Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars. Quick read, liked the story, had never learned about what had happened in Russia during WWII, so that was interesting.
Glad I wasn't in St. Petersberg in WWII. Benioff makes it even more interesting by introducing us to some memorable characters. Worth the read.
I'm basing this review on the audiobook, but overall I really enjoyed this story. The characters, even the minor ones, all had an impact on the story. I loved that I was never sure how it would end (other than that the narrator likely survived), and that learning about the backstory of the Lev and Kolya was an integral part as to how their journey unfolded. A bonus for the audiobook version: Ron Perlman's narration was superb.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Based on the WW II escapades of two young lads who are out to steal a dozen eggs in a curfew laden, starving Leningrad ( or Piter, as the Leningrad folks prefer to call it), the City of Thieves is the story of how war turns boys into men pretty harshly and how humanity copes with the horrors that come with war. Lev Beniov ( the books hints to have fiction mixed with facts and appears to be narrated by in the voice of Benioff's grandfather ) and Nikolai 'Kolya' Vlasov are ordered by a Colonel to steal a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake in a war-torn starving city and offers a barter: go scotfree of the petty crimes that they have been arrested for if they succeed or face execution if they fail. Set in the backdrop of a World War, the mood alternates between war horrors and buoyant optimism. The shades of friendship the lads strike up, albeit a grudgingly by Lev, make you smile and get all teary-eyed alternately in the book.
Of course, this is a story about war. But more than that, it is also about survival mechanisms of the human brain. It's also about various forms of courage, ranging from acts of chivalrous gallantry about saving girls forced into oppression by the Germans, to challenging a German Officer over a match of chess and then killing him. I won't get into the full story and give away spoilers, but it has more threads and emotions that the word World War will evoke. The author painted a vivid image of frozen, torn down Leningrad, involving lots of snow, ear-splitting sounds fighter plane droning in the sky, how the military perpetuates oppression but the germans are worse and so on. It is a tale of melancholy sometimes when young Lev reminisces about his missing and presumably dead poet father. This is how he mentions him once in the book.
And then, there is Kolya, who views even worn battered Russia with rose tinted glasses. There is something about him, underneath all the smartass-ness and cockiness, that appeals to you and endears him to you. He gets you to feel optimistic about stealing a dozen eggs in a city which definitely has none. He makes you feel optimistic about walking into a German Officer's quarters and challenging him to a game of chess. He is your quintessential "can overcome any odds with sheer chutzpah" lucky chap. Okay, I will stop here, I will probably tell you the rest of the story here itself.
My Rating: 4 stars out 5
Recommendation: Don't put this away thinking of it to be just another war story. It's much more than the war, it's also about human emotions and how circumstances change the way one expresses them.
Of course, this is a story about war. But more than that, it is also about survival mechanisms of the human brain. It's also about various forms of courage, ranging from acts of chivalrous gallantry about saving girls forced into oppression by the Germans, to challenging a German Officer over a match of chess and then killing him. I won't get into the full story and give away spoilers, but it has more threads and emotions that the word World War will evoke. The author painted a vivid image of frozen, torn down Leningrad, involving lots of snow, ear-splitting sounds fighter plane droning in the sky, how the military perpetuates oppression but the germans are worse and so on. It is a tale of melancholy sometimes when young Lev reminisces about his missing and presumably dead poet father. This is how he mentions him once in the book.
If he was buried, there is no marker; if he was burned, there is no urn.
And then, there is Kolya, who views even worn battered Russia with rose tinted glasses. There is something about him, underneath all the smartass-ness and cockiness, that appeals to you and endears him to you. He gets you to feel optimistic about stealing a dozen eggs in a city which definitely has none. He makes you feel optimistic about walking into a German Officer's quarters and challenging him to a game of chess. He is your quintessential "can overcome any odds with sheer chutzpah" lucky chap. Okay, I will stop here, I will probably tell you the rest of the story here itself.
