Christopher Merrill, "Sarajevo I"

After reading this chapter excerpted from Merrill's book, I'm glad I had already read his companion essay (an essay about how he formed the book), "Every Hell is Different: Notes on War Writing." It definitely helped me to have a deeper level of understanding through the text and an appreciation for Merrill's writing process. I can't even imagine writing about war. So, I guess getting an inside look into Merrill's head was a really good thing for me (as someone who is trying to explore the genre of creative nonfiction) to see. He's got some really great writing in this chapter and I love the way he uses scene interwoven with background on the political situation in Bosnia during that time. It's awesome. And I have the feeling that this is what it's all about--it's what puts the "creative" in creative nonfiction. Once again, I'm having a really hard time trying to find a specific line to reference here. So, I'll just choose one that was really poignant:

"The hospital floors are streaked with blood--no water can be spared to clean them--and the refridgerated space in the morgue is too small to handle all the dead."

This is the kind of detail that we don't get from watching the news. This is the kind of detail that really makes us feel like we're there, that makes us see it through Merrill's eyes. We can almost smell the irony-sour smell and imagine ourselves walking around pools of human blood to get to those still trying to fight off death. These are the details that make us care, that make all of the political talk resonate in a way that says: these are not faceless, nameless creatures--they, these people, are sons, best friends, students, three-year old children. They delight when water runs through their pipes, they are gunned down for trying to find food, they mourn their loved ones, they cry out when their important institutions are destroyed.

Merrill's style and use of detail make this a piece that's not about "war" as a distant and high idea, but about the people who feel it's effects.