With Their Backs to the World

The subject matter is fascinating, and the idea behind the book (capturing life in Serbia by following individuals of different background and society eschalons) is brilliant, particularly for a culture that is know from its unity in its deviseness. These get 5 stars.

However, Seirstad's writing style and prose is very dry. But even worse, she fails to capture the individual, in particular their hopes and belief systems. Genuine belief in Milosevic is portrayed as being ignorant; genuine concerns about the future of the country and one's being will sound as constant whingeing to the point of annoying, despite these stories in some cases being about the difference between eating that day, versus not. There are moments when she almost gets there, but those are fleeting and far in between. This bit gets 1 star, which works out as an average of 3 stars overall.

Recommended reading! (1/2 people found this helpful)

I read this book this summer before a visit to Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, with practically no knowledge of the recent war in Yugoslavia. I found the book really interesting, and a helpful way to develop a basic understanding. The author visits several different people in mainly Serbia, of different ages/gender/political opinion at regular intervals, which I find more engaging than a political history from the author's point of view. In a way I wish I had read the book when I was in Serbia or on my return when I had spoken to a few people out there about it, but hey. If you find factual accounts a bit dry and like to hear from local people about their views I would recommend this!

readable, interesting but ultimately slightly lightweight (3/3 people found this helpful)

This is a portrait of a country and its people which contains many touching and revealing moments without succeeding fully as a book. Seierstad's style is simplistic and readable but is hardly prose of the finest calibre. How much of this, if any, is the fault of the translator, I cannot say.

Serbia is a little known country and it many wonderful people deserve a champion and voice in the west (married to a Serbian/Montenegran I have to declare an interest here). Although Seierstad makes it clear when she disagrees with the views of the central figures of the thirteen or so different chapters (normally nationalistic Milosevic apologists), she is a patient and listening chronicler of what she sees and hears. However, because of the structure of the book and similarity of a number of the characters in different chapters, the book takes a disproportionate amount of time to convey the facts which other reviewers have so praised.

Seierstad's journalistic background is evident in her approach and style. She is not particularly interested in the economic, social and political chronology and cause of the terrible years which the former Yugoslavia endured from 1990 onwards. She is transparently more interested in the effect on people (although the description of them as "ordinary" Serbians sometimes beggars belief.) Inevitably, common themes emerge - the dark humour which many a Serbian has required to see him through recent history, the emptiness which opponents to Milosevic felt when his office office ended not improved and the desire of many people to forget politics and live ordinary lives. However, despite this overlap, Seierstad makes no attempt to compare her subjects' situations which might have made for a punchier, shorter and more perceptive book.

It is sometimes quite difficult keeping apace with events. The vast majority of the book is set in 1999. Seierstad made two further visits in the following years but the brevity of the extended end pieces, and the lack of a precise time setting, to each chapter make for an unbalanced whole. The book is not without its errors too and readers looking for a recent history of the Balkans and a portrait of Serbia and its people would be advised to look elsewhere.

In summary, while a number of chapters might have made for a very good extended article in a weekend newspaper supplement, the tension between the self-standing nature of the chapters and the echoes of themes and experiences between these chapters make for a book which is less than the sum of its parts.

Gripping, insightful and very human (1/2 people found this helpful)

I began this book with only a hazy idea of what happened in the Balkans in the 1990s. I finished it with a much clearer overview and a desire to learn more about Serbia and the other Balkan nations.

Asne Seierstad focuses on the lives of several individual Serbians, who vary in age, profession, political views and experiences, between 1999 and 2004.

The experiences these individuals have been through and the views expressed by some of them are quite shocking to read about and it is clear that Seierstad often disagrees with her interviewees, but she writes about them sympathetically, presenting a very human portrait of a nation that has been badly thought of in recent years.

Hard going (4/7 people found this helpful)

This is an ordeal of a read compared to the 'Bookseller of Kabul' and a 'Hundred and One Days.'

However the trek is worthwhile and I actually felt the pain and frustrations of the author and subjects in this lovely book.

Painting a picture of Serbia from the experiences of a number of subjects, Asne records and reports with honesty, simplicity and truth.

At times it really is tough going but it is the experience and shared journey that is so enlightning.

With Their Backs to the World

Asne Seierstad

Reader Reviews:

Not the best read in the world... (0/0 people found this helpful)

Recommended reading! (1/2 people found this helpful)

readable, interesting but ultimately slightly lightweight (3/3 people found this helpful)

Gripping, insightful and very human (1/2 people found this helpful)

Hard going (4/7 people found this helpful)

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