The Cellist of SarajevoThis brilliant novel with universal resonance tells the story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist who plays undaunted in their midst. One day a shell lands in a bread line and kills twenty-two people as the cellist watches from a window in his flat. He vows to sit in the hollow where the mortar fell and play Albinoni’s Adagio once a day for each of the twenty-two victims. The Adagio had been re-created from a fragment after the only extant score was firebombed in the Dresden Music Library, but the fact that it had been rebuilt by a different composer into something new and worthwhile gives the cellist hope. Meanwhile, Kenan steels himself for his weekly walk through the dangerous streets to collect water for his family on the other side of town, and Dragan, a man Kenan doesn’t know, tries to make his way towards the source of the free meal he knows is waiting. Both men are almost paralyzed with fear, uncertain when the next shot will land on the bridges or streets they must cross, unwilling to talk to their old friends of what life was once like before divisions were unleashed on their city. Then there is “Arrow,” the pseudonymous name of a gifted female sniper, who is asked to protect the cellist from a hidden shooter who is out to kill him as he plays his memorial to the victims. In this beautiful and unforgettable novel, Steven Galloway has taken an extraordinary, imaginative leap to create a story that speaks powerfully to the dignity and generosity of the human spirit under extraordinary duress. |
What people are saying - Write a review
User ratings
5 stars |
| ||
4 stars |
| ||
3 stars |
| ||
2 stars |
| ||
1 star |
|
LibraryThing Review
User Review - flydodofly - LibraryThingI read this book because I grew up in Sarajevo, left a few years before the war, so naturally I heard a lot about it and know many people there. What I would like to know is how come Galloway wrote ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - PilgrimJess - LibraryThing"A weapon does not decide whether or not to kill. A weapon is a manifestation of a decision that was already made." The siege of Sarajevo was the longest city siege in history of modern warfare and ... Read full review
Contents
CHAPTER ONE | 8 |
Arrow | 9 |
Ken an | 21 |
Dragan | 33 |
CHAPTER TWO | 45 |
Ken an | 47 |
Arrow | 67 |
Dragan | 77 |
Ken an | 155 |
CHAPTER THREE | 174 |
Dragan | 175 |
Arrow | 187 |
Ken an | 203 |
Arrow | 217 |
Dragan | 228 |
CHAPTER FOUR | 239 |
Other editions - View all
Plpr3: The Cellist of Sarajevo Reader and MP3 Pack Annette Keen,Steven Galloway No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
Adagio alive Amil Amila apartment Arrow knows asks bakery Bascarsija begins believe bottles boxcar bread brewery bridge building bullet cellist cello centimetre cigarette coat coffee comes cross dead Dobrinja door Dragan knows Dragan says Emina eyes face feels feet fight fire floor front gone Grbavica ground hand happened Hasan hate hatless head hears hills hole hope intersection Ismet jug contain Karaman Kenan knows killed knew Kosevo Stadium leans live looks metres Miljacka mortar move Nermin never nods perhaps picks plastic play pull puts reaches remember rifle Ristovski Sarajevo Sarajevo Canton Sebilj seems shakes shell shoot shot shoulder side Siege of Sarajevo sits smiles sniper Sniper Alley soldiers someone sound spot stands Stari Grad steps stop street sure target tell There's things tram turns Vraca waiting walk watching wife window woman wonders