My Rating: 4 stars out 5
Recommendation: Don't put this away thinking of it to be just another war story. It's much more than the war, it's also about human emotions and how circumstances change the way one expresses them.
I absolutely enjoyed (almost) every minute I spent with this book. In many ways it reminded me of Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird, but the overall tone of this book was much brighter. Lev and Koyla are stuck in prison during the last days of the siege of Leningrad destined to die, but their luck turns when they are offered a chance to save their lives if they can return with a dozen eggs so a Soviet colonel's wife can bake the very necessary wedding cake for their daughter's upcoming big day - because even in the middle of a war, a wedding isn't a wedding without a cake. It's moments like this that bring levity to the story set in cold and dreary Russia during WWII. Excellent.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Great book from beginning to end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Mr Benioff, I need to forgive you for GOT last season because you have written a book that I feel will be a favorite of all time.
Find a book that changes your mood for the whole day after you put it down. Find it and keep it close. Share it and cherish it. For me, this was one of those books.
What a journey this was. It tore my chest apart in certain moments.
Gandalf says "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" (unless you don't mind spoilers!)
First of all, these characters were just something else. Kolya I just cannot find the right words. It's too fresh and it left me weak in the knees. He was one of a kind.
I did enjoy Lev's point of view. Benioff stream of consciousness with Lev was credible and thought-provoking. Lev might say something out loud for example and then question what he had just said in his mind as most of us often do which made him feel so tangible. I did pick up a couple of times on the quantity of sexual pining Lev does toward any woman he came across. I get it, he's a young boy deprived of so many of those human interactions and experiences that those of us who know no war are lucky to experience but still, I kept noticing it. Initially with some annoyance and then just as something so innate to Lev that it became like reading about him walking. Just something he does. But, just to be honest, I think that the quantity of sexual content in the novel is a bit far-fetched for a hypothetical memoire and considering that we are to believe that this is the grandpa's story told to his nephew. I just have some doubts that the grandfather would spend so much time going into so many details on how much any girl he met aroused him and what he wanted to do with her. He might say "I fancied her" but would he really go on a whole monologue and describe his sexual fantasy so starkly to the nephew? And I know that in the book the grandfather gives the author the go-ahead to embellish the story but still...it's what made me think: nah, this is not a true story, he is making it up (indeed it is made up by the way).
Not that in the end mattered much because, while I owe myself to be honest even when I love something on its potential perceived flaws, there were so many more things I loved about this story than I did not.
Every scene and encounter was a wonder. Such a hard read because it held truths. It made me appreciate how privileged I am.
So many small back and forth between Lev and Kolya or Kolya's statements made my mind consider so many important points. Like Kolya's discussing the hypocrisy of famous people in encouraging others to fight and then go hide in safety. Or Lev admission that murder was a means for him to finally gain power and did not leave much space for guilt and remorse. Kolya's never-to-be book. And what the general told Lev in the last few pages regarding not saying anything? Do I need to say anything else? The general would say no.
Darling! I was so upset about the rooster.
The animal cruelty was hard to read for me. But also the war is cruel and I by no means think he should have skipped over it. Some things are hard to read and still need to be read, but boy did it hurt!
Zoya bit? Sucker punched me. That house with the girls in the middle of the woods will not leave my thoughts anytime soon. Kolya's last moments I know never will.
I did predict correctly who Lev would eventually marry. Halfway through the novel I wrote in my notes: "I love Vik,I mean if she dies I'd be destroyed. And Kolya. I know he's probably a goner but he did leave a mark". I was already so in love with his character and I knew it was likely to end badly but I had no idea what a mark Kolya would leave by the end.
Indeed, when the time came, I wasn't ready. I literally groaned and burst into tears and kept crying throughout the last 20 or so pages. It devastated me. I think it's a loss I'm going to carry as if I knew Kolya personally too. And in a sense, I did. I knew him throughout his existence, didn't I? If you have read this book, then you know him too that well.
I had a good feeling about this book before opening the first page, to be honest.
