Maw Books Blog

I read The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway after reading Wendy’s review over at Caribousmom and I’m glad that I trusted her review because The Cellist of Sarajevo is the type of book that I really like. And I really liked this one.

Let me tell you a sad secret: I know nothing about the Siege on Sarajevo. I just don’t. Shame on me. This book has at least introduced me to this part of recent history of which I am completely ignorant and which has piked my curiosity to learn more. Which is why you will soon see the fourth installment of book recommendations on genocide cover this conflict.

According to Wikipedia, the Siege on Sarajevo was the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, lasting from lasting from April 5, 1992 to February 29, 1996. That would have put me at the end of middle school through my junior year of high school. I honestly don’t have any recollection of hearing or seeing any of this on the news. I must have been selfishly engrossed in my own life of school, homework, friends, hanging out, boys, and after school jobs. Seriously, I’m really emberrased. And it’s estimated that of the more than 12,000 people who were killed and 50,000 who were wounded during the siege, 85% were civilians. That literally makes me shudder.

While reading The Cellist of Sarajevo I really could feel the fear that these civilians felt. To go outside for some fresh air, bread, or water was literally putting your life into the scope of a sniper. Crossing the street corner was a life or death situation. I felt so scared for these fictional characters that I can’t even imagine the fear that those who actually went through this felt. Sometimes I just don’t understand why we treat each other the way we do. Why? Why? It makes no sense to me. I don’t think it ever will.

So what is this book about anyways? In this case, I can’t summarize it any better than the book jacket:

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 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 attack for twenty-two days in their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and in the face of danger must weight the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distractions, 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 me are drawn into the orbit of cello music, a fourth character - a young woman, a sniper - holds the fate of the cellist in her hands. While she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become.

A quote from The Cellist of Sarajevo:

It doesn’t matter what the world thinks of his city. All that matters is what he thinks. In the Sarajevo of his memory, it was completely unacceptable to have a dead man lying in the street. In the Sarajevo of today it’s normal. He has been living in neither, has tried to live in a city that no longer exists, refusing to participate in the one that does.

And another quote:

[after recounting the birth of his son, nineteen years earlier] Afterward he had an overwhelming feeling of benevolence, not just for his son, but for the world around him, wishing it were everything it wasn’t. , wondering what he could do to make things better.

[ . . . ] Now he often wonders whether there was anything he did or didn’t do that played some small part in his city’s disintegration. he wonders what would have happened if the men on the hills and the men in the city had in their hearts a tiny fraction of the benevolence felt for and known by a small child.

A very powerful novel that was beautifully written. It was completely engrossing. Having just came out, I’m sure many of you have not yet read it, so I suggest that you track down a copy.

Just as I was getting ready to write up this review, I was alerted via Bookninja of this article which states that Vedran Smailovic, the real life cellist of which The Cellist of Sarajevo is based, wants compensation from the author Steven Galloway because he used his reputation without asking.

In the article Galloway says, “The cellist in my book is based on a real character. He doesn’t ever speak in the book. I was kind of careful not to put words, I don’t want to put words in his mouth.” As well as, “[I don’t know] for what I would be compensating. I mean, he performed a public act and I mentioned it?” Apparently, Smailovic feels that if people are making money off of his past he should be entitled to it. Up to this point, I agree with Galloway. But then I find out that Smailovic’s face is actually used on the book cover (not the one that I had). If somebody put my picture on the front cover of a novel, I’d be a little upset as well. That I can see getting mad about, but writing about a performance done in public, I think, is fair game.

What do you think?

A video tribute about the Siege of Sarajevo: