The Cellist of Sarajevo Written by: Steven Galloway

Sarajevo...I never heard of that name until my Mother in law sent me a book, I read the inside where the author states "this is above all else is a work of fiction." So, I took this book as a work of fiction. Turns out I was wrong, and the author meant his story was the fictional part, but the war in Sarajevo was actually very real. I have read as of late so many books on wars and yet all of these wars are so different, but so many of the people and their causes are so frightfully similar even if their stories are wholly unique. This book, though short, packed a punch. The story evoked emotion and I did find myself demonizing the "bad guys on the hill" But, then I took a step back I really read the book and realized what I already knew. Hatred will get you nowhere it will cause you to morph into something you never would have wanted to. It will cause you to lose bits of yourself and your humanity. I never learned about Sarajevo, but after a friend mentioned to me that this war was real I researched and learned just how real it really was. The author is so right in so many of his statements and how he tells the story of this war, and he does it in so few words and chapters. I was inspired and filled with so many emotions and hope that one day these wars these killings may stop. Just look around the world and you see ideals, ideas that crush one another that oppress so many who wanted nothing more than to live, but I will borrow an idea and line from a recent book War and Peace. "Why is it the army and their commanders can control the fate of so many." This book was very good and flowed so fast I loved how it was told by the voices of only four people. The Cellist drew all of the characters together, and gave them what they needed humanity a reminder of what once was and might be again even if they didn't know it nor did the Cellist. Now to borrow a line from The Cellist of Sarajevo. I will abridge it so it won't spoil too much. "They know they won't ever be able to forget what has happened here. If the war ends, if life goes back to some semblance of how it once was, and they survive, they won't be able to explain how any of it was possible. An explanation implies a logic, but there's no logic to Sarajevo now. They still can't believe it happened. They hope they will never be able to." Again, just look around why should a person's beliefs their ideas lead to killing? I will never accept how people can take an idea a belief and turn it into a weapon, I see and understand this, but when does the idea of freedom to escape oppression lead to turning you yourself into an oppressor a murderer? Demonizing your opponent may help, but in the end we are all human, we breath, we bleed, and we die. We are mortal, but we have humanity. So why does our species insist on finding reasons to kill one another? I highly recommend reading this book, I was spotty in my details simply because I think you the reader should discover this story on your own.