Sunday, 30 September 2012

The Cellist of Sarajevo



One Book One Community is what it sounds like. Our entire community reads the same book and then gets together to talk about it. The book for 2012 is "the Cellist of Sarajevo" by Steven Galloway. The fictional novel tells the story of ordinary lives in difficult times. It was inspired the true story of a cellist (pictured above) who played in bombed out buildings during the siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s. One Book One Community Weekend is on October 12-13. Visit their site for more information.

"The Cellist of Sarajevo" has become an international bestseller, but did you know that Vedran Smailović, the Cellist of Sarajevo, is furious at Steven Galloway for what he sees as stealing his story. Galloway's book never names the Cellist and the story only revolves around this anonymous musician, but Smailović was so angry that he threatened to burn his famous cello as a protest. The situation brings up interesting questions. Does Smailović deserve compensation from Galloway? Artists draw inspiration from life, but is there a line over which inspiration becomes exploitation?

1 comment:

  1. This book is basically about war in sarajevo. In the book there is the cellist that plays the cello in the street for twenty two days rain or shine at four o clock everyday. I would recommend this book for people who like war and fighting. At first I didnt really like it because the first two chapters were kind of slow but after that it was a really good book.

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