Audiobook10 hours
A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal
Written by Åsne Seierstad
Narrated by Josephine Bailey
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The New York Times best-selling author of The Bookseller of Kabul paints a stunning and intimate portrait of Baghdad under siege
From January until April 2003-for one hundred and one days-Asne 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, Asne Seierstad has redefined war reporting with her mesmerizing book.
From January until April 2003-for one hundred and one days-Asne 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, Asne Seierstad has redefined war reporting with her mesmerizing book.
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Reviews for A Hundred and One Days
Rating: 3.789772695454545 out of 5 stars
4/5
88 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"We were tortured mentally by the all-pervading fear", 19 Aug 2014This review is from: A Hundred And One Days: A Baghdad Journal (Paperback)I thought this offered an extremely balanced view of the Iraq war: Norwegian reporter Asne Seierstad gives an on-the-spot reportage of her days in Baghdad in the lead-up to the American invasion. Patrolled everywhere she went, with a government appointed minder; cagey locals who would rarely say anything against Saddam; and a total dictatorship, where every newspaper and TV broadcast is under the authorization of the Ministry of Information.As the Americans get nearer, most of her fellow reporters flee the country. Trigger happy American soldiers soon alienate the locals, and there are some truly harrowing scenes. Locals are split in their feelings about these invaders: joy at being rid of a fearsome dictator and resentment that a foreign force did the job for them. Excitement about theit new-found freedom and a profound cynicism that it won't lead to civil war :"We used to have order, fixed points in our existence. Of course our dictator was strict but our people need a firm hand. A strong man. If not we'll capsize and descend into madness."Very readable account that gives the story behind the war by someone who witnessed it pretty objectively.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5very engaging book. you feel you are there.. yes she complains a lot about people not willing to talk but that is part of her story. you feel for her journalist friends. you fear for her getting hurt or killed. you feel for her iraqi friends. it is great that she deliveres a balanced report on the outcome and not concentrates on one side. very human. made me very humble that someone risks a life to report. i have now a high respect for these war reporters and what they are going through.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I really enjoyed The Bookseller of Kabul so I thought I would enjoy this too. It was quite hard to plough through it as most the book is set before the war when journalists were heavily monitored and weren't allowed to ask too many questions. The fact she doesn't speak Arabic is also a hinderance. Seierstad therefore spends a lot of the book moaning about how tedious this is and how she doesn't trust what people tell her because they are just saying what the regime wants them to say. The most interesting part is written during the fighting and there are some truly chilling sections and it certainly raises questions about the real reason for the war. Sadly this part is over quite quickly as it is the most interesting bit. More of an insight into the life of a war reporter than those of real Iraqis.