The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway is the most moving work of fiction that I've read in a long time.
The author's clear, spare writing style coolly describes the horrors of war and illuminates the courageous humanity of his characters.
The novel begins when the siege of Sarajevo is well underway and tells of the day that 22 people were killed by a shell while waiting in line to buy bread.
A cellist witnessed this attack on his neighbors from his window and decided to honor them by playing an adagio at the place of their deaths each day for 22 days.
This beautiful gesture makes him a target for snipers and the military guarding the city decide to protect him by assigning a young woman sniper of their own, Arrow.
We're also introduced to Kenan through a description of the harrowing ordeal he undergoes in order to collect water for his family.
Then we meet Dragan who has sent his family outside the city and survives by working in a bakery and trading bread for shelter.
The novel is a haunting story of how these people's lives intersect, how they survive the siege, and the effect it has on them.
I knew nothing about the actual siege of Sarajevo (which took place from 1992 to 1996) so I was stunned by the descriptions of life in the city at that time.
Sarajevo was so heavily damaged by shelling that many people lost their homes and basic services such as running water, fuel, and electricity were completely disrupted.
This is why Kenan, and many others, had to cross the city carrying every container they could manage in order to obtain drinking water for their families.
Sarajevo sits in a valley and its attackers controlled the hills above it where they stationed snipers.
Residents of the city had to dodge bullets every time they crossed a street.
Learning about the horrors of the siege makes the cellist's decision to play all the more remarkable.
The novel describes the grim daily survival tactics of all the characters and we can see that their spirits have been crushed.
Love, connection and community are gone and each person is simply trying to stay alive under horrendous conditions.
The cellist is the first person in the book to insist on expressing his humanity in the midst of all the suffering.
Gradually the other characters lift up their heads and ask themselves "Who have I become?" The Cellist of Sarajevo is a short but powerfully moving book that describes courageous people struggling to survive an unspeakable ordeal and to retain their humanity.
It is based on a true story.