Sarajevo Notes, Allan Graubard,
Exquisite Corpse
Allan Graubard’s discovery of Sarajevo’s beauty and history led to
some return trips, which the traveler documents in Exquisite Corpse
with poetry, narration, historical notes, and a captivating photo
essay. In a journal-like dialogue, Graubard captures the
personalities of Sarajevo and its inhabitants, which both seem to
be patiently and determinedly making their way out of ruin and
tragedy. The writer comments on the simultaneous mood of progress
and history that Sarajevo embodies, and he senses a difficult
struggle between the two: ‘They (citizens) also sense that they
must struggle to preserve what they value, and that there are some
things they will lose in the effort, including their nostalgia.
Sarajevo has lost much more than a dream of its past. Yet it is
still an open city, its optimism tempered by reconstruction, its
humor forged by war.’
–Julie Madsen
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