Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Viking Adult (2008), Hardcover, 272 pages
Description
Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: When a dead German paratrooper lands in his street, Lev is caught looting the body and dragged to jail, fearing for his life. He shares his cell with the charismatic and grandiose Kolya, a handsome young soldier arrested on desertion charges. Instead of the standard bullet in the back of the head, Lev and Kolya are given a chance at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful colonel to use in his daughter's wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt to find the impossible..
User reviews
LibraryThing member cameling
During the German siege of Leningrad, an accidental deserter of the Russian Red Army and a seventeen year old Jewish boy accused of looting from a dead German paratrooper are brought before a Russian colonel after spending a night in prison. The choice offered by the colonel : death or a quest for
Their journey brings them into contact with partisans fighting in the rural countrysides, other Russian army units, regular civilians trying to survive the German bombings, and even cannibals. Despite the horrors they encounter during their journey, the innocence of children robbed by grief and fear, and the evidence of Nazi cruelty, they each have their own form of resilience that helps them to not only survive but to protect each other.
The tale of the author's grandfather, his best friend and the woman who would become his wife is enthralling as it is sad, and has great moments where levity is the only weapon the men have against all encompassing grief. This book is sheer brilliance
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a dozen eggs within a week. Should they be successful in their quest and return with a dozen unbroken eggs for his daughter's wedding cake, they will be freed.Their journey brings them into contact with partisans fighting in the rural countrysides, other Russian army units, regular civilians trying to survive the German bombings, and even cannibals. Despite the horrors they encounter during their journey, the innocence of children robbed by grief and fear, and the evidence of Nazi cruelty, they each have their own form of resilience that helps them to not only survive but to protect each other.
The tale of the author's grandfather, his best friend and the woman who would become his wife is enthralling as it is sad, and has great moments where levity is the only weapon the men have against all encompassing grief. This book is sheer brilliance
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LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
City of Thieves takes place during the German siege of Leningrad during World War II. Lev, a Jewish boy who steals a knife from the corpse of a German soldier, is arrested along with Kolya, an army deserter. In return for their freedom, both are given the frivolous task of finding a dozen eggs in
Interweaving a story of friendship, humor, coming-of-age, and wartime atrocities, the author has scripted a thoroughly enjoyable read. Anyone who finds himself in trouble surely needs a character like Kolya who is charming and brave enough be able to pull any companion through many a formidable task. It also would not hurt to have Vika, a tiny but mighty partisan who works her own power disguised as a boy, at one's side as well.
This well-written book displays the talents of author David Benioff who formulated his story on the basis of what he learned about his grandfather's life in Leningrad at that same time in history. Benioff is also a screenwriter who gave us the screenplay adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
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the war-torn, starving area in which they live and returning those eggs to a Soviet colonel. Interweaving a story of friendship, humor, coming-of-age, and wartime atrocities, the author has scripted a thoroughly enjoyable read. Anyone who finds himself in trouble surely needs a character like Kolya who is charming and brave enough be able to pull any companion through many a formidable task. It also would not hurt to have Vika, a tiny but mighty partisan who works her own power disguised as a boy, at one's side as well.
This well-written book displays the talents of author David Benioff who formulated his story on the basis of what he learned about his grandfather's life in Leningrad at that same time in history. Benioff is also a screenwriter who gave us the screenplay adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner.
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LibraryThing member FicusFan
I picked this book up because of the recommendations of people on LT. A couple of days after I got it, one of my RL book groups decided to read it as a selection for January 2010.
The story uses the conceit of a young screenwriter going to Florida and pumping his grandfather for details of his most
The book is almost totally set in Leningrad as Lev tells of his life. His greatest adventure is meeting his best friend, the woman he will marry, and killing two Germans all while hunting for a dozen eggs under sentence of death by the NKVD (Soviet Secret Police).
It is a measure of how well Benioff did with the storytelling that I didn't hate the book. I usually find books that have characters looking back at events to be static and lifeless. You know everything worked out, otherwise the narrator wouldn't be around to tell the tale. In this book the setting and events are so interesting and odd that you forget its a re-telling and not just unfolding as you are reading. Benioff also doesn't go back to the future during the tale, so you aren't jerked out of the past world.
The characters that are the focus of the tale are believable, Lev a sheltered, bookish teenager (17) with big dreams wrapped in big fears. A charming scamp, Kolya who has great self-confidence, ideas, and appetites, but who is a brave decent man (22) who looks after the naive and frightened Lev, and others who cross his path and need his help. He has dreams and plans for the great Russian novel he is writing.
The story takes them through terrible scenes that they witness and sometimes participate in, and yet while impacting them, they never lose their humanity. It makes the tragedy at the end much worse.
The setting is war torn, frozen, starved, battered Leningrad; the danger, death and destruction is commonplace. Residents have to fear the Germans, their own police/military, and fellow citizens who will rob, kill, and even eat their own. The blurbs on the book talk about humor, but even black humor fails here. It is a quirky, odd story, but mostly I would call it quietly gruesome. The death and carnage are matter of fact and just part of the landscape, so it is quiet violence, not a shrieking look-at-me, look-at-me type of stylized Hollywood scene.
