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The Cellist of Sarajevo  By  cover art

The Cellist of Sarajevo

By: Steven Galloway
Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
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Publisher's summary

Sarajevo, in the 1990s, is a hellish place. The ongoing war devours human life, tears families apart and transforms even banal routines, such as acquiring water, into life-threatening expeditions. Day after day, a cellist stations himself in the midst of the devastation, defying the ever-present snipers to play tributes to victims of a massacre. A true story of a cellist's resistance helps to form this pivotal event in Steven Galloway's extraordinary novel. Against this, the author touchingly describes three ordinary townspeople and their efforts to retain their humanity, sanity and autonomy as war takes hold of their lives. This bestselling novel is immediate, vivid and deeply affecting on audiobook, fully immersing the listener in the havoc of war.

©2010 Naxos Audiobooks (P)2010 Naxos Audiobooks

What listeners say about The Cellist of Sarajevo

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One wonders if humans will ever be civilized

I'm very pleased to have the experience of this book. The cello music adds much to this particular story. It gives room for thought when the voice of the cello is there instead of the words.

The book is well crafted to make one think. The performance is excellent.

Could I be the cellist? What kind of life is my life? How would I behave? What makes any of us worthy of life, love, food, water, music? With war everywhere in all times, one can almost feel the weight of evil pushing from all directions. This book takes ideas of life, hope, and fear and braids them into some understanding of what war really is.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Engrossing and Enlightening

I got this audiobook on the recommendation of a friend. I was glad I did. An enlightening look on the history and atrocities that took place in Sarajevo. At times truly sad, at other times bright spots of humor that showed humanity can still exist even in the most inhumane of situations.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

war never makes sense

First time author for me, a novella of sorts. In the 1990's the Balkan peninsula fell into war and long standing hatreds came to life. Much of it didn't make sense and still doesn't.

In this book, the city of Sarajevo, which is in Bosnia, was surrounded by the Serbian army who sat in the hills surrounding the city and laid siege, lobbing bombs and having snipers shoot the Bosnians stuck in the city.

In one instance, and this is a true event, a mortar struck a line of people standing in line doing nothing more than trying to get bread for their families and them to east. 22 people were killed. A cellist, who saw the explosion from his apartment, in an act of defiance to the war, starts sitting in the street where the explosion happened, in full view of everyone even the enemy, and states he will play his cello for 22 straight days, a day for each of the victims. This is that story although the main characters are some of those people also affected by the war and how they responded to the craziness all around them.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

It just wandered off and didn't really conclude

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I don't know

Would you ever listen to anything by Steven Galloway again?

Maybe but this story really just seemed to drag and there didn't seem to be a connection between the various stories

What didn’t you like about Gareth Armstrong’s performance?

it was overly dramatic and i had to speed up the playback setting

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The time period and the conflict in Bosnia is still a very interesting topic to me

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening

This story, although fiction, is based on The Siege of Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serbs in 1992 - 1996. It's descriptive of difficulties, fears and disruption of everyday life which cause changes in the view of life in the three narrators. I did some googling about this war, so reading this book became an educational experience. The reader was easy to understand and voiced the characters very convincingly.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The story comes alive!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, Because hearing the music of the Cellist in the background brought the story alive and set the mood for the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Arrow. She was a fighter and didn't just accept her situation. She was brave to the end.

Which character – as performed by Gareth Armstrong – was your favorite?

Arrow.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was saddened by the reality and the emotions of the individual characters.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Forgettable

Not terrible, but nothing special. You won't remember reading it after a few months. The entire book felt like it dragged on. Only read this book if you need to for school.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Moving, well told story

Beautifully depicts daily moral choices by individuals, altering the course of a city under siege back toward civilized existence.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Man' Inhumanity to Man

Sad reflection on the human's inability to stop wars and the book demonstrates how close to the "brink" a civilized society can be.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

Having been to Sarajevo post-war, I appreciated the emotional descriptions of how everyday life must have been there

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