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The Cellist of Sarajevo

Vedran Smailovic, known as the real-life Cellist of Sarajevo
Author	Steven Galloway
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Novel Fiction Military fiction Action fiction
Publisher	Atlantic Books
Publication date	1 January 2009
Pages	240
ISBN	9781843547419

The Cellist of Sarajevo is a Novel written by Steven Galloway and published in 2009.

Background

The novel is set in the mid-1990's in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the siege of Sarajevo. On the 27 May 1992, during the first year of the city's blockade, a motor shell hit the city and killed 22 people, the casualties included men, women and children. The event became known as the Breadline Massacre, due to the fact that the bomb hit a cue of people that were waiting outside a bakery to buy bread. Vedran Smailovic was cellist in the Sarajevo Opera Orchestra during this time and decided to play his cello for 22 days in order to honour the friends and neighbours that had been killed on May 27. He played his cello amongst the ruins of buildings that had endured the continuous bombing. At times, Smailovic would seek shelter in these torn down buildings, trying to hide from the snipers that were attacking the city. It is believed that because of Smailovic's actions, the media attention was brought to Sarajevo and ensured the mass-casualty events were publicised on an international level. . Although the images and stories that had been spread about Smailovic's use of music during the war had to a large extent inspired the premise of the book, the character of the cellist within the story is entirely imaginary.

Main Characters

Kenan

Kenan is father and husband to Amila, trying to ensure his families survival during the war. Throughout the novel, Kenan continuously strives to secure water for his family, as well as his neighbour. Unlike many men during the war, Kenan aimed only to protect his family and did not become a soldier in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is because of this that Kenan does not view himself as being a hero. Regularly, Kenan takes large risks in order to supply his family with water, having to go into the open streets in the middle of the crossfire was life-threatening. Even though Kenan is suffering greatly because of the trauma being endured throughout the duration of the war, he is always dreaming of rebuilding his beloved city of Sarajevo after the war ends.

Arrow

The name Arrow is used by the character to conceal her real identity. Her real name is Alisa. She is a 28-year-old woman who is serving as a sniper in the Bosnian army. Initially, she is given the freedom to decide who her targets are going to be, which is the reason why she only kills the men she believes deserve to die, always refusing to shoot any civilians. Before the war had begun, Arrow had lived a relatively normal life, but living through the trauma of war forces her to confront her darkest emotions. In order to cope with these emotions and to accept the person the war has turned her into, Arrow creates a new identity for herself, she says "I am Arrow because I hate them; the women you knew hated nobody" In the novel, Arrow is assigned to guard the cellist when he is playing out in the open, her job is to ensure any assassination attempts are blocked. Whilst protecting the cellist Arrow begins to rediscover her love for Sarajevo

Dragan

Dragan is a 60-year-old man who is living with his sister and brother-in-law. Before the war had begun, Dragan was given the opportunity to send his wife and son, Raza and Davor, abroad to Italy. Because of there being a lack of communications, Dragan has not been able to hear from his family. He is employed in a bakery but does not receive his wages in money, instead he is paid in bread. Similarly, to Arrow, Dragan is also forced to encounter his darkest feelings and emotions. Ultimately it is this that causes Dragan to become a very closed off individual who develops a tendency to isolate himself away from other people. Just like Kenan, Dragan dreams and hopes he will be there helping rebuild the city after the war ends.

Plot Summary

There are four chapters in the book that are divided into sections based on each of the three main characters: Arrow, Kenan and Dragan. The story is told in each of their perspectives.

Chapter 1

In the city of Sarajevo, during the Bosnian war, a cellist who had been well-known prior to the conflict, watches from his window as a bomb explodes and kills 22 people who were waiting in line outside of a bakery. The cellist decides to go out to the exact spot where the bomb had gone off and plays a well-known piece, Albinoni's Adagio.

At the start of the story, Arrow is hiding in a building, observing her targets and calculating who she should kill. Once she fires her first shot, she doesn’t get the chance to fire a second because her targets had spotted her and had fired a shot back, narrowly missing her. As she makes her way back to the headquarters location, Arrow appears to show no sign of gratitude for barely surviving the attack.

Kenan is waking up in his flat with his family. One of the consequences of the conflict is that there is no running water in the city. This forces Kenan to have to walk to the other side of the city to get clean water from the brewery. Kenan notices that as a rare occurrence there is electricity in the flat but by the time he goes to wake his family, the electricity goes off once again. He prepares to leave to make the journey for clean water, before setting off he stops to collect the empty bottles from his neighbour, Mrs Ristovski.

