Gripping Tale of Unknown WW II Heroes in Russia David Benioff, the author of "City of Thieves", is one of those fortunate few who has everything going for him in life. His father headed Goldman Sachs at one time (so presumably he grew up wealthy). He is very handsome and is married to beautiful actress Amanda Peet (and in the photos they look like a happy couple). He is an executive producer and writer for the successful TV show "Game of Thrones".But none of these things are the reason I read this book.I read it because David Benioff can tell a story like nobody's business.And what a story!If one is to believe the book's prologue, the author (who sounds somewhat similar to David Benioff) decided that his grandfather's untold story was far more interesting than his own. So, according to the prologue, the author spent days interviewing his grandfather.But since his grandfather claimed he couldn't remember details like the weather and what he was wearing, the author wrote a fictionalized account of his grandfather's World War II adventures. Apparently, in spite of the prologue's implications, the story is not based on the history of Benioff's actual grandparents, all of whom were born in the U.S. So the entire novel is fiction. But it's still a great story.Lev Abramovitch Beniov, the fictional grandfather, was a little half Jewish boy living in Leningrad, which everyone who lived there still called "Peter" (after its old name, St. Petersburg). I'm not sure how old he is when the story begins, but he seems to be fourteen and fifteen for most of it.Except for the prologue (narrated by "the author"), Lev is the narrator and central character of the novel.Lev's father was a famous poet who was "disappeared" by the Russian secret police (NKVD) and was presumed to be dead.His mother and sister fled from "Peter" when the Nazis invaded Russia. Lev decided to stay (against his mother's wishes) to help defend the city.One day, he and his cohorts, unconscripted kids who are doing what they can to shore up the city walls and spot enemy planes, etc., find a dead Nazi, who parachuted down and was apparently frozen to death.The children, who like everyone else in "Peter" haven't had enough to eat since the Germans came in, loot the Nazi's body and find a few things, including a flask that might be Cognac.Looting is a crime punishable by execution.As the children are helping themselves to the swag, some Russian soldiers from the infamous NKVD swing by.Lev is about to make his escape over a wall when he spies Vera, a girl from his building on whom he has a mild crush, lying on the ground. She can't make it over the wall, and the soldiers are about to catch her.Lev goes back to help Vera over the wall. Vera runs off without even a backwards glance, and Lev gets caught.He's thrown into the worst prison in "Peter", called "The Crosses", for the night, along with Kolya, a deserter who loudly proclaims that he is not a deserter.The NKVD colonel in charge calls in Lev and Kolya, the next day. They think they are about to be shot.The colonel takes pity on them and sends them out on a crazy errand. He needsa dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. They have until the following Thursday to return with the eggs or they will lose their ration cards, which in Peter, likely means starving to death.This is like "Mission Impossible". People in "Peter" are starving, and no one has seen an egg for months.Suffice it to say that Lev and Kolya, an odd couple if there ever was one, have all kinds of adventures and become fast friends.Lev is a shy, inexperienced half Jewish boy whose main talent is chess. He thinks of himself as a coward. He considers himself unappealing to women, with whom he has no experience.Kolya is Lev's opposite in every way. He is a very handsome blonde Cossack, a Lothario. He is crude, extraverted, and never stops talking (even when he should). He tells the same (often unfunny) jokes over and over again, like a salesman. Nevertheless he has charisma, charm, and confidence and is a natural leader. He is completely fearless. He is also secretly writing a novel. He was a university student before the war. However, Kolya is basically a good hearted man. He takes Lev under his wing and teaches him the ways of the world.The two become best friends in a very short time.They face many difficulties and adventures on their quest for the eggs, including falling in with some Russian partisan fighters on a dangerous mission behind Nazi lines.Lev's story is the story of one of many unsung, anonymous heroes of World War II.Benioff tells this amazing story very well. I can see why he is a writer for a very successful TV show. He clearly has the skills of a professional writer. His prose is low key, and never showy. The story and the characters are the center of attention, never the words.Another Goodreads reviewer complained about the detached tone, but I think it's necessary. We might not be able to read about all the horrors that Lev confronts without a certain distance from them. Being immersed in the scene would make it impossible for a reader to finish the story. Besides, as Lev tells "the author", the events occurred a long time ago. No doubt, too, keeping a distance from the scene is a coping mechanism for Lev himself. His life would be unbearable if he were to constantly relive the horrors he face in the war.Ron Perlman reads the audiobook wonderfully. He uses his smoky voice to full effect here.I recommend this unreservedly. It's old fashioned storytelling at its best.