What you see is the strength of the human spirit as they struggle to survive freezing, violence and starvation, the horror of war that kills and destroys people, places, ideas and future possibilities. Benioff doesn't preach, its all very low-key.
It was a short, quick read that has a strong bittersweet ending. The writing was smooth if a bit pale at times. By the end of the story though, his quiet approach has built the story into a memorable experience.
The story uses the conceit of a young screenwriter going to Florida and pumping his grandfather for details of his most
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famous act: killing two Germans. The grandfather, Lev, was a teenager during WWII. He lived in Leningrad and was there during the Nazi siege. The book is almost totally set in Leningrad as Lev tells of his life. His greatest adventure is meeting his best friend, the woman he will marry, and killing two Germans all while hunting for a dozen eggs under sentence of death by the NKVD (Soviet Secret Police).
It is a measure of how well Benioff did with the storytelling that I didn't hate the book. I usually find books that have characters looking back at events to be static and lifeless. You know everything worked out, otherwise the narrator wouldn't be around to tell the tale. In this book the setting and events are so interesting and odd that you forget its a re-telling and not just unfolding as you are reading. Benioff also doesn't go back to the future during the tale, so you aren't jerked out of the past world.
The characters that are the focus of the tale are believable, Lev a sheltered, bookish teenager (17) with big dreams wrapped in big fears. A charming scamp, Kolya who has great self-confidence, ideas, and appetites, but who is a brave decent man (22) who looks after the naive and frightened Lev, and others who cross his path and need his help. He has dreams and plans for the great Russian novel he is writing.
The story takes them through terrible scenes that they witness and sometimes participate in, and yet while impacting them, they never lose their humanity. It makes the tragedy at the end much worse.
The setting is war torn, frozen, starved, battered Leningrad; the danger, death and destruction is commonplace. Residents have to fear the Germans, their own police/military, and fellow citizens who will rob, kill, and even eat their own. The blurbs on the book talk about humor, but even black humor fails here. It is a quirky, odd story, but mostly I would call it quietly gruesome. The death and carnage are matter of fact and just part of the landscape, so it is quiet violence, not a shrieking look-at-me, look-at-me type of stylized Hollywood scene.
What you see is the strength of the human spirit as they struggle to survive freezing, violence and starvation, the horror of war that kills and destroys people, places, ideas and future possibilities. Benioff doesn't preach, its all very low-key.
It was a short, quick read that has a strong bittersweet ending. The writing was smooth if a bit pale at times. By the end of the story though, his quiet approach has built the story into a memorable experience.
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LibraryThing member lowellisaacs
Very enjoyable read that manages to smartly combine an interesting story with a reasonable measure of history. While the backdrop is the siege of Leningrad in WWII, the story actually follows some common storyline themes or genres - coming of age and buddy road trip. Despite what could be viewed as
Lastly, as one reviewer already noted, this is a rather male oriented novel which is a nice find amid the lists of novels that appear tailored to - or at least appeals to a female audience. The friendship developed between the two male characters is most engaging and shows there is hope for creating such stories that are appealing to male readers.
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straightforward storytelling using pedestrian themes, David Benioff creates Lev and Kolya with real depth and we quickly come to identify with and care about them. The war as background reminds the reader that this is not some wild story that may exist in a Michael Chabon novel (no knock on this author) but that the brutality described is likely close to real and that a good number of Europeans suffered through similar circumstances. Lastly, as one reviewer already noted, this is a rather male oriented novel which is a nice find amid the lists of novels that appear tailored to - or at least appeals to a female audience. The friendship developed between the two male characters is most engaging and shows there is hope for creating such stories that are appealing to male readers.
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LibraryThing member dbartlett
Benioff has written an extremely absorbing novel set during the siege of Leningrad by the Germans during the second World War. Lev, a 17-year old arrested for looting, and Kolya, a soldier arrested for desertion, are saved from execution when an NKVD colonel gives them a special mission -- find a
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dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. Not an easy task, since the starving people of Leningrad have long since been reduced to eating the cats and dogs of the city. In their quest for the eggs, Lev and Kolya escape the clutches of a cannibal, become involved with a Russian partisan group, get captured by Germans, and eventually make their escape. Benioff's descriptions of wartime are chilling, yet he is also able to make you laugh out loud at times. The story is told from the point of view of the young Lev, but the braggart Kolya supplies many of the comical lines. All in all, one of the best novels I have read recently. Show Less
LibraryThing member dougwood57
Benioff spins a neat tale centered around the nearly three-year siege of Leningrad. The fictional tale is related to Benioff by his grandfather, Lev, some six decades after he survived the siege.
Lev is a 17-year-old who stayed behind when his mother and sisters left the city before the Germans
Despite its somewhat improbable premise, Benioff carries off a highly entertaining tale that is also sobering and emotional. Recommended. Those interested in the history of the siege may wish to read Harrison Salisbury's The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad, which is enjoying a much-deserved renewed life no doubt as a result of Benioff's fictional and reference to it in his afterword.