Dragan is torn between two versions of the city he lives in, the old peaceful and beautiful city that once was and the current grey and danger filled city that surrounds him. Neither of the two seem right to him. Dragan begins to wonder how long he will be able to keep the memory of the old Sarajevo alive. In the opening chapter, Dragan is on his way to work, a journey that has now become an hour and a half walk. Whilst walking to work, he is having to dodge bullets that are being fired. People are hiding behind objects waiting to run across at the right time. Although he encounters a friend from the past, Dragan avoids even looking at the man because he does not wish to be reminded of all the things he had lost since the start of the war.

Chapter 2

Whilst making the trip to get water, Kenan is imagining that he is walking to work as he once used to do and that all the fallen buildings are still standing. Passing the store, Kenan stops to see if there is any information about the next relief convoy. He also sees an old friend, one that had become a soldier and he himself tries to remember why he is not joining the army. The pair pause in brief conversation before Kenan continues his journey. Kenan begins to think of all the ways Sarajevo would need to rebuild itself after the war and he hopes to be one of the people who will help with the restoration of the city.

Nermin Filipovic, Arrow's commander in the Sarajevo militia, assigns her with a new task. She is ordered to protect the cellist who is playing in the spot where the bomb had struck. Nermin takes arrow to the exact place where the cellist is playing. The music makes Arrow recount some of her old happy memories from before the war, when the music stops, she must try very hard to refrain from crying. Nermin tell Arrow about the man playing for 22 days to honour those that had been killed and that after a short period of time the man had become known to the men on the hill. The commander believes these men are going to try and kill the cellist and Arrow must prevent this.

At the intersection where Dragan is waiting for a safe moment to cross, several people have successfully gone across whilst he is still waiting. He sees another acquaintance from his past that he had not been very fond of, Emina asks Dragan about his wife. The pair both put off crossing the intersection. Dragan begins thinking about how he should have left with his family rather than have stayed here surrounded by danger. Emina is convinced that the city will soon be receiving help whist Dragan believes they have been left entirely alone. When Dragan eventually decides to cross, he gets some way across and feel a bullet fly past his ear. When they get all the way across, they begin to joke at the fact that they survived.

As Arrow is guarding the cellist from an abandoned apartment, he is playing in the middle of the street. She sees a shadow in a window across the street and assumes this will be an attempt to kill the cellist, so she prepares herself to shoot. However, she is reluctant to shoot in fear of shooting an innocent civilian.

Kenan has reached the National Library which had been destroyed very early on in the siege. As Kenan begins running over the Šeher-Ćehaja Bridge he does so moving in many directions so that he does not become an easy target. Whilst refilling the empty bottles he has brought with him; Kenan begins to think about Mrs Ristovski and their very first meeting. He recalls that she had never been the most pleasant person, but he still helped her and respected her.

Dragan is questioning Emina on her ability to remain optimistic despite living through such a crisis, he does not understand how that is possible. Emina tells him about the cellist, she had gone to listen to him every single day since he started playing. Dragan believes the cellist is selfish. Soon Dragan and Emina remain as the only people on their side of the street. When the two being to cross, Dragan suddenly becomes hesitant, but Emina motivates him to keep moving. Emina is suddenly shot in the arm and chaos commences and another person gets shot. Emina is dragged back to safety.

Arrow spends that evening wondering why the sniper from earlier did not shoot when he had had the chance. The next morning, she returns to guard the cellist whilst he plays. Whilst hear, Arrow thinks back to when she had attended her neighbour's funeral, she quickly snaps back to the present. She gets a sudden feeling that she is being watched and freezes trying to work out who was watching her and from where. She had also set up decoy window to distract the other sniper from noticing her, but she realises just in time that there is a sniper at the decoy window who sends her a bullet towards her. The following day Arrow aims to maintain the image that she is dead and tries very hard to remain unseen whilst guarding the cellist. The sniper reappears when the cellist comes out but makes no attempt to shoot, which confuses Arrow. At the end of the cellist's music, Arrow shoots the sniper dead.

When Kenan arrives at the brewery, there are many people waiting in line already. The people queuing are taking advantage of the opportunity to be around other people and many are chatting amongst themselves. Whilst Kenan is filling the bottles that he brought, there is a sound of shells whistling that is very close to them. Kenan is knocked off hit feet as the shells hit. Kenan experiences paralysis and is unable to do anything but just stand and watch as the havoc unravels. Kenan begins to walk home carrying all the bottles he had, contemplating which bridge would be the saftest option. Instead of making the trip back across the bridge to get Mrs Ristovski's water, Kenan continues him only carrying the water for his family. He decides that Ćumurija Bridge will be the safer option of the two, even though niether off much protection.

Chapter 3

People who are present are trying to treat Emina's would as Dragan watches what is happening, the crowd stop a car passing by so that it could transport Emina to the hospital. Dragan thinks back to the event that transpired a month ago. He had been drafted by an army gang, despite his job at the bakery making him exempt. Dragan had spent three days digging a ditch with no food. It was then that Dragan had decided that death would have been the better option. Seeing Emina has restored some form of hope back into Dragan. He thinks about going home and stopping at the Sarajevo Tunnel. Whilst he is imagining a life with his wife and son a shell being fired brings him back to reality. He realises he only ever wants to live in safely in Sarajevo.

