brings to life the daily challenges they faced, making it easy for readers to feel connected to their stories. The book combines personal experiences with important facts about the war, helping readers understand what ordinary people went through during this difficult time. This memoir is an important contribution to the literature on the Iraq conflict and serves as a reminder of the human stories behind the headlines.
September 20, 2022
I hate wars! All kind of wars! This book is an eye opening, telling the truth of what American soldiers did to the Iraqi civilians... I repeat CIVILIANS! I wonder how would the world react if it happened vice versa.
February 7, 2023
Norvēğu žurnālistes piedzīvotais Irākas kara laikā 2003.gada pavasarī.
Galīgi neesmu islāma un Irākas, šiītu un sunnītu eksperts, bet, protams, par Sadama Huseina gāšanu bija zināms. Grāmatā aprakstīta 101 diena Bagdādē pirms un pēc šī notikuma.
Skaidrs, ka Huseins bija pelnījis nāvessodu un amerikāņi pēc 11. septembra neauklējās. Bet man joprojām šķiet, ka to varēja izplānot ne tik brutāli un ne ar tādiem civiliedzīvotāju upuriem.
Protams, šobrīd, kad brutāls karš notiek tepat mums blakus, šī grāmata un katra aprakstītā raķete, tanks, bumba un bērna nāve tiek uztverta daudz citādāk.
Galvenais secinājums - tirāni ir jālikvidē, bet lai nu kā, jebkurš karš ir elle un, diemžēl, vissmagāk cieš nevainīgi cilvēki...
Tā, tagad man kādam laikam islāma pietiks.
Galīgi neesmu islāma un Irākas, šiītu un sunnītu eksperts, bet, protams, par Sadama Huseina gāšanu bija zināms. Grāmatā aprakstīta 101 diena Bagdādē pirms un pēc šī notikuma.
Skaidrs, ka Huseins bija pelnījis nāvessodu un amerikāņi pēc 11. septembra neauklējās. Bet man joprojām šķiet, ka to varēja izplānot ne tik brutāli un ne ar tādiem civiliedzīvotāju upuriem.
Protams, šobrīd, kad brutāls karš notiek tepat mums blakus, šī grāmata un katra aprakstītā raķete, tanks, bumba un bērna nāve tiek uztverta daudz citādāk.
Galvenais secinājums - tirāni ir jālikvidē, bet lai nu kā, jebkurš karš ir elle un, diemžēl, vissmagāk cieš nevainīgi cilvēki...
Tā, tagad man kādam laikam islāma pietiks.
July 14, 2021
Jeg er glad jeg leste Åsnes rapporter fra Bagdad, men det var intenst og tøft. Forfatteren skildrer det hun opplever i Irak på en svært god måte.
October 15, 2016
A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal is the third of Seierstad’s books which I have read to date, and has been translated from the Norwegian by Ingrid Christophersen. This particular reportage comes from Iraq, where Seierstad stayed for over three months in the beginning of 2003. A Norwegian award-winning journalist, she had been sent to the country in order to report upon the war and its aftermath; she arrives before said war, and is able to report upon the state of politics, and the way of life for the city’s citizens. The book’s blurb reads that ‘her passionate and erudite book conveys both the drama and the tragedy of her one hundred and one days in a city at war’.
I was in my early years of secondary school when the Iraq war broke out. Whilst I remember much of the reportage, and the horrors which it conveyed, I do not feel as though I was given much of an idea about how awful it must have been to live, and to try to survive, in the country at the time. I haven’t read much about Iraq from a retrospective position, but felt that it was an important thing to do.
In A Hundred and One Days, Seierstad brilliantly details the frustrations and dangers which journalists worldwide faced in trying to uncover the truth behind the all-pervasive propaganda of the regime. She is humble with regard to her account: ‘No story contains the whole story. This is just one of many and it gives a fragment of the whole, not more.’ She demonstrates what a hold propaganda had upon the country, and also shows the new, brave breed of people, who wanted to remain anonymous, but found it important to tell her the truth about what they were living through. She writes, ‘Iraq has become a country of schizophrenics and cowards, a country where people fear their friends, their family, their own children. Once upon a time Iraq was the lighthouse of the Middle East, but thirty years of Oriental Stalinism and twelve years of embargoes has crushed the country and its people’.
The book’s translation is rather Americanised, and I must admit that I found a few of the past participles and such used rather jarring. The writing itself wasn’t as good as I have come to expect from Seierstad either; I remember her being rather eloquent in The Bookseller of Kabul, and One of Us, her reportage of Anders Breivik and the Oslo massacre he perpetrated, is incredibly strong with regard to its prose.
