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vmjt's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nyom7's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful book.
I may have lost a night’s sleep reading it. In the short term I may well regret this. In the long term however I have no regrets.
Told mostly from three perspectives (there is a fourth but their story is told slightly differently) it tells a fictionalised tale about the siege of Sarajevo. There are aspects of fact - the cellist is real - and of fiction but the fact vs fiction, at least for me, does not matter. It is the story that matters. Tiny, human, stories told on the backdrop and through the lens of a war they did not choose.
This is a book that gripped me. Held me. And carved out a little place for itself within me. I am quite certain that I will spend the next days and weeks, when my mind is able to sit in neutral, thinking about the questions this book posed and what answers if any I have to them.
Do not read this book if you are looking specifically for something light and cheery but also do not be put off by the setting, thinking it all dark and doom. There is a surprising lightness and hope to it.
I may have lost a night’s sleep reading it. In the short term I may well regret this. In the long term however I have no regrets.
Told mostly from three perspectives (there is a fourth but their story is told slightly differently) it tells a fictionalised tale about the siege of Sarajevo. There are aspects of fact - the cellist is real - and of fiction but the fact vs fiction, at least for me, does not matter. It is the story that matters. Tiny, human, stories told on the backdrop and through the lens of a war they did not choose.
This is a book that gripped me. Held me. And carved out a little place for itself within me. I am quite certain that I will spend the next days and weeks, when my mind is able to sit in neutral, thinking about the questions this book posed and what answers if any I have to them.
Do not read this book if you are looking specifically for something light and cheery but also do not be put off by the setting, thinking it all dark and doom. There is a surprising lightness and hope to it.
apleiades17's review against another edition
3.0
“Dacă oraşul moare, nu va fi din cauza celor de pe dealuri, ci din cauza celor din vale. Se va întâmpla când vor uita că sunt oameni, când se vor crede câini fiindcă sunt trataţi ca nişte câini. Când se vor mulţumi să trăiască în moarte, să se poarte ca şi cum ar fi ceea cei de pe dealuri să fie, atunci va muri de fapt Sarajevo, om după om.”
nastu's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ptothelo's review against another edition
3.0
I picked it up because a piece from a Yo Yo Ma CD that was composed in honor of the real life cellist.
It's short and nicely written. Except for one character, there's really no resolution per se. But isn't that so often the case in war and life? You meet people and you experience a moment of their lives and then you move apart and you don't necessarily know what happens next.
It's short and nicely written. Except for one character, there's really no resolution per se. But isn't that so often the case in war and life? You meet people and you experience a moment of their lives and then you move apart and you don't necessarily know what happens next.
aj_yogi's review against another edition
The story is very sad and I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters. Also, why is there no account from the Cellist??
billymac1962's review against another edition
3.0
This novel follows three people during a few days in war-ravaged Sarajevo. The one connecting thread throughout is a cellist who, for 22 days, plays in the street in honour of the 22 people who where blown up while waiting in line for bread.
The author does a fine job of capturing the dangers of everyday life. Water has been cut off, food is scarce, so people must brave journeys through interstections and across bridges to get provisions. The danger is the ever-present snipers in the surrounding mountains.
The war in Sarajevo was a war of hate, and as one character describes it, the mandate of the snipers is to nurture that hate with each death, until what was once Sarajevo will be no more.
The plotlines involve a man's journey for water, another's journey for bread, and a woman sniper who is tasked with protecting the
cellist during his vigil.
This sounds like a great, great book, doesn't it? Unfortunately, I was left a little lukewarm to it.
I didn't find the characters all that engaging, and the presentation of the story was rather bleak. Understandably so, but I've read other stories where the bleakness served to encourage the reader on, for whatever hope there may be, take Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, for example. The difference is that I really cared for Mistry's characters.
The story is a very quick read, which is good, because I don't think
another hundred pages could have held my interest.
The author does a fine job of capturing the dangers of everyday life. Water has been cut off, food is scarce, so people must brave journeys through interstections and across bridges to get provisions. The danger is the ever-present snipers in the surrounding mountains.
The war in Sarajevo was a war of hate, and as one character describes it, the mandate of the snipers is to nurture that hate with each death, until what was once Sarajevo will be no more.
The plotlines involve a man's journey for water, another's journey for bread, and a woman sniper who is tasked with protecting the
cellist during his vigil.
This sounds like a great, great book, doesn't it? Unfortunately, I was left a little lukewarm to it.
I didn't find the characters all that engaging, and the presentation of the story was rather bleak. Understandably so, but I've read other stories where the bleakness served to encourage the reader on, for whatever hope there may be, take Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance, for example. The difference is that I really cared for Mistry's characters.
The story is a very quick read, which is good, because I don't think
another hundred pages could have held my interest.
jarcher's review against another edition
4.0
Snapshots of moral and existential philosophy under circumstances of unimaginable horror, The Cellist of Sarajevo was an immensely powerful and unnerving book. I can’t decide how I felt about the narration; on the one hand it felt frustratingly detached in emotionally charged moments, but in the other hand it emphasized the numbness that pervades in environments of constant tragedy. Regardless, this was a brilliant novel.