Steven Galloway

She knows that twenty-two people died here and a multitude were injured, will not walk or see or touch again. Because they tried to buy bread. A small decision. Nothing to think about. You're hungry, and come to this place where maybe they will have some bread to buy. ... And then some men on the hills send a bomb through the air to kill you. For them, it was probably just one more bomb in a day of many. Not notable all. (p. 82)

The siege of Sarajevo took place between April 1992 and February show more 1996, killing approximately 10,000 people. The city was repeatedly shelled, and snipers took up posts in the surrounding hills, firing on unsuspecting victims. Following the May, 1992 bombing of a bakery, a local cellist played Albinoni's Adagio in G minor every day for twenty-two days, in memory of the dead. Each day he would quietly take his place in the street, putting his own life at tremendous risk. The title character of this novel is based on that cellist. Other characters include Arrow, a young woman caught up in the fighting, and sent to protect the cellist from snipers; Dragan, struggling to survive after sending his wife and son to safety in Italy; and Kenan, a young husband and father who routinely traverses the dangerous city streets to get water for his family and an elderly neighbor. None of these characters know each other, but their stories are loosely intertwined around the cellist.

The real power of this book was in its portrayal of war-torn Sarajevo, and the impact of the struggle for survival on its people. Kenan put himself in grave danger to fetch water, and during his journey across town, he imagined a better time for his family where they will once again be able to visit restaurants and go on long walks eating ice cream. Dragan's story centered on one particular day where he attempted to cross a street on his way to the bakery. He was paralyzed with fear of the snipers who had set their sights on the street that afternoon. And then there was Arrow, who became involved in the conflict after losing her own family. She also lost both her youth and her happiness. Each character's life was changed irrevocably: food shortages took a toll on their bodies, and frequent contact with death shattered their spirits.

Every time I read a book like The Cellist of Sarajevo, I wonder what it is about humankind that makes us do such things to one another. show less

The Cellist of Sarajevo took me a lot longer to read than I would have predicted from its 235 slender pages. That's because its four-character perspective on life in wartime Sarajevo was sad, and difficult, and thoughtful, and I had to take breaks from it so as not to be caught in the undertow. This is the first novel I've read about a war that I actually was alive for and remember, and yet I don't think I focused much on it at the time, which makes me feel pretty ashamed of myself. I know show more the same is true for me with the many conflicts going on right now though too. The balance between going about a normal life and taking in all the suffering in the world at the same time is very delicate.

Toward the end of the book one of the characters reflects that " . . . civilization isn't a thing you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, re-created daily. It vanishes far more quickly than he ever would have thought possible (p. 223)." Through the characters' thoughts about who they and Sarajevo itself used to be versus the unthinkable world they live in and the ways they have learned to cope during the war, that message is really brought home. All in all, a really worthwhile, well-written, challenging, thought-provoking book. show less

This is one of those books that takes little time to read but much time to absorb. I remember following the siege of Sarajevo in the 90's and reading Zlata's Diary about a young girl whose life was disrupted by war. Galloway's story is more structured and may border on exploitation, but still left me with the same feeling of stupefication that human beings can do this to each other.

Galloway writes with empathy about the everyday heroes--the bakers and water carriers that hug walls and dart show more across streets where "the opportunity to die was everywhere" to meet the needs of their families. Survival makes everyday living a matter of courage.

The stories of Arrow, Kenan, and Dragan revolve around the cellist who uses the power and grace of music as an homage to the lives of the 22 people standing in a breadline outside his apartment. He uses his talent and the notes of a composition created out of the chaos of another war to give a small sense of hope to the hopeless. Powerful stuff! show less

Sarajevo is a city under siege. Arrow is a sniper asked to protect a cellist who has been playing Albioni’s Adagio every day at 4pm, once for each of the 22 people to die in a recent mortar attack on a bakery. Other protagonists are simply trying to survive, in a world where getting bread and water for their families means risking their lives.

This story was unsettling and distressing in its portrayal of the way in which ordinary lives can be turned upside down like this. For me it was show more even more unsettling in the way in which it suggested that this abnormality itself can come to feel routine, and routine life before the war can come to feel like simply a dream or fantasy ... show less