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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
Beautiful story, loved the narration of the audio book. 4.5
This review originally ran on Everyday eBook
A YA Debut for All Ages: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
Occasionally someone will suggest a book to you, telling you how amazing it is and comparing it to a book beyond compare. I am always leery of these suggestions, as it is rare that they ever live up to the expectations I form. When Anna and the Swallow Man was suggested as a flat-out fantastic read and compared to [b: The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390053681s/19063.jpg|878368], well, you can only imagine my skepticism. However, despite being [a: Gavriel Savit|8300713|Gavriel Savit|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1455747293p2/8300713.jpg]'s debut, it indeed lived up to the comparison; in fact, it rose above what I had hoped.
Savit has set his book in Poland during World War II. When Anna's father does not return after a meeting at the university where he teaches, Anna is left alone and unable to enter their apartment. A chance meeting with a man who can seemingly communicate with swallows leads her to a new, unforeseen journey. Unwilling to give his legal name, he becomes "The Swallow Man." The two begin to wander the country, trying to stay alive and evade starvation, capture, and death.
Savit's writing is beautiful, sparse, and poetic; it is easy to forget this is his first book. The writing complements the horrific circumstances of the time. The Swallow Man becomes a father figure and guardian to young Anna, and as they walk the country over years, this is the story they present to the world. He is an enigma to Anna and to us; random hints are dropped as to what his real story may be, but he never reveals his past or anything personal that could possibly be used against him. He spins tales and explains things to Anna in such a way that she can understand what is happening in the world without hearing the horrific reality, which she is exposed to enough while walking.
The end of the book, in particular the way the Swallow Man's story ends, is slightly confusing and seemed out of place to me; I would have preferred more mystery. However, Savit has managed to give the reader hope in a world ravaged by death and fear. While comparisons to [b: The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390053681s/19063.jpg|878368] are apt, Anna and the Swallow Man deserves recognition as its own triumph of a novel. Although it is called Young Adult fiction, I urge any reader to pick it up -- it transcends any age category. Adults and teens alike will be swept up in Anna and the Swallow Man's journey.
A YA Debut for All Ages: Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit
Occasionally someone will suggest a book to you, telling you how amazing it is and comparing it to a book beyond compare. I am always leery of these suggestions, as it is rare that they ever live up to the expectations I form. When Anna and the Swallow Man was suggested as a flat-out fantastic read and compared to [b: The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390053681s/19063.jpg|878368], well, you can only imagine my skepticism. However, despite being [a: Gavriel Savit|8300713|Gavriel Savit|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1455747293p2/8300713.jpg]'s debut, it indeed lived up to the comparison; in fact, it rose above what I had hoped.
Savit has set his book in Poland during World War II. When Anna's father does not return after a meeting at the university where he teaches, Anna is left alone and unable to enter their apartment. A chance meeting with a man who can seemingly communicate with swallows leads her to a new, unforeseen journey. Unwilling to give his legal name, he becomes "The Swallow Man." The two begin to wander the country, trying to stay alive and evade starvation, capture, and death.
Savit's writing is beautiful, sparse, and poetic; it is easy to forget this is his first book. The writing complements the horrific circumstances of the time. The Swallow Man becomes a father figure and guardian to young Anna, and as they walk the country over years, this is the story they present to the world. He is an enigma to Anna and to us; random hints are dropped as to what his real story may be, but he never reveals his past or anything personal that could possibly be used against him. He spins tales and explains things to Anna in such a way that she can understand what is happening in the world without hearing the horrific reality, which she is exposed to enough while walking.
The end of the book, in particular the way the Swallow Man's story ends, is slightly confusing and seemed out of place to me; I would have preferred more mystery. However, Savit has managed to give the reader hope in a world ravaged by death and fear. While comparisons to [b: The Book Thief|19063|The Book Thief|Markus Zusak|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1390053681s/19063.jpg|878368] are apt, Anna and the Swallow Man deserves recognition as its own triumph of a novel. Although it is called Young Adult fiction, I urge any reader to pick it up -- it transcends any age category. Adults and teens alike will be swept up in Anna and the Swallow Man's journey.
