n the early hours of New Year’s 1994, Russian troops invaded the Republic of Chechnya, plunging the country into a prolonged and bloody conflict that continues to this day. A foreign correspondent in Moscow at the time, Åsne Seierstad traveled regularly to Chechnya to report on the war, describing its affects on those trying to live their daily lives amidst violence.
In the following decade, Seierstad became an internationally renowned reporter and author, traveling to the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other war-torn regions. But she never lost sight of this conflict that had initially inspired her career. Over the course of a decade, she watched as Russia ruthlessly suppressed an Islamic rebellion in two bloody wars and as Chechnya evolved into one of the flashpoints in a world now focused on the threat of international terrorism.
In 2006, Seierstad finally returned to Chechnya, traveling in secret and under the constant threat of danger. In a broken and devastated society she lived with orphans, the wounded, the lost. And she lived with the children of Grozny, those who will shape the country’s future. She asks the question: What happens to a child who grows up surrounded by war and accustomed to violence?
A compelling, intimate, and often heartbreaking portrait of Chechnya today, The Angel of Grozny is a vivid account of a land’s violent history and its ongoing battle for freedom.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
"Starred Review. Seierstad's vivid, unsparing reportage makes this distant tragedy very personal." - Publishers Weekly.
"The ending is far from happy, and it reminds readers that there is more than one war happening in our world today. " - Library Journal.
"A sympathetic, brave work from a deeply engaged war correspondent." - Kirkus Reviews.
Asne Seierstad is an exceptionally brave woman. The
award-winning Norwegian author literally put her life on the line to obtain
information about current conditions in Grozny. The resulting story is
important and informative, illuminating the lives and trials of a group of
people worthy of international attention.
The result is a very readable book, but not a page-turner. Unfortunately, the author's prejudice and lack of balance
undermine the book's credibility, significantly weakening its impact. Some of
the more blatant examples:
In telling the stories of many of
the people in the book, the author uses quotes, making statements appear
verbatim. In some cases the verbiage is inconsistent with what one would expect
from the source of the quote. For example, she has the opportunity to
interview Ramzan Kadyrov, the current president of Chechnya. She writes that he
speaks to her in Russian, but that his grammar is poor, he constantly mixes up
tenses and pronouns, and his vocabulary is limited. Then she goes on to "quote"
him, and there's nothing particularly grammatically incorrect about his answers. Also disturbing is that the quotes used make this man seem like a
madman, but it's impossible to determine how much of what is "quoted" he
actually said, and how much is the author's interpretation, transcription and/or
the translation.
The author talks about how the new
puppet regime has attempted to reintroduce Muslim ideals as a means to control
the people. She relates a televised conversation with one of the country's
religious leaders, during which he lectures on how Muslims in Chechnya should
behave. The author's presentation makes this look wrong in some way, as if the
citizens are being brainwashed or that they're naïve. Much of what the author
finds objectionable is simply conservative Islam – nothing radical at all. The
author's opinion seems to be that Islam in general is oppressive, particularly
concerning women.
One section of the book relates
the trial of three Russian men accused of beating up a Chechen teen because of
his ethnic background. Seierstad interviews the men's parents, and in the
course of the conversation their virulent prejudice becomes apparent. Seierstad
goes on to write that these parents' opinions reflect those of the "average
couple." She provides no facts backing up this broad statement, leaving the
reader wondering how she made such a determination.
The
horrible things the Chechen rebels have done are glossed over and the progress
Russia has made toward alleviating some of the injustices is barely mentioned.
The book consequently appears overly one-sided.
Finally, the book generally fails to engage the reader's
emotions. The author relates the stories of people who have been tortured,
those who have lost loved ones, children left to fend for themselves - but
despite all this the reader
remains uninvolved in their stories -interested, but not really caring. The
reader doesn't get to know any of the Chechens well enough to develop empathy
for them.
The information about The Angel of Grozny shown above was first featured
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