At first, the book failed to grip me. Some of the paragraphs in the initial section were incredibly interesting, but others felt too drawn out, and there was no real sense of cohesion to the whole. As other reviews have mentioned, much emphasis is placed upon office bureaucracy; whilst obviously pivotal for Seierstad, to allow her to extend her stay in the country, this did not seem overly useful on the whole for the general reader. Some of the extended interviews also seem to have been cut a little short, or repeat almost entirely the details of others. Once I had read past the first fifty pages, however, I found the book incredibly compelling. There was some clumsy phrasing at times, but it was largely rather a fluid piece. The inclusion of original newspaper pieces was beneficial to the whole, and largely they flowed seamlessly from the main body of prose.
A Hundred and One Days is a fascinating, thorough, and honest portrait of a wartorn city, and whilst it is not my favourite piece of Seierstad’s longer journalistic pieces, it is certainly an important book to read in order to understand the reasoning behind and conditions of the war.
I was in my early years of secondary school when the Iraq war broke out. Whilst I remember much of the reportage, and the horrors which it conveyed, I do not feel as though I was given much of an idea about how awful it must have been to live, and to try to survive, in the country at the time. I haven’t read much about Iraq from a retrospective position, but felt that it was an important thing to do.
In A Hundred and One Days, Seierstad brilliantly details the frustrations and dangers which journalists worldwide faced in trying to uncover the truth behind the all-pervasive propaganda of the regime. She is humble with regard to her account: ‘No story contains the whole story. This is just one of many and it gives a fragment of the whole, not more.’ She demonstrates what a hold propaganda had upon the country, and also shows the new, brave breed of people, who wanted to remain anonymous, but found it important to tell her the truth about what they were living through. She writes, ‘Iraq has become a country of schizophrenics and cowards, a country where people fear their friends, their family, their own children. Once upon a time Iraq was the lighthouse of the Middle East, but thirty years of Oriental Stalinism and twelve years of embargoes has crushed the country and its people’.
The book’s translation is rather Americanised, and I must admit that I found a few of the past participles and such used rather jarring. The writing itself wasn’t as good as I have come to expect from Seierstad either; I remember her being rather eloquent in The Bookseller of Kabul, and One of Us, her reportage of Anders Breivik and the Oslo massacre he perpetrated, is incredibly strong with regard to its prose.
At first, the book failed to grip me. Some of the paragraphs in the initial section were incredibly interesting, but others felt too drawn out, and there was no real sense of cohesion to the whole. As other reviews have mentioned, much emphasis is placed upon office bureaucracy; whilst obviously pivotal for Seierstad, to allow her to extend her stay in the country, this did not seem overly useful on the whole for the general reader. Some of the extended interviews also seem to have been cut a little short, or repeat almost entirely the details of others. Once I had read past the first fifty pages, however, I found the book incredibly compelling. There was some clumsy phrasing at times, but it was largely rather a fluid piece. The inclusion of original newspaper pieces was beneficial to the whole, and largely they flowed seamlessly from the main body of prose.
A Hundred and One Days is a fascinating, thorough, and honest portrait of a wartorn city, and whilst it is not my favourite piece of Seierstad’s longer journalistic pieces, it is certainly an important book to read in order to understand the reasoning behind and conditions of the war.
January 23, 2019
This is a memoir by a Norwegian war correspondent who was in Baghdad for 101 days, before, during, and after the US bombing of Iraq in 2003. It gives a good sense of what it's like in a country where people are afraid to say anything negative about their leader. And we also see how a country tries to control what outsiders see or hear, and how they control reporters in their country. The booked started slowly (I almost gave up a few times) but I'm really glad I read it.
Asme reported on the beginnings of the war, and what it’s like to be in a city that is being bombed. She described the dangers she faced, and the fear she experienced when her hotel was bombed, and other reporters were killed or wounded. I also learned about incidents with American soldiers that I did not hear about in the US. Many innocent civilians were killed as the bombs were often released far from military targets. Iraqi reactions were mixed. While some were happy the Americans were there, others were very fearful. As more civilians, especially children were killed, the fear and anger grew. As we know, there was much more anger in the months and years to follow.
