The Cellist of Sarajevo (Naxos Release) - Steven Galloway Audiobook

Written by Steven Galloway
Read by Gareth Armstrong
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

The Cellist of Sarajevo
by Steven Galloway
Gareth Armstrong

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing Limited, 2010
Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks, 2012
Awards: Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee
Duration: 05:23:54

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

Snipers in the hills overlook half the intersections in Sarajevo. In the streets below, people strife to go about their daily lives, trying to second-guess when and where the next bullet will strike. One man, a cellist, defies this game of “Sarajevo Roulette. In memory of the city’s dead, for two consecutive days, he becomes a sitting target as he plays Albinoni’s ‘Adagio’ in the street outside his building. But he is unaware that one young woman observes his performances with unflinching attention…a counter-sniper, detailed to protect him from enemy marksmen.

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.

Gareth Armstrong’s confident, often reverent, voice animates the story’s three characters: Arrow, a sniper; Dragan, a parent trying to keep his family safe; and Kenan, a citizen. The unnamed cellist of the title sits in the middle of the chaos, risking his life to play for the dead. Galloway’s poetic prose lends itself well to the audio format, especially as voiced by Armstrong. Its quiet grace is profoundly affecting. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

I found that there is second novel written about this incident. It is The Cellist of Sarajevo: Level 3 by Annette Keen. The Steven Galloway novel is the prizewinner.