Bookclub-in-a-Box presents the Novel Notes Mini-Guide discussion companion for Steven Galloway s novel The Cellist of Sarajevo

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2 Bookclub-in-a-Box preent the Novel Note Mini-Guide dicuion companion for Steven Galloway novel The Cellit of Sarajevo Paperback novel publihed by Alfred A. Knopf Canada, Toronto, Canada Novel ISBN: Quotation ued in thi guide have been taken from the text of the paperback edition of The Cellit of Sarajevo. All information taken from other ource i acknowledged. Thi dicuion companion wa written by Rona Arato and Marilyn Herbert, B.Ed. Herbert i the founder of Bookclub-in-a- Box and an international peaker with more than 30 year experience a a teacher and chool librarian. Bookclub-in-a-Box i a unique guide to current fiction and claic literature intended for book club dicuion, educational tudy eminar, and peronal pleaure. For more information about the Bookclub-in-a-Box team, viit our webite. Bookclub-in-a-Box dicuion companion for The Cellit of Sarajevo (E-PUB) ISBN: (E-PDF) ISBN: Thi guide reflect the perpective of the Bookclub-in-a-Box team and i the ole property of Bookclub- in-a-box BOOKCLUB-IN-A-BOX Unauthorized reproduction of thi book or it content for republication in whole or in part i trictly prohibited.

3 C O N T E N T S 1 BOOKCLUB-IN-A-BOX Steven Galloway The Cellit of Sarajevo READERS AND LEADERS GUIDE 2 INTRODUCTION Novel Quickline Key to the Novel Author Information Hitorical Background CHARACTERIZATION The Cellit Arrow Dragan Kenan Men in the Hill FOCUS POINTS AND THEMES WRITING STYLE AND STRUCTURE Perpective Voice Structure: Sonata SYMBOLS Muic Dog Hat/Coat Bridge Grave Camera DISCUSSION QUESTIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chance, Choice, Deciion Survivor Guilt Silence, Shame, Grief Viible and Inviible Danger...22

4 2 b o o k c l u b - i n - a - b o x BOOKCLUB-IN-A-BOX Reader and Leader Guide Each Bookclub-in-a-Box guide i clearly and effectively organized to give you information and idea for a lively dicuion, a well a to preent the major highlight of the novel. The format, with a Table of Content, allow you to pick and chooe the pecific point you wih to talk about. It doe not have to be ued in any precribed order. In fact, it i meant to upport, not determine, your dicuion. You Chooe What to Ue. You may find that ome information i repeated in more than one ection and may be cro-referenced o a to provide inight on the ame idea from different angle. The guide i formatted to give you extra pace to make your own note. How to Begin Relax and look forward to enjoying your book club. With Bookclub-in-a-Box a your behind the cene upport, there i little for you to do in the way of preparation. Some reader like to review the guide after reading the novel; ome before. Either way, the guide i all you will need a a companion for your dicuion. You may find that the guide interpretation, information, and background have parked other idea not included. Having read the novel and armed with Bookclub-in-a-Box, you will be well prepared to lead or guide or liten to the dicuion at hand. Latly, if you need ome more hand on upport, feel free to contact u. What to Look For Each Bookclub-in-a-Box guide i divided into eay-to-ue ection, which include point on character, theme, writing tyle and tructure, literary or hitorical background, author information, and other pertinent feature unique to the novel being dicued. Thee may vary lightly from guide to guide.

5 r e a d e r a n d l e a d e r g u i d e 3 INTERPRETATION OF EACH NOVEL REFLECTS THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE BOOKCLUB-IN-A-BOX TEAM. Do We Need to Agree? THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS NO. If we have parked a dicuion or a debate on certain point, then we are happy. We invite you to hare your group alternative finding and experience. You can contact u via our webite ( by (info@bookclubinabox.com), or by phone ( ). We would love to hear from you. Dicuion Starter There are a many way to begin a book club dicuion a there are member in your -group. If you are an experienced group, you will already have your favorite way to begin. If you are a newly formed group or a group looking for new idea, here are ome uggetion. Ak for people impreion of the novel. (Thi will give you ome idea about which part of the unit to focu on.) Identify a favorite or major character. Identify a favorite or major idea. Begin with a powerful or pertinent quote. (Not necearily from the novel.) Dicu the hitorical information of the novel. (Not applicable to all novel.) If thi author i familiar to the group, dicu the range of hi/her work and where thi novel tand in that range. Ue the dicuion topic and quetion in the Bookclub-in-a-Box guide. If you have further uggetion for dicuion tarter, be ure to hare them with u and we will hare them with other. Above All, Enjoy Yourelve

