Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars

Rating:
Summary: Insubstantial fluff
Review: Generally I stopped reading books on the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia written by passersby (or perhaps a better word would be "passers-through") a few years ago because they are largely uninformative and self-serving. The only reason I picked this one up is because I met and briefly spoke with the author in Zagreb in late 1992. He made a very favorable impression on me; I found him quite intelligent and likable, and was therefore interested in his account of his trips to the Balkans. I wish I hadn't bothered. "Only the Nails" differs little from books written by various superficial journalists, writers, poets and other "truth-seekers." It follows the general framework established by Robert Kaplan's inane "Balkan Ghosts" and continued in various forms by Peter Maass, Janine DiGiovanni, Martin Bell and scores of others. To his credit, Merrill faithfully reproduces the many conversations he held with friends and acquaintances in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, etc. and some of these are very interesting. However, this hardly makes up for the book's glaring shortcomings: from factual errors that riddle the entire book (e.g. the frequent misspelling of place-names, inaccurate dates or misplacing of events) to the author's forays into history which are often misleading (e.g. he says Serbia started both of the pre-WWI Balkans Wars, which is untrue; or Bulgaria only gained independence in 1908, again, not completely accurate). Much of this could have been corrected by less-indulgent editors and even the most perfunctory consultation of dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias or the very sources cited in Merrill's bibliography - which he obviously read quite superficially. Also troubling was Merrill's tendency, at least in Croatia, to play the typical war tourist, getting some knowledgable locals to take him close to the frontlines so he could observe wartime destruction and its sorrowful victims (playing guide to ignorant and often obnoxious free-lance reporters and photographers is something in which I have quite a bit of experience). He even has the cheek to say he became "bored" with the (understandable) bitterness of his two Croatian guides, both of whom had first-hand experience of Croatia's bloody and now largely forgotten war in 1991. In fact, the motive for his frequent trips to Sarajevo go largely unexplained, except that the author at some level liked the rush of being in a city under siege (he indirectly admits this toward the end of the book). In the end, this book is just a mish-mash of the author's impressions, which offer little in the way of explaining anything, much less the underlying causes or motivations that led to the Third Balkan War.

Rating:
Summary: Insubstantial fluff
Review: Generally I stopped reading books on the Balkans and the former Yugoslavia written by passersby (or perhaps a better word would be "passers-through") a few years ago because they are largely uninformative and self-serving. The only reason I picked this one up is because I met and briefly spoke with the author in Zagreb in late 1992. He made a very favorable impression on me; I found him quite intelligent and likable, and was therefore interested in his account of his trips to the Balkans. I wish I hadn't bothered. "Only the Nails" differs little from books written by various superficial journalists, writers, poets and other "truth-seekers." It follows the general framework established by Robert Kaplan's inane "Balkan Ghosts" and continued in various forms by Peter Maass, Janine DiGiovanni, Martin Bell and scores of others. To his credit, Merrill faithfully reproduces the many conversations he held with friends and acquaintances in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, etc. and some of these are very interesting. However, this hardly makes up for the book's glaring shortcomings: from factual errors that riddle the entire book (e.g. the frequent misspelling of place-names, inaccurate dates or misplacing of events) to the author's forays into history which are often misleading (e.g. he says Serbia started both of the pre-WWI Balkans Wars, which is untrue; or Bulgaria only gained independence in 1908, again, not completely accurate). Much of this could have been corrected by less-indulgent editors and even the most perfunctory consultation of dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias or the very sources cited in Merrill's bibliography - which he obviously read quite superficially. Also troubling was Merrill's tendency, at least in Croatia, to play the typical war tourist, getting some knowledgable locals to take him close to the frontlines so he could observe wartime destruction and its sorrowful victims (playing guide to ignorant and often obnoxious free-lance reporters and photographers is something in which I have quite a bit of experience). He even has the cheek to say he became "bored" with the (understandable) bitterness of his two Croatian guides, both of whom had first-hand experience of Croatia's bloody and now largely forgotten war in 1991. In fact, the motive for his frequent trips to Sarajevo go largely unexplained, except that the author at some level liked the rush of being in a city under siege (he indirectly admits this toward the end of the book). In the end, this book is just a mish-mash of the author's impressions, which offer little in the way of explaining anything, much less the underlying causes or motivations that led to the Third Balkan War.

Rating:
Summary: Typical American War Tourist
Review: I read only the chapter titled "Ljubljana I," and decided to skip Ljubljana II et cetera. I have lived for some time in Slovenia, and only a smug and ignorant American academic could describe Ljubljana in the manner this author does. It appears that he decided to travel to the "dark heart of the Balkans" to "confront the brutal realities of human life" and search for "the elusive truths" blahblahblahblahblah. If you want to understand the Balkans, skip this turkey of a book. For that matter, skip Rebecca West as well, the obvious template for this silly book, and go straight to Ivo Andric.

Rating:
Summary: Making Sense of History
Review: Readers of Merrill's book will find it useful for making sense of the events in the former Yugoslavia -- a region with too much history for its own good. Anyone who questioned how neighbors could end up at opposite ends of a gun will find answers here. Merrill explores cultural history -- the stories and sentiments that bind a people despite the political borders -- as he seeks to answer for himself how such barbaric and senseless destruction could happen. This book offers insights rarely found in contemporary writings on the Balkans.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore the Preceding Review - This Is A Noteworthy Book
Review: The previous review, by someone who admits to not reading the book, should be wholly discounted. Although no current book on the Balkans can compete with Robert D. Kaplan's incomparable "Balkan Ghosts," Christopher Merrill eloquently describes the mood, psychology, and turmoil of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. I only wish that the book were a bit heavier on the historical background. However, it is refreshing to read a more human account of the effects of post-modern progress than the usual detached historical rendering. Merrill's work is to be praised, an attitude which can only be adopted after actually reading the book.

Rating:
Summary: Ignore the Preceding Review - This Is A Noteworthy Book
Review: The previous review, by someone who admits to not reading the book, should be wholly discounted. Although no current book on the Balkans can compete with Robert D. Kaplan's incomparable "Balkan Ghosts," Christopher Merrill eloquently describes the mood, psychology, and turmoil of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. I only wish that the book were a bit heavier on the historical background. However, it is refreshing to read a more human account of the effects of post-modern progress than the usual detached historical rendering. Merrill's work is to be praised, an attitude which can only be adopted after actually reading the book.