There is a handful of books that have gripped my attention so ravenously that I could neither put the books down nor stop contemplating their themes days after I have turned the last page. The Cellist of Sarajevo is one such book.This amazing tale of human spirit in the face of civil war recollects from three different viewpoints. We read from the cellist's point of view in the first chapter and only in the first chapter. He chose to play the Adagio in G Minor in memory of the people who died while waiting in a food queue. Throughout the novel afterward, we follow the stories of a defender of the city, a man who traverses town to get fresh water for his family, and a baker who meets an old friend as he waits to cross the street without getting hit by snipers. Each character struggles through the throes of a revelation that can only result from a defiance to live in a city that was once livable and a hope that the city will be livable again.
The author captured brilliantly the sorrow and determination of these three ordinary (fictional) citizens. The story is never a romantic cliché, always respectful in invoking empathy for the people who, in reality, lived through this civil war. The killers remain faceless, as are the dead. War is random and predictable all at once. The Cellist of Sarajevo makes no attempt to solve war, but gives a voice to those who are often not heard above the "conversations of violence."
The book is inspired by a cellist named Vedran Smailović, who actually played the Adagio in G Minor by Albinoni (arranged by Remo Giazotto) outside in the spot where twenty-two people were killed by a mortar while they waited in line to get bread. After I listened to the Adagio, I could not find words to express the sadness and beauty of the music, but the author, Steven Galloway, was able to. I imagine that he wrote out the words in the novel to the melody of the sonata. Both the music and story are simply breath-taking and heart-wrenching. I suggest listening to the Adagio before beginning the story and listening to it again after reading the novel.
The following video plays the Adagio, performed to commemorate the people who perished on September 11, 2001.
2 comments:
The book made me weep on several occasions - and also demonstrated to me how music can be tool to convey the strength and power of the human spirit.
Reading your review made me wish I belonged to a book club!
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p.s yvonne translated my french poem from a while back in the comments section.
thanks for the suggestion. i read it last month (sorry for the belated comment). it was gripping and made me appreciate the peace that we take for granted everyday. I definite good read as I probably finished it within a week. On my nightstand now: The Housekeeper and the Professor (by Yoko Ogawa) and the Last Lecture (by Randy Pausch).
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