6 INTRODUCTION Novel Quickline Key to the Novel Author Information Hitorical Background

7 6 b o o k c l u b - i n - a - b o x INTRODUCTION Novel Quickline A tall man with turbulent black hair, an almot comic moutache and the addet face he ha ever een emerge from a doorway He walk out of the building with a calm and determined tride, appearing obliviou to the danger he putting himelf in, et hi tool in the middle of the treet, it down and poition hi intrument between hi leg The cellit open hi eye. The adne he aw in hi face i gone Hi arm rie, and hi left hand grip the neck of the cello, hi right guide the bow to it throat When the firt note ound they are inaudible. Sound ha vanihed from the world. (p. 73, 74) For 22 day after the murder of 22 people lined up for bread, the cellit at in the hadow of the ruined library and played Albinoni Adagio. It wa either an incredible act of courage or abolute folly. He wa a itting target, perfect for the random attack that came from the men on the hill. Who will protect the muician? Ha the ituation in the city unk o low that even muic i to be murdered? Steven Galloway explore the deperation of life in Sarajevo through three character: Arrow, Dragan, and Kenan. We follow them through the devatated treet and hear their voice a they cope with their now daily tate of affair. note

8 i n t r o d u c t i o n 7 Arrow, a well-known crack hot, i aked to protect the cellit. She mut find the niper that mot certainly ha been ent to kill the cellit and he mut, in turn, eradicate him. Dragan, a baker, leave home daily, headed for the bakery acro town. There he may or may not work, but at leat he will eat. Thi will relieve hi family obligation to feed him. Kenan, a young huband and father, ha no work becaue hi workplace ha been detroyed. He venture into the treet every fourth day to fetch water for hi wife, children, and hi mean-pirited neighbor, Mr. Ritovki. Steven Galloway ha painted a portrait of the Siege of Sarajevo ( ) that will not be oon forgotten. Key to the Novel Location Sarajevo i a familiar name to many people. It i a city in Bonia- Herzogovina that, except for it 15 minute of fame in the 1990, i not uually regarded a a newmaking world hotpot in the ame way that Darfur, Afghanitan, Iraq or Syria have become. No one talk about how the hot that tarted the Firt World War took place on the ame Princip Bridge that Kenan i trying to cro; and very few remember the gloriou winter Olympic of 1984 that were held in the very hill from which the anonymou men targeted their victim. Even the dreadful Sarajevo Siege of ha been overhadowed by other world event and catatrophe. It i odd that thi eemingly unremarkable city opened and cloed the 20th century in a ignificant way with war and detruction. note

9 8 b o o k c l u b - i n - a - b o x War You may not be intereted in war, but war i intereted in you. Leon Trotky The author ue thi quote to introduce the novel a a way of etting the mood of the tory. People are caught up in war, not of their making, and they mut cope with the conequence. Galloway ue the hitorical truth of the Bonian war to dicu the emotional truth of urvival in war. He eek to explore what war doe to the ordinary people who are caught in the middle of diviive force of hate. He chooe the real location of Sarajevo preciely becaue it happened in fairly recent memory. For the people of the city, it wa over but not forgotten. He took up thi challenge by framing it inide the idea of muic, which we all accept a a healing force. Muic Muic i the audible backdrop to the tory, replacing the gun of war. It contrat the detruction by reminding u of it redemptive power. The novel i not about the real or fictional cellit nor about hi motive for playing where and when he doe. It i about how muic highlight the cellit choen behavior and how that affect the action of each character. A all three, Dragan, Kenan, Arrow, top to liten to the playing, the muic give each of them a reaon to paue, conider, and perhap, change their perpective. At the very leat, the muic raie them up from the depth to which they have unk. note

10 Thankyouf orpr evi ewi ngt hi Bookc l ubi naboxdi c u i ongui de. I fyou dl i ket opur c ha et hef ul l gui de, j u tvi i t : www. bookc l ubi nabox. c om/ di c u i ongui de