From the Bookshelf of Pick-a-Shelf…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
Today, Europe and the world face a refugee crisis. And a growing number of people raise opposition to accepting them into their countries. I am personally baffled by this inhumane response. It is selfish, fearful, heartless and well, I really can’t come up with one single positive trait to place on such misdirected rhetoric.
I would like to say to every one of them, read this book and then tell me that you would not choose to be a refugee rather than live in a war zone or city under siege. Even ...more
I would like to say to every one of them, read this book and then tell me that you would not choose to be a refugee rather than live in a war zone or city under siege. Even ...more
The music demanded that she remember this, that she know to a certainty that the world still held the capacity for goodness. The notes were proof of that.
In the 1990's war erupted in what once was Yugoslavia and the city of Sarajevo came under siege. Because the city sits down in a valley with hills overlooking it, the people were under attack from sniper fire and bombardment. It was a precarious situation.
Twenty-two people were killed waiting for bread. A cellist decides to play Albinoni’s Adag ...more
In the 1990's war erupted in what once was Yugoslavia and the city of Sarajevo came under siege. Because the city sits down in a valley with hills overlooking it, the people were under attack from sniper fire and bombardment. It was a precarious situation.
Twenty-two people were killed waiting for bread. A cellist decides to play Albinoni’s Adag ...more
This is a beautiful book in which who the characters are is essentially irrelevant. It is what they come to know about themselves, about the life they have been dealt and about what it is to be essentially good. The four characters are "surviving" the siege of Sarajevo in the only ways they know how. They feel the burden of this survival but ultimately they see through that burden to what they must do for the future.
An easy and enjoyable read and one that reminds us that it is what we do that ma ...more
An easy and enjoyable read and one that reminds us that it is what we do that ma ...more
This is written as short chapters alternating among three characters trapped in Sarajevo during its siege: Dragan, Kenan, and Arrow. Their stories don't really overlap, but they share common elements including the cellist, a character inspired by a true event. Each of the four fights the dehumanizing effect of the war in his/her own way, and the story documents their struggles with prose that is and a bit sparse, yet manages to make the reader long for what Sarajevo was before the siege began. T
...more
I don't recall much much about this part of Sarajevo history and that is shameful. The book is a fictional story that surrounds an actual event. There really was a cellist who played for 22 days in honor of the 22 people who died while waiting in line for bread. This book tells several stories but really everyone is struggling to find a sense of humanity in a world where humanity no longer exists.
...more
This is poignant story that tells of the horrors of living in a city under seige and of the healing power of music.
Sep 14, 2011
Lyn (Readinghearts)
marked it as 2009-and-before
Oct 01, 2011
Mercy
added it
Oct 11, 2011
Lekshmy
marked it as to-read
Feb 21, 2012
Kari
marked it as to-read
Jan 16, 2014
Gretchen
marked it as to-read
Mar 31, 2014
Sarah
marked it as to-read
Apr 29, 2014
Elizabeth
added it
Oct 20, 2014
Anoosha krishna Bhat
marked it as to-read
Dec 16, 2016
Mickey
marked it as to-read
Oct 12, 2017
Lisa Wilkinson
marked it as wishlist
Oct 20, 2017
Teddie
marked it as to-read
Jun 11, 2018
Linda Miller
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2020
Rebecca
marked it as to-read
