[January 2014]
***********
The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway
host: Angela
number of voters: 7
percentage of voters who
finished the book: 100
highest rating: 8.7
lowest rating: 6
average rating: 7.65
menu: Bosnian bread with
cheese, baklava, cream puffs
*****
Arrow.
A young woman, forced to
trade youth for a sniper’s rifle, plays a survivalist game of cat and mouse
with enemy soldiers.
Kenan.
A middle-aged father of three
criss-crosses a death-trap of a city to retrieve water for his family and an
elderly neighbor.
Dragan.
An elder baker on his daily
journey to a promised meal dodges and hides from dangers physical, emotional,
and social.
…
In the midst of it all, a
cellist performs in a war-ravaged street, defying the constant threat of death.
His goal: to play an adagio every day for 22 days to honor the 22 victims
killed in the bombing of a bread line.
Light on the historical and
heavy on the fiction, The Cellist of
Sarajevo by Steven Galloway reflects on how these disparate individuals
respond to the siege of their city and how music has the power to transcend in
the direst of surroundings.
Short chapters and intriguing
situations keep the plot moving forward, even when the action begins to drag. The
characters are roughly drawn—and thus highly relatable—while at the same time
unique.
Perhaps The Cellist of Sarajevo is best described as short symphony: Not
useful for learning about the history of music or the history of war, but a
beautiful piece of music that causes the listener to reflect on music, war, and
the human spirit.
Recommended.
…
For another perspective on
the book, you might this article interesting:
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