The Cellist of Sarajevo
A Canadian professor Steven Galloway wrote a historical fiction novel The Cellist of Sarajevo. The novel's setting is during the Bosnian War in former Yugoslavia. Due to the ethnic division between the Orthodox Catholic Serbians and the Muslim Bosnian, Sarajevo was siege. Serbian snipers surrounded the city and mortars bombed the city turning the beautiful place into a war zone.  There was a bombing in May 1992, a shell hit a market where people lined for bread. Vedran Smailovic, a cellist witnessed his neighbors die in this event. To mourn the deaths he took out his cello and his suit and played “Adagio in G Minor” on the street where they died. He played for 22 days for each person that had been killed.
The Cellist in the novel was created based on Vedran Smailovic. The Cellist’s perspective is only shown in the first chapter of the novel. It starts with his thoughts about the “Adagio,” a piece that was found at the end of World War II in a burned music library. The manuscript fragments were found by an Italian musicologist who collected the bits and pieces of the manuscript and reconstructed it into a beautiful piece. The newly made “Adagio” shows hope that though Sarajevo is completely erased from existence, it can be rebuilt. It can be “raised from the ashes” just like the “Adagio.” The Cellist found this piece and is inspired to play it during the siege. The “Adagio” gave hope to the Cellist and to everyone.
The first character to hear the “Adagio” is Arrow. Arrow is the best sniper working under the coalition that protects Sarajevo; she is brave, talented and strong willed. In the past, she was a loving person who turned into a killing machine due to her hatred towards the Serbians. Before the war Arrow's name was Alisa, she created a new identity and called herself Arrow. “I am Arrow, because I hate them [Serbians]. The woman you knew hated nobody”. She doesn’t care about anything including her life until she receives her assignment: protect the Cellist. As she proceeds, she hears the Cellist's “Adagio.” We see her change throughout the novel such as, when she hesitates to shoot a man aiming his rifle at the Cellist. She finds the man listening to the “Adagio” instead of killing the Cellist. When Arrow’s boss dies by a mortar, she gets recruited by a ruthless man who wants her to kill the innocent. She comes to a choice, to be Alisa or to stay as Arrow.
The change in Arrow also happens to Dragan. He is an old man who sent his family to Italy for their protection. Staying with his sister and her husband, Dragan does not feel comfortable staying with them. He goes to the bakery that he works to avoid them and because he receives free food. Not only does he avoid his sister's family but everyone else that he meets. He is afraid to loose more people which is too painful for him. As he walked his normal path to the bakery he meets a person that he cannot avoid, Emina. She was a good friend of his wife's and when Dragan pretends to not know her, she remembers him. She talks to him at the safe area before entering the sniper alley where the snipers shoot aiming anyone who enters the street. She tells him that she is going to give medicine to a sick woman. As the conversation ends Dragan says his goodbye. He leaves the safe zone and crosses the road.
Unlike Dragan and Arrow, Kenan is a positive character in the beginning of the novel. He has two children, a loving wife and a cranky old woman who lives downstairs. Kenan cares about his family, his greatest fear is letting his family down and being remembered as a cowardly dad. He not only tries to take care of his family but also Mrs. Ristovski. She is a widow; she is terribly rude and never thankful. Kenan promises Mrs. Ristovski that he will help her; she tosses him her bottles and notifies him to retrieve water from the brewery.  As Kenan lines up to fill his bottles at the brewery, the place is bombed by a mortar. He wants to help, but he is shocked that he can’t do anything but leave. When he crosses the sniper alley he leaves Mrs. Ritovski's bottles because they were heavy and decides to go and get the bottles later. Kenan struggles staying positive and caring after the rudeness of Mrs. Ritovski, the bombing in the brewery, and the pressure of not letting his family down. He is so pressured by what is happening around him that he stops caring. As he crosses the road which leads him home, he decides to leave Mrs. Ristovsky's bottles there and just head back home. His adventure to the brewery and back took away his care for people. As he heads home not regretting that he left his neighbor's bottles, he sees a crowd and peaks to see what it is. He finds the cellist.
Steven Galloway uses characters and literary elements to grab the readers attention. He uses shift in narration to pull the audience into the story. Every chapter has a different perspective; each of the chapter's titles is a character's name and each of their story. The shift in narration allows the writer to concentrate in detail about each of the characters. Galloway's narration is more unique than others because he explores the mindset of the characters in detail, it would be hard to write all three in the same time. It is interesting to experience the siege of Sarajevo in different perspectives.
Steven Galloway's metaphors are mind blowing. He show different metaphors through out the novel that help the readers to understand the action and events that happen.  One of the example of a metaphor is, “...puppeteer remain standing,” he writes what he wants the readers to feel. Not only is this a striking metaphor throughout the novel, it has a deep meaning. This metaphor is used to describe a person shot at the sniper alley. Galloway creates an image of a puppet collapsing to the floor. The metaphor of the puppeteer shows how the people in Sarajevo had no control of their lives like a puppet. The deep meaning of this metaphor shows a glimpse of how the people who were under siege might have felt. The novel is one of the most creative writing that is filled with suspense. The plot was a flow of pain and happiness. Galloway is talented in pulling the reader into the characters' view, allowing the readers to experience the siege with the characters.