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35 reviews for:
Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin's Sniper
Foreword by Martin Pegler, Lyudmila Pavlichenko
4.0 AVERAGE
35 reviews for:
Lady Death: The Memoirs of Stalin's Sniper
Foreword by Martin Pegler, Lyudmila Pavlichenko
4.0 AVERAGE
slow-paced
There are two distinct parts to this book for me. The war part and the diplomat part.
For me the war part was a wonderful tale of survival. How Lyudmila became a sniper and defended her country during a world war. Her thoughts, descriptions and observations were fantastic. Made it very easy for me to see her surroundings and imagine what she was going through.
A terrible time to live for sure.
The diplomat side left me wanting. In fact i did not finish the entire book because of it. It became boring for me.
All in all this is a good historical recount of the beginning of WWII from someone who lived through it. If diplomacy interests you then ignore my comments about being boring and read the book.
For me the war part was a wonderful tale of survival. How Lyudmila became a sniper and defended her country during a world war. Her thoughts, descriptions and observations were fantastic. Made it very easy for me to see her surroundings and imagine what she was going through.
A terrible time to live for sure.
The diplomat side left me wanting. In fact i did not finish the entire book because of it. It became boring for me.
All in all this is a good historical recount of the beginning of WWII from someone who lived through it. If diplomacy interests you then ignore my comments about being boring and read the book.
3.5 stars, good with some bad. The good : It’s a valuable look at the experiences of an eastern front sniper from the early period, and a mostly unvarnished look at the experiences of a female soldier in frontline combat, and dealing with the expectations of men around her. In that sense, there is a unique combination of what might be called feminism with a true love of and appreciation of shooting and weaponry that very much resonates with me as a female competitive shooter today. I feel as though I’d have loved to have spoken with her or spent an afternoon at the range with her. Some of her discussions of ballistics, shooting techniques,, specific weapons and glass, specific ammunition and so on almost feels like a chance to talk shop with her. And so much of what she said on these topics remains entirely relevant and accurate today - in fact the Mosin rifle she used is still seeing combat today in the Russo-Ukraine War.
I appreciated her professional competence and fury as a soldier with her full femininity understood in a mostly traditional sense. For her there was no tension, and here again it feels as though she was in part a kindred spirit.
There are also some interesting impressions from her visits to the USA and the UK, especially her impressions of Eleanor Roosevelt.
The bad - some gross factual errors, eg, her statement that as of 1942 (!) the USA had never had a bomb dropped on its territory, some omissions (no discussion of Russia’s complicity in the invasion of Poland, its uncalled-for invasion of Finland ) and some creepy hero worship of Stalin, one of history’s great mass murderers. There are also some troublingly racist descriptions of eg Romanian soldiers.
In all I think it’s a good read if you are interested in snipers and their weapons and techniques, in the female combat experience, and in experience of the Eastern Front, early war period, from the USSR side.
I appreciated her professional competence and fury as a soldier with her full femininity understood in a mostly traditional sense. For her there was no tension, and here again it feels as though she was in part a kindred spirit.
There are also some interesting impressions from her visits to the USA and the UK, especially her impressions of Eleanor Roosevelt.
The bad - some gross factual errors, eg, her statement that as of 1942 (!) the USA had never had a bomb dropped on its territory, some omissions (no discussion of Russia’s complicity in the invasion of Poland, its uncalled-for invasion of Finland ) and some creepy hero worship of Stalin, one of history’s great mass murderers. There are also some troublingly racist descriptions of eg Romanian soldiers.
In all I think it’s a good read if you are interested in snipers and their weapons and techniques, in the female combat experience, and in experience of the Eastern Front, early war period, from the USSR side.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.5
A bit impersonal for an autobiography, but very interesting and detailed.
A bit impersonal for an autobiography, but very interesting and detailed.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Lyudmila is a beast! I admire her strength and dedication to her role in the war. I juat wished that she's still with Alexei Kitsenko after the war ended. I adore her moments with Eleanor Roosevelt when the former was in the US.
This memoir has some parts that are kinda difficult for me to read, especially when it gets technical with the weapons involved. I enjoyed her personal moments more.
Reading Time: 7h 15m
This memoir has some parts that are kinda difficult for me to read, especially when it gets technical with the weapons involved. I enjoyed her personal moments more.
Reading Time: 7h 15m