Review also appears on my blog here.
I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher.
Anna and the Swallow Man is set in 1939 Poland as Germany begins to exert its power over the country. The story follows Anna, a sheltered seven-year-old girl, after her scholar father has been taken by the Germans. She meets a man who, like her, can speak many languages and dubs him the Swallow Man after he shows her how he talks to birds. Seeing that she is alone, he takes her under his wing and the two struggle to survive as the world erupts into war.
I saw this book being compared to Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and knew that I needed to get my hands on it. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed. The story, though not narrated by Anna, depends largely on what she experiences and because of this we learn more as she grows and begins to see things differently. We see the Swallow Man as an almost magical character at the story’s beginning and by the end have a much better understanding of him as a man. In this way, the book relies on the reader to fill in some of the blanks that Anna leaves and it kept me hooked as I tried to put together the pieces throughout the story.
Anna and the Swallow Man follows Anna and the Swallow Man as they move throughout Poland; avoiding soldiers when they can and deceiving them when they cannot. Though the two depend on each other to survive, they share very little of their pasts with one another. The Swallow Man refuses to even share his name, posing instead as Anna’s father in front of others and allowing her to call him Swallow Man when the two are alone. By bartering and befriending strangers, the two are able to survive even the harsh winters of Poland as they move from place to place on a mission that the Swallow Man finally reveals to Anna when she questions their journey.
This book was absolutely beautiful; from the language used to the beautiful watercolor pictures at the beginning of each chapter. It’s also safe to say that more than a few tears were shed during the reading of Anna and the Swallow Man. Seeing what was happening to Poland through Anna’s young eyes was heartbreaking. Twists and turns kept me reading late into the night and I felt as though I were holding my breath to the very end. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone, no matter their age.
I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher.
Anna and the Swallow Man is set in 1939 Poland as Germany begins to exert its power over the country. The story follows Anna, a sheltered seven-year-old girl, after her scholar father has been taken by the Germans. She meets a man who, like her, can speak many languages and dubs him the Swallow Man after he shows her how he talks to birds. Seeing that she is alone, he takes her under his wing and the two struggle to survive as the world erupts into war.
I saw this book being compared to Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and knew that I needed to get my hands on it. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed. The story, though not narrated by Anna, depends largely on what she experiences and because of this we learn more as she grows and begins to see things differently. We see the Swallow Man as an almost magical character at the story’s beginning and by the end have a much better understanding of him as a man. In this way, the book relies on the reader to fill in some of the blanks that Anna leaves and it kept me hooked as I tried to put together the pieces throughout the story.
Anna and the Swallow Man follows Anna and the Swallow Man as they move throughout Poland; avoiding soldiers when they can and deceiving them when they cannot. Though the two depend on each other to survive, they share very little of their pasts with one another. The Swallow Man refuses to even share his name, posing instead as Anna’s father in front of others and allowing her to call him Swallow Man when the two are alone. By bartering and befriending strangers, the two are able to survive even the harsh winters of Poland as they move from place to place on a mission that the Swallow Man finally reveals to Anna when she questions their journey.
This book was absolutely beautiful; from the language used to the beautiful watercolor pictures at the beginning of each chapter. It’s also safe to say that more than a few tears were shed during the reading of Anna and the Swallow Man. Seeing what was happening to Poland through Anna’s young eyes was heartbreaking. Twists and turns kept me reading late into the night and I felt as though I were holding my breath to the very end. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone, no matter their age.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Let me start by saying this is a very strange book, that upset me in several ways. I picked it up because of the comparisons to "The Book Thief", which I loved. I found it disturbing on several levels. One - Anna, aged 7, is left to fend for herself after her father, a talented linguistics professor is seized by the Germans. Anna waits for a day or so, and is spurned by neighbors, and former friends of her fathers. Locked out of their apartment, her mother long dead, she heads for the streets. There, she meets up with a mysterious man, who also speaks many languages, and calms her by having a beautiful bird come and land on his hand. She decides to follow him, and for years they evade the war, scavenging the Polish countryside.
