The Cellist of Sarajevo- Book review
The Cellist of Sarajevo was published by Steven Galloway, a Canadian teacher at the University of British Columbia. The Cellist of Sarajevo is his most recent novel, and in addition, he has written Finnie Walsh and Ascension. The Cellist of Sarajevo is historical fictional, it portrays life while under siege for the citizens of Sarajevo and the years during the Bosnian War, 1992-1995. The Bosnian War was started by ethnic and religious conflicts, which began on April 5, 1992. As featured in the book there were snipers, which targeted civilians, women, children, firefighters, UN peacekeepers and soldiers. There were numerous bomb and mortar attacks; one of which the book highlights is when three mortars blew up 22 people who were waiting in line for bread on the 27 of May, 1992. The Cellist of Sarajevo is based on a real cellist; Vedran Smailovic who witnessed the above mortar attack, and was inspired to play Albinoni’s Adagio on his cello for 22 days. Galloway states in the opening what the Cellist will do, “He’ll do this every day for twenty-two days, a day for each person killed. Or at least he’ll try. We won’t be sure he will survive. He won’t be sure he has enough Adagios left.”






The Cellist of Sarajevo is a novel that captures the lives of three main fictional characters. Each of these characters convey different accounts of the siege. Nevertheless, they all express the key issues of the book, which are the meaning of humanity and freewill versus fate. Ottawa Citizen praised The Cellist of Sarajevo saying that it was, “a galvanizing examination of the strength of the human heart.” Undoubtedly, all the characters experience a conflict within themselves because of what the war has made them become. Galloway joins the three individual stories together through the inspirational cellist, Vedran Smailovic, an ordinary man who goes out on the street each day and plays Albinoni’s Adagio on his cello. Galloway questions the Cellist’s motives through the mouth of Dragan, who says, “What could the man possibly hope to accomplish by playing music in the street?” The Cellist hoped that during the twenty-two days he played he would give other people and himself hope, hope that change is possible and that not all is lost.







In the novel, every week, Kenan has to risk the journey to the brewery to get clean drinking water for his family and his neighbor, Mrs. Ristovsk by crossing many dangerous intersections. Snipers targeted most intersections, so each time he goes on one of his journeys he faces death. He is in constant danger, even in his own home. Thus Kenan is trapped by fear. He is afraid of dying and leaving his family to make a living by themselves. As a result, he faces a conflict within himself, realizing that he is shaped by the war around him. Therefore, he tries to be positive and constantly rebuilds the city in his head, trying to picture things as they once were.





Similarly, to Kenan Dragan is also attempting to survive in the lost city. Dragan is an elderly man whose family fled to Italy, and he currently stays with his sister’s family. He stays because Sarajevo is his home and nowhere else could replace it. He waits for the city to turn back to ‘his’ definition of normal. He is a baker who often goes to the bakery to get a loaf of bread for himself and his sister’s family. He tries to ignore the transformation the war has done to the city and the people. His conflict is concerning the ‘real’ Sarajevo. Consequently, he decides to live in his memories, of the Sarajevo he once knew. This is mostly illustrated through flashbacks. He is very pessimistic about everything and seems to have lost all hope of the city ever being as it was before the war. Dragan has a view of civilization that conveys Galloway’s view of the war. Hence, Dragan questions where the world is and why nobody is helping Sarajevo in this time of disaster.






Finally, there is a talented female sniper, Arrow, which is not her real name, but her persona, a created personality or character. She has made a persona because she does not want to be like the ‘men on the hills.’ She is deeply conflicted by what the war has made her, since she is someone she does not want to be. This is supported by her saying, “I am Arrow, because I hate them [the Serbs]. The woman you know hated nobody.” However, as the book continues she is given the task of protecting the Cellist from the snipers sent from the hills. She has his destiny in her hands and will protect him with her own life. Meanwhile, “the choices she’s made have left her with no choice.” She must decide whether to use her freewill to change or to rely on her fate to guide the way.







It is appealing that the book starts in media res, meaning that the events of the plot are already in progress at the start of the novel. In media res is an excellent choice for The Cellist of Sarajevo, because it causes excitement and depicts the real thrill of the book. For that reason, the story contains flashbacks in order for the plot to make sense. In the novel, Galloway incorporates most flashbacks in Arrow’s story in order to tell about her life before the war. Galloway integrates these elements in a way that quickly captures the attention of the reader, which makes the book far more interesting. Undoubtedly, Galloway supports the idea that every human has good and evil; it is human nature. Yet everyone has the freewill to change and make choices that affect the future. This idea is shown through the characters and their well developed personalities. The book often focuses on messages that are significant and have deep implications, yet are easy to comprehend. Moreover, it is possible to obtain Christian themes from the topics revealed in the book. Additionally, The Cellist of Sarajevo is based on genuine people and real historical events, creating a life-like feeling to the book.








On the other hand, it can sometimes get confusing following the point of view shift because it changes so often between the three characters. As each chapter is a new character’s story, it can be hard to remember their events and time spans. Only one day of Dragan’s life is portrayed in The Cellist of Sarajevo, five days of Kenan’s and then ten days for Arrows. It is furthermore perplexing that all the characters’ stories take place at different times. Yet overall, this use of temporal distortion is mainly what makes Galloway’s style of writing engaging and well worth the effort of reading.