Eventually the reporter formed friendships with translators, drivers and minders that initially restricted her movements. She started to pay closer attention to the perspectives and feelings of these people who protected her. After the bombings, everyone spoke more freely. A translator was devastated first by the attacks from the Americans (and seeing children who were mortally wounded), and then by what people were now saying about the leader she thought was beloved. She hadn't known about other's experiences with Saddam, because they couldn't discuss them without fear of imprisonment or worse. A longtime friendship between two men was seriously challenged when one finally began to express his anger toward Saddam and abuses that we was afraid to express before. Ethnic differences started to play a larger role as long silenced resentments were surfaced.
It was interesting to get a glimpse of the lifestyle of war correspondents. They push forward when others are fleeing. (They seem a little crazy.) There is some competition, but a lot of camaraderie and even love among those who have experienced hardship and loss together.
Asme reported on the beginnings of the war, and what it’s like to be in a city that is being bombed. She described the dangers she faced, and the fear she experienced when her hotel was bombed, and other reporters were killed or wounded. I also learned about incidents with American soldiers that I did not hear about in the US. Many innocent civilians were killed as the bombs were often released far from military targets. Iraqi reactions were mixed. While some were happy the Americans were there, others were very fearful. As more civilians, especially children were killed, the fear and anger grew. As we know, there was much more anger in the months and years to follow.
Eventually the reporter formed friendships with translators, drivers and minders that initially restricted her movements. She started to pay closer attention to the perspectives and feelings of these people who protected her. After the bombings, everyone spoke more freely. A translator was devastated first by the attacks from the Americans (and seeing children who were mortally wounded), and then by what people were now saying about the leader she thought was beloved. She hadn't known about other's experiences with Saddam, because they couldn't discuss them without fear of imprisonment or worse. A longtime friendship between two men was seriously challenged when one finally began to express his anger toward Saddam and abuses that we was afraid to express before. Ethnic differences started to play a larger role as long silenced resentments were surfaced.
It was interesting to get a glimpse of the lifestyle of war correspondents. They push forward when others are fleeing. (They seem a little crazy.) There is some competition, but a lot of camaraderie and even love among those who have experienced hardship and loss together.
January 9, 2009
This unassuming norweigan stays in baghdad from January to April of 2003, long after most of the other journalists have been ordered or forced to leave the area she witnesses the "war on terror" firsthand. I wanted to like this book more, but it's not really easy to read and riddled with editing and spelling mistakes (at least in this edition) -- there's probably a whole lot that is lost in translation on this one. The style is distractingly short and choppy and jumpy -- there's not a continuity of vision and she doesn't appear to believe in punctuation, so sadly she keeps losing me. However, her perspective as a foreigner from a small "insignificant" country (Norway as related to the "shock and awe") is interesting, she can get away with reporting a lot more directly than the other international journalists because few of the Iraqi beaurcrats in charge of monitoring the news can actually speak Norweigan. Also, I really have to admire the tenacity and strength of the author in her quest to find out and report on what real Iraqi citizens actually think and feel through all these barriers of saddam's regime and she does manage to catch and convey quick, emotional glimpses of the sad truths and firsthand experiences of war that are being repressed and edited out of any international media reports worldwide...It is interesting that the author and her journalist friends are all assuming that this conflict will only last a couple of months at most, and yet.....yeah. So if I stop trying to roll with the quirky clumsily translated narrative style and just view it overall as reading a reporter's scribbled, barely edited notebook, I can get thru it piece by piece, like a scrapbook.
April 4, 2019
As Seierstad says in the preface: "My reports from Baghdad are my reports. They come directly from my own - not always adequate - experiences." In truth, her writing is very powerful, and does nothing to dissuade me from my personal long-held conclusion that members of my government and their affiliates used, to enrich themselves through oil, 9/11 and the puffery of a dictator's claims to having under his control stashed of weapons of mass destruction.
Seierstad, a Norwegian journalist and war correspondent, arrives in Baghdad in January 2003, while the U.N. arms inspectors were wrapping up, and war rhetoric from America was escalating. She ultimately stayed through the entire war, only leaving several days after the Americans marched into Baghdad.
As promised by the subtitle, this reads like a slightly fleshed out version of her daily journal, with sections that are clearly excerpted from the stories she filed and reports she aired. At the beginning, the tone is that if a rather dispassionate journalist. Yet as bombs fall, and the indiscriminate brutality of war is remorselessly revealed, this dispassion cracks and the stress, fear, and horror seeps through. As does her courage and stubbornness and determination to report. And perhaps a touch of insanity because after all, don't you have to be a touch crazy to report from the frontlines of a war?
After all, this is a war correspondent reporting on a war.