Mystery 1: One, I found her complete and total reliance on this adult male stranger a little creepy. The swallow man as Anna calls him, controls their every move. She must "forget" her identity as Anna, learn to speak "Road" a new language he has devised, and begin a life of deception and survival. After a time, the swallow man reluctantly allows a third party to travel with them, the Jewish man Reb Hirschl, who brings some music and joy back into Anna's life. While traveling with the two men, Anna is out in the woods going to the bathroom when a peddler happens upon her. Immediately you call tell that Anna has become his prey. After spending a day telling stories, the Reb and the Swallow Man argue about a course of action, both wanting to protect Anna, but through different courses of action. More disturbing is the peddler claims to recognize the Swallow man, and offers his wares for "some time alone" with Anna. Equally creepy is the "meat" that the peddler offers them - a human arm. The swallow man disappears in the night, kills the peddler, and Reb who is disgusted by what he sees as the swallow mans betrayal of a moral code - a point where he becomes "a spiller of blood, a taker of life - all because the peddler recognized him." Reb leaves the trio, and a week later they find that he has hung himself.
Mystery #2: The swallow man takes pills. Lots of them - religiously. After discovering Reb's body, they stay in an abandoned house, Swallow Man runs out of pills, and appears to loose his mind. You would think that the pills are for a depression or anxiety condition. Not so. Later, as a last resort, Anna finds the prescription for 130 mg of potassium iodide, which is traditionally used to protect the thyroid from radiation poisoning, or as an expectorant. Swallow Man is described as being mentally ill. This did not make sense to me. Another truly abhorrent scene, Anna goes to a pharmacy with the prescription for the Swallow Man, and is forced to undress and "assume positions" for the pleasure of the pharmacist.
Mystery #3: After getting to Gdansk, Anna overhears a conversation that would indicate that "Swallow Man" is also a professor. And, and years of caring for Anna, he takes her to a man in a boat, who takes her away, presumably to freedom and a new life outside of occupied Poland. He also alludes to the fact that she can kill this mysterious fisherman, the same way he killed the peddler, if necessary.
Mystery #4: Unbelievable. It was totally unbelievable to me that this older man and a young girl were able to travel about war torn, occupied Poland for years without getting caught, shot, etc.
Mystery #5: the baby shoe? Greta? did I miss the clues as to how we were supposed to understand these very important references?????
Sorry, but this was no "Book Thief" for me. I also never cared for the Swallow Man - he was just too mysterious, too cold, and you did not learn enough about him as a character to really care. Anna also was supposed to be 7 when the ordeal began, but did not really act like a 7 year old. I did not feel I really knew her, but instead read about vivid descriptions of the travels of this mysterious pair. I just had no connection personally with these characters. The whole thing was bizarre.
Mystery 1: One, I found her complete and total reliance on this adult male stranger a little creepy. The swallow man as Anna calls him, controls their every move. She must "forget" her identity as Anna, learn to speak "Road" a new language he has devised, and begin a life of deception and survival. After a time, the swallow man reluctantly allows a third party to travel with them, the Jewish man Reb Hirschl, who brings some music and joy back into Anna's life. While traveling with the two men, Anna is out in the woods going to the bathroom when a peddler happens upon her. Immediately you call tell that Anna has become his prey. After spending a day telling stories, the Reb and the Swallow Man argue about a course of action, both wanting to protect Anna, but through different courses of action. More disturbing is the peddler claims to recognize the Swallow man, and offers his wares for "some time alone" with Anna. Equally creepy is the "meat" that the peddler offers them - a human arm. The swallow man disappears in the night, kills the peddler, and Reb who is disgusted by what he sees as the swallow mans betrayal of a moral code - a point where he becomes "a spiller of blood, a taker of life - all because the peddler recognized him." Reb leaves the trio, and a week later they find that he has hung himself.