From start to finish THIS is a great book!I just deleted a quote I was going to plug in here because I didn't want to give too much away. You have to read this book. For those who follow my reviews and have been waiting for the "go ahead", "Do it!" This is a book that I could not put down. My own self assessment has not revealed as of yet why exactly I, within my favorite genre Historical Fiction, have this affinity for the sub genre of WWII. I don't know. But my curiosity has brought me to the knowledge, the more that I read, that it was truly a world war. Everyone, every scope of the globe, every little pocket was if not directly involved, then effected in some way shape or form. If they weren't the cause, then they were the response. Maybe they were in at the beginning, maybe they got in late but it seems somehow everyone was in the pool. I guess this is what is curious for me. The separate points of view and ways that each national group or country was involved in such a monumental war. War is a political thing but it's people who fuel it and actual lives that are devastated in its wake. I have a sensitivity to the stories of people. The heart of the human spirit and how it overcomes or surrenders.. How it perseveres or is broken..How we endure tragedies that seek to destroy, yet after the ashes have settled and the cool winds of peace and solitude have steadied us we embrace the resolution to rebuild our lives and move forward. I get caught up in pondering these stories. How what seems impossible to live through..somehow we do. This is just another such story. Those sociological philosophic ponderings are my thoughts in regards to the subject but this particular book takes just the slightest bit of a different route. I have to give so much credit to the author, David Benioff for making this not just a WWII book but a book with so much character. This is WWII from the Russian perspective, Leningrad to be exact. The city is under siege by the Germans for whom there is no limit to the degree of their fighting the Russians at this point. They are bombing, ransacking towns, killing and rounding up the people and reeking havoc on their food supply to the point that the people are starving. (Well, the regular people are, the important people are not.) The Russian forces are fighting hard and are exhausted but their sense of loyalty to their home will not let them falter. Those who betrayed, could be shot by their own. With all of this as the backdrop, we have Lev Beniov, a 17yr old Jewish boy on his own in the city and Kolya, a 20yr old Russian soldier accused of deserting. Fate slams them together into a mad adventure/mission to find a smug Russian colonel a dozen eggs for his daughters wedding in four days or they will be killed. If considering the atmosphere and the request this sounds like an absolutely insane journey, it is. It is a preposterous request. If completed they live and get a ration card each. If not.. These two young men out of fear, hunger and a desire to live go on this seemingly impossible quest. They see sights the likes of which no human should see let alone be done to their fellow man. They jilt death at almost every turn. Through the cold, hunger and fatigue these two strangers become brothers on a journey that after reading this book, you won't soon forget. What I liked most about his book was that even though the author did deliver the necessary grit, shock and truth for a good WWII novel it had personally and connection. There is a fine balance with the delivery of a Historical Fiction novel between the facts, the story and the characters. You can't leave any of these lacking to be a success. Character connection is big with me and I experienced that connection immediately. We experienced Lev's vulnerability, his patriotism and his growth. Kolya was this gregarious, big smiling lug who even in the midst of war tried to enjoy life and look to the future. You enjoyed his hilarious commentary. If Kolya was at a party, all the men would be laughing and chugging him on the back and the ladies would be making plans to meet him in some secluded spot for a quickie. And Kolya himself would be waxing on about Ushakovoand The Courtyard Hound. This would be a great movie. I hope someday it is made into a good one. It is right along those lines with those types of movies where an unsuspecting character(s) is compelled to go on some journey that turns out to be more of an adventure with lots of strange instances, debacles and a ramshackle cast of characters that they meet along the way. Whether the goal is achieved or not, it's the experience and the connections that were the reward in the end. 5 stars. I'll always remember having read this and recommending it. I will read other books by this author. I do hope this gets a movie. I may explode more Russian oriented books thanks to this because now I'm curious. Note to author: create curiosity in a reader and readers will read till we're old and blind.
