City of Thieves: A Novel by David Benioff
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Book Reviews of City of Thieves: A Novel
Book Review: Another masterpiece of fiction from the brilliant mind of David Benioff
Summary: 5 Stars
David Friedman (son of Goldman Sachs ex-Chairman Stephen Friedman IMDB tells me!) - writing under the name of David Benioff - is in the stratospheric league of Michael Crichton when it comes to crafting first-rate novels and screenplays that are every bit their equal. With 'City of Thieves,' Benioff is two for two with novels - Thieves and The 25th Hour have all the hallmarks of Crichton: tight, well-researched and flat-out thrilling. On the screenplay side, Stay is a personal favorite. I think there was some mismarketing on that one. In my mind, it's a masterpiece in every way.
Benioff also adapted his own work for the screen: Spike Lee directed his take of 'The 25th Hour.' He's also penned Troy (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition), The Kite Runner and the just-released X-Men Origins: Wolverine [Theatrical Release]. Plus, in checking IMDB, I see he's just written a screenplay which will bring an English language re-make of Susanne Bier's outstanding Danish film, Brothers, to US screens in 2009. Usually I'd say something here like "no way this tops the original"...but with Benioff writing (and Jim Sheridan directing), it's got a very good shot.
City of Thieves is outstanding. Here's hoping we'll see it on screens sometime in the future. I have to imagine directors the world over salivating at the chance to stage some of the book's taut encounters, the chess scene foremost. I re-read that scene four or five times just to drink in all the drama and sharply written detail. I imagine even a chess grandmaster would be thrilled with care and consideration given the game being played, even though it's merely backdrop to what else is happening at the time.
Book Review: A Narrative Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
The city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) survived one of the longest and most devastating sieges in history. During World War II it was besieged by German forces for 900 grueling days. The fact that this city managed to survive the onslaught of German Wehrmacht is the testament to the resilience and spirit of its citizens. The story of "The City of Thieves" focuses on one extraordinary episode in the lives of two young protagonists, seventeen year old Lev and his unlikely friend Kolya who were given a task of finding a dozen eggs for the wedding cake of the daughter of NKVD general. In a city that has not seen any fresh food supplies in months, this turns out to be a highly nontrivial task. Their adventures turn out to be extremely dangerous and increasingly daring, and the reader is continuously held tight in the grips of very exciting and poignant narrative. The story is based on actual events, and at the start of the book we have been told that Lev is no one else but the author's own grandfather, now living in the US. The original story apparently had many gaps and inconsistencies, so the author has taken a healthy dose of artistic freedom and woven the event into a tight and compelling narrative. The fictionalized story is told so masterfully that we never for once stop to wonder how much of it is actually true. All of it has more than a solid ring of plausibility to it, and the reader is transported into 1940s Russia. Although the story has many bleak and frightening moments, there is also a strong dose of basic optimism about life and the world that pervades it throughout. One of the things that really impressed me was the skillfully constructed narratives that had a very convincing ring to them. The words and thought of characters really felt like they were translated into English directly from Russian. Once I started reading the book, it was impossible for me to put it down. I stayed up one night well after the midnight in order to finish reading it. In the light of that, I would strongly recommend that you set aside a significant amount of time before you venture to read this book.Book Review: Classic Novel Lurking
Summary: 5 Stars
City of Thieves begins with author David Benioff deciding that his life is not interesting enough to be the subject of an article he is writing, so he turns to his grandfather, a Russian immigrant who survived the Siege of Leningrad, for help. What follows is a story of desperation, friendship, and the depths humans will sink to when placed on the edge of survival.
The story centers around Lev, a young Russian who is arrested for looting in Leningrad during World War II. He is soon paired with Kolya, a Russian soldier accused of desertion, and the two are given a simple mission: find a dozen eggs in the starved shell of a city that Leningrad has become. If they succeed, they will be given a reprieve. Fail, and they will starve to death, as the colonel, who needs the eggs for his daughter's wedding cake, has taken their ration cards.
