Cellist of Sarajevo

Cellist of Sarajevo

Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.

Hardback (31 Mar 2009)

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Publisher's Synopsis

A spare and haunting, wise and beautiful novel about war and the endurance of the human spirit and the subtle ways individuals reclaim their humanity.
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 waiting in a breadline. Then, in a flash, they are 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 shelling for twenty-two days, honoring their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and, in the face of danger, must weigh the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distraction 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 men 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. As she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become.
A novel of great intensity and power, and inspired by a true story, "The Cellist of Sarajevo" poignantly explores how war can change one's definition of humanity, the effect of music on our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance.

Book information

ISBN: 9780606378994
Publisher: Turtleback Books
Imprint: Turtleback Books
Pub date:
Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
DEWEY: FIC
Language: English
Number of pages: 256
Weight: 272g
Height: 178mm
Width: 124mm
Spine width: 23mm