My book group this past month has been reading the "The Cellist of Sarajevo" by Steven Galloway. This is a shorter novel following three protagonists in the city of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war when snipers daily killed people in the streets.
I liked this book. Recently I have found that my taste in novels has changed dramatically and I have been searching for stories that have meaning. This book is a historical fiction. I liked that it was meaningful without having to be ridiculously long. I realized while reading that I didn't know about the Bosnian War. How come I do not know anything about this 8 year long "armed conflict" that occurred during my own lifetime? Why didn't I ever learn about this in school? Maybe I did, or maybe I was too young to remember. I guess the overall thought that has been in my head is how easy it is that we forget the past, and importance of books like these to remind us.
The three main characters in this book were Arrow, Kellan and Dragan. I think that we can learn a lesson from each of their stories. Yet, let me first talk about the cellist. Outside of his apartment during the war, there was a line of people waiting for bread. A bomb was dropped and 22 people were killed. He had seen so much death already and is deeply moved by the massacre. The only thing that he has to offer is his music. He decides that for the next 22 days he will go into the middle of the street where the massacre occurred, directly in eyesight of the many snipers surrounding the city, and play a song for each of the dead. He is at the center of the novel; he connects the three protagonists of the story. I will now talk about each of them.
ARROW
She was probably my favorite character. I always have a weak spot for strong female characters. What most impressed me about Arrow was her determination not to let the war change her any more than it already had. She was experience sniper shooter for the resistance. It is through her eyes that we actually see the enemy; through her scope. She convinces herself that she only takes the lives of those who would kill, the enemy that killed her father and family. She is told to protect the cellist. It is a difficult task, and he can't know that she is there. She finds the enemy sniper that is meant to kill the cellist. She notices the small detail that his finger is not on the trigger. Instead he is listening to the music. I think that this is a turning point for Arrow as she realizes that this man is a lot like her. He has received orders and he is following through with them. I love the fact when the resistance leader changes in the end of the book, she won't allow herself to lose all of her humanity. And it is all because of the cellist.
KELLAN
I think Kellan was a necessary character in the story because he was a father and faced the challenge of protecting his wife and children through a difficult time. I think that he is the most contemplative of the characters. His main trial throughout the story is when he goes to the watering hole to collect for his family and neighbor. I think that it is interesting that his grand internal trial is not with the enemy per se, but more with his pushy and aging neighbor. At the end he almost leaves her water behind because she refuses to give him bottles containing handles to makes the trip easier. But he does go back. Like Arrow, he ultimatley decides that the war will not deprive him of his humanity. He decides that at the end, there will still be good people left in the city to help build it up and he will be one of them.
I also liked the event that happened at the watering hole. While getting water, the enemy attacked and threw in bombs that killed people. Kellan describes three different types of people. First, there are those that run to the rescue of fallen comrades, and press down on their wounds and try to save their lives. Second, there are those that flee and try to save themselves. Third, there are those that can neither help nor flee, but just stand there. Kellan finds himself in the third group, grateful he did not flee but disappointed that he did not help. When Kellan heard the cellist, I think that this is when he decided to switch groups, when he decided to go back for his neighbor's water. He decided to help even if it meant he was inconvenienced, or possibly death.
DRAGAN
What members of my book group pointed out and I had not thought of while reading the book in Dragan's account of the war was his use of color. He is on his way to the bakery for bread when we are first introduced to his character. He describes the grey buildings and lifeless faces. At this point there is no color in the world. Then he sees an old friend; someone from before the war. He describes how generally he would not talk to someone like this because you didn't want to remember emotional connections with people that could possibly die the next day. It was understood among the citizens of Sarajevo. This woman however did stop and talk to Dragan. She had a strange sense of optimism that he had not heard in a long time. He kept on describing her lovely blue coat. It was a bright spot of color in his very grey world.
She was the first one to tell him about the cellist. He gave her hope, and now she gave Dragan hope. When he visits the cellist and listens to the music, the city that he loves gets its color back. He starts to recognize hope in the faces of the people and remember what Sarajevo once was.
I love how the cellist connects all three strangers in the war. I would definitely recommend this book to others. It is a short yet significant read.
No comments:
Post a Comment