Arrow is waiting for Nermin in his office to tell him that the sniper is dead. Nermin then tells her she needs to disappear before she is forced into killing the innocent. At first Arrow thinks about how she could hide from the men on the hill, but Nermin tells her that they are not alone in destroying Sarajevo. He also tells her that he will no longer commander because he has refused to partake in the militia's corrupt deals. On her way out of the building, Arrow turns around just in time to see the building explode. Arrow knows this explosion came from within the building. During the night Arrow is awoken by soldiers at her front door who order to proceed with them. Arrow learns that she is now assigned to Colonel Edin Karaman who tells her that if she is not with them then she is against them.

On the way home Kenan sees his friend again but is at a loss for words to explain what just happened. Ismet invites Kenan to accompany him to the market. They go together and it is very crammed, Kenan moves carefully so he doesn't spill any water. Kenan is laughed at by men who had been selling water. Kenan hears the music of the cello and follows the music that he can hear to a crowd surrounding the cellist, when he sees the man, he recognises him from the opera. The music transports Kenan into his imagination of a better Sarajevo, the music allows Kenan to feel happy in that moment. Kenan concludes that he needs to help Mrs Ristovski in any way that he can as the woman still had not recovered from the pain of World War Two. Therefore, he decides to return to the bridge where he had left her bottles of water.

Arrow is taken to the parliament building that has been destroyed by the bombing. Here she is introduced to Hasan, she sees him as being oddly friendly. Hasan explains to Arrow that her new mission is to shoot whoever he tells her to shoot. Although annoyed at the situation, Arrow sets up her rifle. Hasan points out a civilian man who is walking slowly around a building, insisting that Arrow shoots him. After arguing with Hasan about the innocent target he has picked out, Arrow prepares the rifle, however just before she pulls the trigger, she abandons her instructions and sneaks out of the building.

Still at the intersection, Dragan observes an out of place journalist setting up a camera. Dragan knows that the man intends to film the scene he is witnessing, however he does not want the journalist to film the man who was lying dead in the streets. Although he is aware that the intersection remains an active target for the snipers, he believes he can pull the dead man out of camera shot and avoid the gunfire. He does this avoiding all bullets being fired at him. Once safely hidden again, Dragan covers the dead body with Emina's blue coat and puts the man's hat back on his head.

Chapter 4

Four days have passed since Kenan had taken the trip to get clean water and it is time for him to repeat the journey again. On this day, it is also the last day the cellist will play his music which Kenan is looking forward to hearing. As he is preparing to leave, the electricity turns on again and his wife wakes up to celebrate. The couple embrace for a while before Kenan must leave. Once again, he is hesitant to go out into the open, but regardless of his fear he will go and earn his right to help repair the city at the end of this conflict.

Dragan is once again questioning what the real Sarajevo is like. Two hours have passed, and he still remains at the intersection, the journalist has now left the scene. As he eventually crosses the street, he is physically unable to run, instead he decides to walk calmly. After crossing the street, Dragan decides that he will go and deliver the medication that Emina was meant to before getting shot. When he completes the delivery he will go and listen to the cellist play, just as Emina had told him to do.

It is ten days after Arrow had left Hasan in the parliament building. She is once again woken up by the sound of soldiers in her hallway. Arrow has adopted hiding in places all across the city. As the footsteps approach her, Arrow does not even contemplate defending herself. Now that she no longer must protect the cellist, she has decided to let herself be found by the soldiers. On the last of the cellist's performance, a large crowd had gathered, and Arrow had allowed herself to cry. Arrow tries to imagine her life had there not been a war, she envisions a long list of things she could be doing. Now she only had two options: kill or get caught by those who were killing. Arrow is aware that the soldiers are very close to finding her and in her last few seconds whispers her real name.

Reception

At the time of the books release, the alleged inspiration for the story, Vedran Smailovic, had largely reduced his public presence and had settled into a family life living in Northern Ireland. It had been reported that Smailovic was angry at the fact that Galloway had used his story without permission and had not consulted with Samilovic at all regarding the book.

Deryk Houston organised a meeting between the two men and although "He (Smailovic) refused to shake Steven's hand" the meeting did end amicably. Once the pair had each voiced the opinions regarding the issue of whether Smailovic's life story had been used without permission, they did eventually reconcile and resolve the conflict.

Awards

In 2009, the year of its release, The Cellist of Sarajevo won the Evergreen Award, Borders Original Voices Award as well as the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature. Alongside this, the book has been nominated for multiple awards, these include the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2008.