We follow Lev and Kolya throughout the city, as they battle cannibals and witness the unspeakable madness that starvation can bring to people. Eventually they venture outside the city on their quest, deep into German held territory. They encounter a group of militia that saves their lives, and in this group we meet Vika, a slender girl who is an expert sniper. Vika quickly becomes the object of Lev's affection. I won't say much more for fear of giving away too much of the plot, but the success of the egg retrieval (and the three Russian's lives) comes down to a game of chess.
This book is a classic page turner. The characters drive the plot and provide the life of this novel. Kolya quotes Tolstoy and other great Russian literati, all the while complaining about the knowledge of his fellow Russians. Lev, whose point of view the story is told through, is in a constant internal dialogue regarding his father, who was a poet executed by Russian secret police. Vika is a cold blooded killer, but traces of compassion and humanity surface occasionally. The book has a twist at the end, but it's not hard to see it coming if you pay attention.
This is a great novel that will captivate almost anyone. I recommend it highly.
Book Review: You'll laugh so hard ... you just might cry.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the few examples of a dust jacket that belies the book's contents by way of understatement. On the other hand, no blurb on the back cover could possibly do the book justice: it is tragic and comic and suspenseful and intelligent and, for my money, a better book even than that heavy-handed classic satire of war, CATCH 22.
Ostensibly the story of Benioff's grandfather, the real hero of the novel is Kolya, the narrator's companion and a character that is charismatic, bold, reckless and lovable in a way that we all know, because we have all known someone like Kolya. (Strangely enough, it is the characters that are the most archetypal that are also the most personal, most near to us.) In any case, Kolya and the narrator are brought together by what begins as an archetypal quest, though the "call to adventure" is more of a "fall," and the grail that is sought is no more than a dozen eggs for a powerful Colonel.
By turns, the book becomes surreal, but in a way that is only possible in war (and hence in real life): dead bodies falling from the sky, the kitchen of cannibals, soldiers frozen upright in the snow like dead trophies that no one wishes (or is able) to claim. It's a story that could only be told surrealistically to tell it truthfully, and yet amidst the horror and the grotesquery there is love, friendship, and laughter.
Benioff is extremely deft at integrating the humor with the horror, so much so that this is a book that can have you in stitches even as your eyes will want to shed tears---again, as is only possible in real life.
As a veteran, I felt close to the characters and some of their situations. Benioff's ability to bring such vivid imagery to the story is a testament to his skill as a writer; indeed, Benioff does for the siege of Leningrad what Stephen Crane did for the Civil War, and he manages to do so without the cynicism that so often colors literary war novels. The imagery of war, its events themselves, should say enough, and here they do...beautifully.
Highly recommended.
Book Review: Compelling Piece of Historical Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars
This terrific novel is set during the siege of Leningrad in WWII. The primary character is a seventeen year old arrested for looting the body of a dead German paratrooper. He is forced to join forces with a 20 year old suspected deserter after their very brief prison stint. The two are sent off to find a dozen eggs in the city that has been famished for months. The looter is a naive young man with few life experiences. To listen to the deserter, he has all the experiences that life can offer while being the ultimate literary scholar and critic. He is the ultimate in self-confidence. The two young men's relationship grows as they begin their search for the eggs. The search takes them out of the city and into occupied territory with all the "adventures" one could expect and some one could not.
There is dark humor in the book, while the horrors of war, siege and famine are on more than equal display. This is a tale of survival as well as a certain coming of age. The boy stayed in Leningrad after his mother and sister left so he could man-up and fight the Germans. Doing so, brought the reality of war home in striking contrast to his prior romantic vision. The author also shows the dichotomy of one fascist country fighting another. As awful as Mother Russia was to the boy's father and family, it is still his mother country and he will fight for it.
The writing is terrific. The two main characters are wonderfully fleshed out and some of their dialogue is priceless. One must smile at the deserter's words, while feeling the pain and loneliness of the looter's. The supporting cast is also good, although there is really only one other character (the young female sniper) who plays anything more than a bit part.
This is a novel that treads the fine line between telling the seriousness of war while keeping a human and, at times, humorous side to it. Mr. Benioff does this well. He does not diminish the horrors of famine and war while still having some very human humor thrown in along the way. Highly recommended.