A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal by Arne Seierstad - 4 Stars (Cross post from PBT Horizons: Iraq)

[Sue]

A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal by Asne Seierstad - 4*s

Culture Read: Iraq

The author of this book is an international journalist who spent 3 months (101 days) in Iraq in the days before, during and after the invasion. She has written similar books from other recent war-zones. Her books show a very sympathetic side to the humans involved, and this book is no exception.

The book is separated into three sections, helpfully labelled "Before", "During" and "After".

She does a great job capturing the mood of individuals on the ground, conditions before and immediately after the war, the horror of having your city bombed, and some very personal fear from being in a war zone.

[Booknblues]

I'd like to read this one. I read her book The Bookseller of Kabul and really liked it. As you say she does a great job of highlighting individuals and giving you the feel of what life is like.

[NancyJ]

I'm reading this now. I almost gave up early in the book, because the "before" section was much too long for what she had to say. She wasn't able to get many real interviews, so she spent half of the book describing how the minders and translators kept reporters from getting close to any real people who might deviate from the party line. (She did have a clear agenda to get something negative on Saddam, so I suppose they had reason to be concerned.) Once the fighting starts, the US doesn't look so good either.

[[deleted user]]

Good review! I like that she captures the humans of war. War is so ugly.