I didn't struggle to see behind the prose and execution of this novel the man that had brought us GOT (and worked on Troy).
Kolya, Vik and Lev stole my heart and City of Thieves is the proof that a novel doesn't have to be perfect (but I'd argue this probably almost is perfect); it just needs to be meaningful.
*quick FYI: I have a booktube channel! You can find me at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKINi_gWxRVjojxMeKtKi1Q*
Find a book that changes your mood for the whole day after you put it down. Find it and keep it close. Share it and cherish it. For me, this was one of those books.
What a journey this was. It tore my chest apart in certain moments.
Gandalf says "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" (unless you don't mind spoilers!)
First of all, these characters were just something else. Kolya I just cannot find the right words. It's too fresh and it left me weak in the knees. He was one of a kind.
I did enjoy Lev's point of view. Benioff stream of consciousness with Lev was credible and thought-provoking. Lev might say something out loud for example and then question what he had just said in his mind as most of us often do which made him feel so tangible. I did pick up a couple of times on the quantity of sexual pining Lev does toward any woman he came across. I get it, he's a young boy deprived of so many of those human interactions and experiences that those of us who know no war are lucky to experience but still, I kept noticing it. Initially with some annoyance and then just as something so innate to Lev that it became like reading about him walking. Just something he does. But, just to be honest, I think that the quantity of sexual content in the novel is a bit far-fetched for a hypothetical memoire and considering that we are to believe that this is the grandpa's story told to his nephew. I just have some doubts that the grandfather would spend so much time going into so many details on how much any girl he met aroused him and what he wanted to do with her. He might say "I fancied her" but would he really go on a whole monologue and describe his sexual fantasy so starkly to the nephew? And I know that in the book the grandfather gives the author the go-ahead to embellish the story but still...it's what made me think: nah, this is not a true story, he is making it up (indeed it is made up by the way).
Not that in the end mattered much because, while I owe myself to be honest even when I love something on its potential perceived flaws, there were so many more things I loved about this story than I did not.
Every scene and encounter was a wonder. Such a hard read because it held truths. It made me appreciate how privileged I am.
So many small back and forth between Lev and Kolya or Kolya's statements made my mind consider so many important points. Like Kolya's discussing the hypocrisy of famous people in encouraging others to fight and then go hide in safety. Or Lev admission that murder was a means for him to finally gain power and did not leave much space for guilt and remorse. Kolya's never-to-be book. And what the general told Lev in the last few pages regarding not saying anything? Do I need to say anything else? The general would say no.
Darling! I was so upset about the rooster.
The animal cruelty was hard to read for me. But also the war is cruel and I by no means think he should have skipped over it. Some things are hard to read and still need to be read, but boy did it hurt!
Zoya bit? Sucker punched me. That house with the girls in the middle of the woods will not leave my thoughts anytime soon. Kolya's last moments I know never will.
I did predict correctly who Lev would eventually marry. Halfway through the novel I wrote in my notes: "I love Vik,I mean if she dies I'd be destroyed. And Kolya. I know he's probably a goner but he did leave a mark". I was already so in love with his character and I knew it was likely to end badly but I had no idea what a mark Kolya would leave by the end.
Indeed, when the time came, I wasn't ready. I literally groaned and burst into tears and kept crying throughout the last 20 or so pages. It devastated me. I think it's a loss I'm going to carry as if I knew Kolya personally too. And in a sense, I did. I knew him throughout his existence, didn't I? If you have read this book, then you know him too that well.
I had a good feeling about this book before opening the first page, to be honest.
I didn't struggle to see behind the prose and execution of this novel the man that had brought us GOT (and worked on Troy).
Kolya, Vik and Lev stole my heart and City of Thieves is the proof that a novel doesn't have to be perfect (but I'd argue this probably almost is perfect); it just needs to be meaningful.
*quick FYI: I have a booktube channel! You can find me at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKINi_gWxRVjojxMeKtKi1Q*