The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

This gives her a moment’s pause and she does not want to kill him but knows she has to. The next day, Arrow spots the sniper but instead of shooting at the cellist, he seems to enjoy the music, staying put and with his eyes closed. However, no one shoots at the cellist and he continues his performance uninterrupted. The next day, Arrow takes back her place but midway through the cellist’s performance, she realizes she has been seen and falls back when someone shoots at her. There probably was a sniper there but he did not take a shot, and this is confusing. Even though no one shoots at the cellist, Arrow feels as if she was missing something. At one point, she spots movement in one of the windows but nothing happens. She finds a perfect spot in an abandoned apartment and is careful not to miss any movement in the apartment where a sniper could hide.

The next day, Arrow gets ready to protect the cellist. The commander believes that the men on the hills laying siege to the city will want to kill the cellist to send a message, and he feels that it is their duty to protect him and to make sure that he survives. Nermin tells her that her new mission is to protect the cellist, who has achieved global attention.

Arrow listens to him play and then watches him retreat back into the building where he was living. He tells her he has a new assignment for her, and takes Arrow to the place where she sees the cellist playing. Arrow admits that her real name is different but that she chose to be called Arrow because she grew to distance herself from her old life and to realize that she is not the person she once was.Īrrow returns to her commander, Nermin Filipovic, where she is congratulated for her bravery and for her accomplishments. Despite having the power to kill, Arrow avoids shooting civilians and focuses instead on other soldiers. The second chapter introduces a woman named Arrow who works for the Sarajevo militia and who is a brilliantly effective sniper. The cellist takes his instrument and goes outside, determined to play the Adagio for 22 days, the same number of people killed in the blast.Īfter the cellist’s chapter, Galloway interweaves three characters’ stories for this summary, each of their full arcs will be looked at.

As the cellist looks out of the window, a mortar hits the market near the cellist’s house, killing people waiting in line to get bread. He thinks of a piece of music called Albinoni’s Adagio, but lately he has not wanted to play it as much. The novel opens with the cellist, sitting in his window and thinking about the ways his beloved city of Sarajevo is affected by the war.

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway