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Rating: 
Summary: A clear-eyed look at the worst, and best, of human nature
Review: "How do we suvive the things that happen to us, these horrible things? By taking this moment, and then the next one, one at a time. By telling our truth without being broken to pieces by the difference between what our lives once were and what they had become."
--from "The River Runs Salt, Runs Sweet"This memoir of a Bosnian girl who comes of age during the disintegration of Yugoslavia is a fascinating story but, even more, it is an important piece of literature, in the tradition of Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, and When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. The telling is simple and straightforward, but the messages, like the war itself, are complex. Through Jasmina's eyes, we see not only the loss and horror of war, but we feel the spirit of cooperation fostered by it, and the live-in-the-moment adrenaline rush. We watch children who grew up as friends turn away from each other to take sides based on hostilities perpetrated long before they were born. We view both the Serbs and the UN peacekeeping forces as obstacles in a very real human "video game." We see the frustration of those who must deal with unnecessary bureaucracy in order to secure necessary help and care. We witness wartime medical care at its most barbaric, and are given rare insight into the human ability to survive. The River Runs Salt, Runs Sweet is an excellent depiction of an ordinary life blown apart by political and cultural violence. We in the US can talk political theory and debate the merits of waging war while we relax, clean, warm and well-fed, in front of the TV, at a safe distance from the consequences of what governments actually do. But only those who live the disruption, confusion and destruction, the great discomfort and crushing losses and, yes, the fierce comradery, know what war really is. Jasmina Dervisevic-Cesic gives us a gift of first-hand witness; she re-lives her experience on paper here for us with enormous bravery, a measure of anger, and a river of hard-won wisdom. This is history at ground level, immediate and affecting. It is a clear-eyed look into the worst, and the best, of human nature. Teenagers will relate to it because of the youth of the narrator, but readers of all ages will gain a fresh, insider perspective into the surprisingly familiar culture and baffling political morass that was the dying Yugoslavia. Jasmina tells her truth with skill; we stand to gain much, on a human scale, by listening. Susan O'Neill
Author Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam
Rating:
Summary: A clear-eyed look at the worst, and best, of human nature
Review: "How do we suvive the things that happen to us, these horrible things? By taking this moment, and then the next one, one at a time. By telling our truth without being broken to pieces by the difference between what our lives once were and what they had become."
--from "The River Runs Salt, Runs Sweet" This memoir of a Bosnian girl who comes of age during the disintegration of Yugoslavia is a fascinating story but, even more, it is an important piece of literature, in the tradition of Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, and When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. The telling is simple and straightforward, but the messages, like the war itself, are complex. Through Jasmina's eyes, we see not only the loss and horror of war, but we feel the spirit of cooperation fostered by it, and the live-in-the-moment adrenaline rush. We watch children who grew up as friends turn away from each other to take sides based on hostilities perpetrated long before they were born. We view both the Serbs and the UN peacekeeping forces as obstacles in a very real human "video game." We see the frustration of those who must deal with unnecessary bureaucracy in order to secure necessary help and care. We witness wartime medical care at its most barbaric, and are given rare insight into the human ability to survive. The River Runs Salt, Runs Sweet is an excellent depiction of an ordinary life blown apart by political and cultural violence. We in the US can talk political theory and debate the merits of waging war while we relax, clean, warm and well-fed, in front of the TV, at a safe distance from the consequences of what governments actually do. But only those who live the disruption, confusion and destruction, the great discomfort and crushing losses and, yes, the fierce comradery, know what war really is. Jasmina Dervisevic-Cesic gives us a gift of first-hand witness; she re-lives her experience on paper here for us with enormous bravery, a measure of anger, and a river of hard-won wisdom. This is history at ground level, immediate and affecting. It is a clear-eyed look into the worst, and the best, of human nature. Teenagers will relate to it because of the youth of the narrator, but readers of all ages will gain a fresh, insider perspective into the surprisingly familiar culture and baffling political morass that was the dying Yugoslavia. Jasmina tells her truth with skill; we stand to gain much, on a human scale, by listening. Susan O'Neill
Author Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam
Rating:
Summary: An inspirational book in every way
Review: I bought the book expecting to learn about how war effects civilians but I ended up with so much more. This book is an incredible inspiration for how life's trials can be overcome. The story about a girl coming of age in Bosnia during the conflict is both sweet, alarming, and absolutely captivating. I couldn't put it down and read it in one night. I recommend this book to anyone, not only as a gripping and excellent read, but as an inspiration that will last a lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating, sobering perspective
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and even when I wanted to put it down, because it was so troubling to read, I couldn't do so because I was quickly engulfed by the story. I was hooked immediately by the clear pure voice of Jasmina.
As she describes her home town and her life there before the war, I was struck by the sereneness of the town and the love and sense of belonging everyone who lived there had.
The nightmare that followed is unbelievable. To read a first person account tears out your heart, but you have to keep reading to find out how it ends.
At the end, I felt outraged at what happened but privileged to have been given this piece of understanding into a situation, which I hope never to encounter.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating, sobering perspective
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book and even when I wanted to put it down, because it was so troubling to read, I couldn't do so because I was quickly engulfed by the story. I was hooked immediately by the clear pure voice of Jasmina.
As she describes her home town and her life there before the war, I was struck by the sereneness of the town and the love and sense of belonging everyone who lived there had.
The nightmare that followed is unbelievable. To read a first person account tears out your heart, but you have to keep reading to find out how it ends.
At the end, I felt outraged at what happened but privileged to have been given this piece of understanding into a situation, which I hope never to encounter.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible!!!
Review: This is honestly the worst book I have ever read. Just the thought of the author makes me nauseous. I strongly recommend that no one purchase this book.
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