The Cellist of SarajevoA spare and haunting, wise and beautiful novel about the endurance of the human spirit and the subtle ways individuals reclaim their humanity in a city ravaged by war. In a city under siege, four people whose lives have been upended are ultimately reminded of what it is to be human. From his window, a musician sees twenty-two of his friends and neighbors waiting in a breadline. Then, in a flash, they are killed by a mortar attack. In an act of defiance, the man picks up his cello and decides to play at the site of the shelling for twenty-two days, honoring their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and, in the face of danger, must weigh the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distraction and instead runs into a long-ago friend who reminds him of the city he thought he had lost, and the man he once was. As both men are drawn into the orbit of cello music, a fourth characteraa young woman, a sniperaholds the fate of the cellist in her hands. As she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become. A novel of great intensity and power, and inspired by a true story, The Cellist of Sarajevo poignantly explores how war can change oneas definition of humanity, the effect of music on our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance. |
Contents
Section 1 | 3 |
Section 2 | 13 |
Section 3 | 23 |
Section 4 | 37 |
Section 5 | 55 |
Section 6 | 65 |
Section 7 | 80 |
Section 8 | 97 |
Section 11 | 137 |
Section 12 | 155 |
Section 13 | 165 |
Section 14 | 181 |
Section 15 | 194 |
Section 16 | 205 |
Section 17 | 217 |
Section 18 | 226 |
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Common terms and phrases
Adagio alive Amila apartment Arrow knows asks bakery Baščaršija begins believe bottles boxcar bread brewery bridge building bullet cellist cello cigarette coat comes cross dead Dobrinja door Dragan knows Emina eyes face feels feet fight fire floor gone Grbavica ground hand happen Hasan hate hatless head hears hills hole hope Ilidža intersection Ismet Jovan jug containing Karaman Kenan knows killed knew Koševo Stadium leans live looks meters Miljacka mortar move Nermin never nods Oslobođenje perhaps picks plastic play pull puts reaches remember rifle Ristovski Sarajevo seems shakes shell shoot shot shoulder side Siege of Sarajevo sits smiles sniper Sniper Alley soldiers someone sound spot stands Stari Grad steps STEVEN GALLOWAY stop street sure target tell There's things tracksuit tram Trebević turns Vraca waiting walk watches wife window woman wonders