M. T. Anderson's Symphony for the City of the Dead recounts the career of Dmitri Shostakovich during the Great Terror of Stalin's purges in the 1930s through World War II, in particular during the siege of Leningrad, and his composition of his seventh symphony. While the general details of this are known, Anderson recounts the horrors of both Stalin's purges and the horrific suffering of the people in Leningrad during 1941-42. A city of over 2.5 million was reduced to about 575,000 during the 876-day-long siege. People died at such alarming rates that citizens became used to simply walking past dead bodies on the streets. Some resorted to eating corpses and cannibalism, while other Leningraders came together in remarkable community to try to survive. At times, Anderson's prose and judicious use of contemporary diaries nearly reduced me to tears as I read it.

During this horrid crisis, Shostokovich, still benefitting from the tremendous popularity of his 5th symphony, was encourage by the Communist Party to compose a symphony for his hometown. He didn't spend the entire time in Leningrad, as the government saw fit to get Shostakovich out. But it was never far from his mind and he dedicated the symphony to Leningrad.

Anderson's treatment of Shostakovich and his music suggests the power of music and the arts generally, but also paints Shostakovich's voice as the music of a people and nation. While Dmitri Dmitrievich seemed to fall in and out of favor with the Stalinist government, and then back in, his compositions seemed to tell stories of his life and even of the lives of the listeners himself.

This is a work of Young Adult Nonfiction, so at times Anderson seems to oversimplify complex issues. Nevertheless, he offers a very even-handed portrait of a complex man in a complex time.

Highly recommended.

“The performance of the Seventh Symphony in besieged Leningrad is remembered now as a turning point in the assault, but only because it changed the way people saw themselves and the war effort. It shaped. memory” (353).

While reading this, something else was niggling at the back of my mind. Another title. Another Russia. I moved on and backward in time to read Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dimitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad. You may, however, know this title as was a 2015 National Book Award Longlist in Young People’s Literature. These two titles are so well suited to be read in tandem as Symphony while detailing the biography of Shostakovich, relentlessly mires the reader in the love that Russians of all classes feel towards their music and their composers. This book is monumental. Simply put. It will appear on the last summer reading list I make for my students this year. It will be strongly suggested. I want them to know the contents: the dangers of maniacal dictators and how this power rises; the resiliency and unimaginable sacrifices of the Russian people who were an afterthought by world powers; the importance of the creative spirit in combating fear, horrors, and injustice.

This book is long and sometimes slow moving. I loved this book for its descriptions of Russia during WWII. I had no idea how many Russian lives were lost during WWII. I also had no idea of Stalin's brutality and lack of caring toward his people. I recommend this for 14 and up.

The book is a little technical and difficult to get into, but it's absolutely worth the read! It describes the horror that occured in Leningrad during WWII, but also, the genius of a composer whose music helped saved the city and endeared the US to the plight of the citizens in Leningrad.

One of the most fascinating and horrifying concepts:
"The USSR was devastated by [WWII]. . . . The war’s wounds would take generations to heal.
How were the Russians able to withstand this onslaught? It is one of the sick ironies of the war that they probably would not have been able to if they had not learned to absorb loss in the nightmare of Stalin’s purges. Peasants and workers, soldiers and the intelligentsia — all were used to clinging fiercely to life even when everything seemed lost. Stalin could demand things of his people few other regimes could imagine . . . As Sir Alan Brooke has written, 'It was the Russians who provided the oceans of blood necessary to defeat Germany.'"

Extraordinary. The dystopian world that Stalin created helped Hitler in his assault on Russia. Dimtri Shostakovich's 7th symphony created the goodwill that encouraged the people of USA to fundraise for supplies for the beleaguered Russian people. Sounds like a fairytale; only wish it were.
informative inspiring sad medium-paced

This is an astonishing accounting of the life of the Russian composer Shostakovich and an incredibly informative explanation of events leading up to and following the siege of Leningrad (St Petersburgh, Petrograd, Stalingrad?) and speaks to the unspeakable atrocities of Lenin, and Stalin and has implications for our contemporary experience with Putin.
My wife and I had the privilege to tour St Petersburgh several years ago and marveled at such treasures as the restore Amber Room of the Catherine Palace, Hermitage and other touristy attractions which likely are not the same or possible in our current torrential times.
I am really in awe of the tragic experiences recorded and cannot help but marvel at the fortitude that seems to be evident in the Slavic peoples as depicted in this work.

Biography of Shostakovich, with particular emphasis on the siege of Leningrad. Marketed for YA, but fine for adults. Doesn't sugarcoat the horrors of Stalin and the siege. Meticulously researched yet extremely readable. Lots of photographs, excellent layout.
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jenlengland's review

4.0
challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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This was wonderful - moving, horrifying, and thoughtful in all the necessary ways. (It was also beautifully produced, just really satisfying to hold and look at physically.) Read this with Shostakovich's seventh symphony playing in the background, and if you don't get chills, there's no hope for humanity.