“It screamed downward, splitting the air and sky without effort . . . . There was a moment before impact that was the last instant of things as they were. Then the visible world exploded.” (xv) 

This powerful sentence launches this novel, placing us firmly within the very traumatized consciousness of one of the four major characters we will come to know during the course of this novel, the “cellist of Sarajevo.” The cellist is remembering the most recent massacre during the ongoing Siege of Sarajevo— a cruel mortar attack specifically aimed at killing civilians—and, even more cruelly, hungry civilians standing in line to purchase their meager bread rations. The “scream[ing]” is the sound the mortar made before it hit the street, killing twenty-two of the citizens standing there, most of whom were friends or neighbors of the cellist. Needless to say, this event has deeply affected the cellist, and he is in a state of shock, which is reflected in his rambling thoughts and fragmented memories.

The cellist’s thoughts wander from his music, to the massacre, to his sister’s wedding and on to other more comforting memories, like the feel of his father’s reassuring grip upon his shoulder while posing for the family photo.