What do You think about City Of Thieves (2008)?
The 1st third of this book I was forcing myself to keep reading, it’s like this coming of age story on steroids. While I liked Lev immediately I couldn’t relate to Kolya; rather than comic relief I thought his humour just crass, but I kept reading and I was hooked. I think it was the bootless prisoner trudging through the snow with feet turned into blocks of ice when I finally got it…. It’s a horrendous story of unimaginable hardship and the author throws you right in the thick of it. Once I lightened up and stopped being moralistic I could appreciate it’s dark absurdity, I even warmed up to Kolya. Still squeamish though; this book will push your limits. It’s dark and it's crude, it’s also amazing, a heart in your mouth thriller with a bitter sweet ending.Memorable: "She leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. Her mouth was cold, her lips rough from the winter wind, and if the mystics are right and we are doomed to repeat our squalid lives ad infinitum, at least I will always return to that kiss."
—Florence (Lefty) MacIntosh
City of Thieves by David BenioffSet in the ice cold winter of January 1942 during the brutal Nazi Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade and The 900 Day Siege. Citizens of Leningrad dig for water from a broken main during the winter of 1942Background on The Siege: Instead of attacking and occupying Leningrad, the Nazis surrounded the city and cut it off from the rest of Russia, leaving the most minimal food and energy supplies for the population trapped inside to live on. The plan was for the people inside to eventually starve to death, and that exactly what happened. First, pets were hunted for food. Then stories emerged of cannibalism and then ghoulish rumors emerged of freshly buried bodies being dug up for roasting. In addition to starving to death, the winters in Leningrad are brutal and severe. It is so cold, the little bits of food are frozen solid and impossible to bite and chew. Lack of fuel also meant that wood became the only source of heat for the population. Furniture and floor boards were burned in most every single home in the city, until there was nothing left. By the end of the siege, an estimated 1.5 million people had slowly died of starvation and/or exposure. Three men burying victims of Leningrad's siege in 1942The BookSo, this story is set in the middle of this siege described above. It begins one night when 17-year-old Lev Beniov a shy, naive teenager is arrested for a minor infraction. Lev is thrown into a prison cell with Kolya, a handsome, casanova with a quick wit. Kolya is a soldier who was arrested (falsely, he says) for desertion. The two expect to be shot in the morning, but instead they are offered a deal by Colonel Grechko of the NKVD. The Colonel has a daughter about to be married. If Lev and Kolya can find a dozen eggs for the wedding cake before Thursday, they can both go free. This is a daunting task because there are no chickens, much less eggs, anywhere in Leningrad. A delicate eggshell is a great analogy for the brittle fragility of their task. This is how one of the most entertaining friendships and most thrilling adventure quests I've ever read begins. I loved this book, every word of it. The writing, the plot, the tone, the humor. The characters are especially full and detailed. There is the cool and calm Vika, an expert sniper and one of the toughest female bad-asses you'll ever meet in a book. My favorite though, was Kolya, a shameless womanizer and know-it-all with a deep affection for literature. His charm and playful humor is so intoxicating, you'll forgive his reckless swagger and fall in love with him. And we can't forget Lev, the most relatable character, who grows and changes the most in this great story. I can't remember the last time I flew through a book this quickly, unable to put it down!
—LeeAnne
This is a lovely, coming of age novel about a young (17) man in Nazi-besieged St Petersberg, Piter to the locals, who finds himself accompanied by a Soviet army deserter, named Kolya as they try to survive the horrors of war. It is, of course, a bleak landscape, with people driven mad by hunger and desperation, some to the point of cannibalism. What are people capable of? What is our young hero capable of? Can he kill? I quite enjoyed this book. It was engaging from front to end, with nicely drawn characters and payload in the form of an inside view of life under siege.
—Will Byrnes