ATY 2019 #22 number in title
Seierstad, a Norwegian journalist and war correspondent, arrives in Baghdad in January 2003, while the U.N. arms inspectors were wrapping up, and war rhetoric from America was escalating. She ultimately stayed through the entire war, only leaving several days after the Americans marched into Baghdad.
As promised by the subtitle, this reads like a slightly fleshed out version of her daily journal, with sections that are clearly excerpted from the stories she filed and reports she aired. At the beginning, the tone is that if a rather dispassionate journalist. Yet as bombs fall, and the indiscriminate brutality of war is remorselessly revealed, this dispassion cracks and the stress, fear, and horror seeps through. As does her courage and stubbornness and determination to report. And perhaps a touch of insanity because after all, don't you have to be a touch crazy to report from the frontlines of a war?
After all, this is a war correspondent reporting on a war.
ATY 2019 #22 number in title
October 3, 2009
Seierstad's account of the days leading up to the Iraq war and after is a must read, in my opinion. I feel like I learned so much from this book. I've never been a supporter of the Iraq war but this book really opened my eyes to how the Iraqi people must have felt then. Some parts of the book were just horrific, detailing civilian deaths and bringing to light a side of war that isn't often portrayed on the news. While it's clear that Seierstand is against the war, I think she did an excellent job sharing her story in an unbiased objective way, just as a journalist should. Another great book by this author, I look forward to reading more.
July 6, 2009
Fans of The Bookseller of Kabul will be a little bit disappointed in Asne Seierstad's A Hundred and One Days because it doesn't go into as much detail about the everyday lives of ordinary people. This books is mostly about Seierstad's experiences as a journalist in Baghdad, as opposed to the the snapshot into the life of a family she gave us in The Bookseller of Kabul. Due to the restraints placed upon her as a journalist and upon the citizens of Iraq, Seierstad was not allowed to get nearly as intimate with Iraqis as she would have liked. Still, it's a good read about what it was like to be a journalist during the war.
April 4, 2014
This book is exactly what it purports to be. It is a reporter's journal of her time in Bahgdad 12 years ago. Remember seeing the footage of American soldiers pulling down the statue of Saddam Hussein in the town square in 2002? Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad was there watching it fall from her hotel balcony across the street. As an eyewitness account it is is really fascinating, but I had a hard time staying engaged. Maybe part of it is that it's not current news. Maybe it's just that it's more of a journal and kind of dry reading. In the end I have to give it four stars, though, since I felt like the author put a very honest and human face on this moment in time.
February 24, 2009
My reasons for not liking this book are as follows:
1- It is not written in Seierstad's usual manner (where she writes about the lives of her subjects) this book is about her experiences
2- Because of the very nature of the former Iraqi system you don't get as much information as in her other books. You share her frustration in the lack of access to the real 'story' but that doesn't make up for its absence.
Her other books however rate very highly with me, I recommend them, but not this one.
1- It is not written in Seierstad's usual manner (where she writes about the lives of her subjects) this book is about her experiences
2- Because of the very nature of the former Iraqi system you don't get as much information as in her other books. You share her frustration in the lack of access to the real 'story' but that doesn't make up for its absence.
Her other books however rate very highly with me, I recommend them, but not this one.
May 16, 2009
this is the only account i've read of what it was like to be in baghdad when the war started. as it's an account by a western journalist, it can't really provide much insight on what it was like for iraqis. i do think seierstad does a pretty good job of presenting the severity of saddam's regime pre-war and she tries to share the range of reactions of iraqis to the u.s. invasion. however, the latter is lacking since she left soon after troops arrived in baghdad. i'm sure there are other accounts out there that paint a more complete picture.
May 19, 2017
I really enjoyed reading this book. I spent time in the middle-east during the first gulf war, and it was interesting to read about this Norwegian reporters view from the ground. I was particularly interested in her description of the Iraqi's feeling about the Americans who were invading. We don't get much information during war time that is not filtered by our own American lens, and this truly isn't. The book reads like a journal--the author is very reporter-like, and it jogged a lot of memories of that time period.
August 13, 2015
It would be nice, if this was recommended reading for everyone, say in schools, or part of higher education. Each one of us invariably has some sort of opinion about war, terrorism, and its effects. While this is Åsne's view, but at least it gives another slice of the "truth" as reported by various newspapers. At least there is an opportunity for each one of us to form an opinion after reading and /or studying various accounts.
Definitely read it.
Definitely read it.
February 13, 2009
Amazing to see the courage of a journalist...enters into Bagdaad with a ten day visa and extends it just as others are leaving.
Good book, gives good information about the war and the people living there.
Good book, gives good information about the war and the people living there.
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