Mystery #2: The swallow man takes pills. Lots of them - religiously. After discovering Reb's body, they stay in an abandoned house, Swallow Man runs out of pills, and appears to loose his mind. You would think that the pills are for a depression or anxiety condition. Not so. Later, as a last resort, Anna finds the prescription for 130 mg of potassium iodide, which is traditionally used to protect the thyroid from radiation poisoning, or as an expectorant. Swallow Man is described as being mentally ill. This did not make sense to me. Another truly abhorrent scene, Anna goes to a pharmacy with the prescription for the Swallow Man, and is forced to undress and "assume positions" for the pleasure of the pharmacist.
Mystery #3: After getting to Gdansk, Anna overhears a conversation that would indicate that "Swallow Man" is also a professor. And, and years of caring for Anna, he takes her to a man in a boat, who takes her away, presumably to freedom and a new life outside of occupied Poland. He also alludes to the fact that she can kill this mysterious fisherman, the same way he killed the peddler, if necessary.
Mystery #4: Unbelievable. It was totally unbelievable to me that this older man and a young girl were able to travel about war torn, occupied Poland for years without getting caught, shot, etc.
Mystery #5: the baby shoe? Greta? did I miss the clues as to how we were supposed to understand these very important references?????
Sorry, but this was no "Book Thief" for me. I also never cared for the Swallow Man - he was just too mysterious, too cold, and you did not learn enough about him as a character to really care. Anna also was supposed to be 7 when the ordeal began, but did not really act like a 7 year old. I did not feel I really knew her, but instead read about vivid descriptions of the travels of this mysterious pair. I just had no connection personally with these characters. The whole thing was bizarre.
I really liked it, but it ended so abruptly! It didn’t feel over, and there were too many strange, unanswered questions for me
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I listened to this audiobook with my 13 year old. It was similar in theme to that Oscar winning film Life is Beautiful. It was very well written and the characters were compelling. The prose was spare and starkly poetic on surviving WWII in Poland. But I didn’t give it 4 stars because the last 20% took a steep plunge into more depressing and disturbing scenes. Even my son said it felt like a different person wrote the ending. Of course there was no happy ending for millions in that historic time and place but the final chapters broke the magical hopeful heart of the main character.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Suicide, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent
I thought this was the type of book that I would love. I like how books like these have a flair of enchanting the reader in without actually giving a lot to be desired.
At least that was what I'm expecting, but I'm just more confused than anything.
For a 240-page book, it took me weeks before I could finish this. To be honest, it feels like a lengthy narrative. While it gives us a great deal of layering and shaping the Shallow Man into a complex character, I could not sympathize nor grasp the total enigma the author had tried to place to this character. Or maybe I'm just too stupid to understand that there is isn't anything really to such a character and leaving it up in the air for everyone to reason.
Mind you, I liked this book (far better than a few notable war-related stories I've read in these past months). As with Anna and the Shallow Man's relationship lingers to dependency and as war goes, mutualistic need -- I do not tire of reading people striving for survival in wars and it's shocking horrors.
At least that was what I'm expecting, but I'm just more confused than anything.
For a 240-page book, it took me weeks before I could finish this. To be honest, it feels like a lengthy narrative. While it gives us a great deal of layering and shaping the Shallow Man into a complex character, I could not sympathize nor grasp the total enigma the author had tried to place to this character. Or maybe I'm just too stupid to understand that there is isn't anything really to such a character and leaving it up in the air for everyone to reason.
Mind you, I liked this book (far better than a few notable war-related stories I've read in these past months). As with Anna and the Shallow Man's relationship lingers to dependency and as war goes, mutualistic need -- I do not tire of reading people striving for survival in wars and it's shocking horrors.