Lev is a 17-year-old who stayed behind when his mother and sisters left the city before the Germans
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closed off all access. He runs afoul of the law for an aggravated curfew violation and lands in jail where he meets Kolya, an Army deserter and writer. Instead of being shot in the morning as they expect, an NKVD colonel tasks with finding a dozen eggs - for his daughter's wedding cake. That assignment leads to a trip around some of the worst sectors of Leningrad and then to a search in the countryside where they run into Germans and partisans and where Lev meets his future wife.Despite its somewhat improbable premise, Benioff carries off a highly entertaining tale that is also sobering and emotional. Recommended. Those interested in the history of the siege may wish to read Harrison Salisbury's The 900 Days: The Siege Of Leningrad, which is enjoying a much-deserved renewed life no doubt as a result of Benioff's fictional and reference to it in his afterword.
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LibraryThing member msf59
January 1942, the siege of Leningrad. Two young Russian men are arrested, one for theft and the other for desertion. Serious war-time offenses.Enter a high-ranking officer, who is preparing a wedding for his precious daughter. He lacks a main ingredient for the wedding cake. He offers the prisoners
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a deal. If they are able to scour the ravaged streets of the ruined city and find a dozen eggs and return in a few days, they will be offered amnesty. It is a nearly impossible mission. This is a sharply-written novel, with well-crafted characters. It is both funny and horrifying. A must read! Show Less
LibraryThing member figre
What exactly does it take to become a New York Times bestseller? Of course, I know it is sales, but how do those occur? Maybe a better question – what does it take to get a good review in The Week (which is really a conglomeration of reviews)? The last is the better question for me because I
This tale is set during the siege of Leningrad when a young man (20) and an almost young man (17) are picked up (separately) by the police on charges that should have gotten them executed. However, a colonel within the city has a different plan and sends them off to find a dozen eggs within the starving city. Such an absurdity should lend itself to a vitriolic attack on the fools who exist within real battles. Nope, not what the author planned. Instead, he went with something that was a little closer to a war story. And, while he does manage to speak to the young man’s coming of age, he also manages to take an absurd situation, make it mundane, and then bring back the absurdity towards the end of the story in order to “make a point”. It really feels as if this is a book that was on the cusp of something great, and decided to just be good.
And, two quibbles with the book. First - one of the things I absolutely hated about Saving Private Ryan (a movie I really liked) was the way Spielberg felt he had to bookend the movie with current day events (the visit to the beaches). This book does the same thing by providing an introduction purporting to show the author’s grandfather is relating the story. Then, the book does not end with a revisit to the present. Great - a device I don’t like, and then there is no real closure. (Yes, I know it sounds a little like the old joke “The food was bad – and the portions were small”. But I stand by the fact that, if you are going to use a device [even if I don’t like that device], you should use it completely.) My second quibble is somewhat related. I won’t give a spoiler, but the end is far too cute. And maybe it’s an attempt to bring the present into the end of the story, but it just serves to make the entire experience too phony.
A perfectly fine book. A nice, quick read. But nothing that makes it stand out. If you’ve already picked it up, it won’t be a waste of your time. However, I wouldn’t rush out and get it if not.
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picked this book up based on that review. It’s not that I’m disappointed; it’s just that, with those recommendations, I expected something more.This tale is set during the siege of Leningrad when a young man (20) and an almost young man (17) are picked up (separately) by the police on charges that should have gotten them executed. However, a colonel within the city has a different plan and sends them off to find a dozen eggs within the starving city. Such an absurdity should lend itself to a vitriolic attack on the fools who exist within real battles. Nope, not what the author planned. Instead, he went with something that was a little closer to a war story. And, while he does manage to speak to the young man’s coming of age, he also manages to take an absurd situation, make it mundane, and then bring back the absurdity towards the end of the story in order to “make a point”. It really feels as if this is a book that was on the cusp of something great, and decided to just be good.
And, two quibbles with the book. First - one of the things I absolutely hated about Saving Private Ryan (a movie I really liked) was the way Spielberg felt he had to bookend the movie with current day events (the visit to the beaches). This book does the same thing by providing an introduction purporting to show the author’s grandfather is relating the story. Then, the book does not end with a revisit to the present. Great - a device I don’t like, and then there is no real closure. (Yes, I know it sounds a little like the old joke “The food was bad – and the portions were small”. But I stand by the fact that, if you are going to use a device [even if I don’t like that device], you should use it completely.) My second quibble is somewhat related. I won’t give a spoiler, but the end is far too cute. And maybe it’s an attempt to bring the present into the end of the story, but it just serves to make the entire experience too phony.
A perfectly fine book. A nice, quick read. But nothing that makes it stand out. If you’ve already picked it up, it won’t be a waste of your time. However, I wouldn’t rush out and get it if not.
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LibraryThing member Lisa2013
recommended by: Khaya
recommended for: ll who enjoy historical fiction; anyone interested in the Siege of Leningrad & WWII
This story and its characters hooked me right from the start. Although I took a few days to read/savor it, it’s the kind of book that I found hard to put down, and I could have
I vacillated between giving it 4 or 5 stars. Most of the way through it was a 5 star book for me. I really enjoyed the writing style, the memorable characters, the account of the circumstances, and the amazing descriptions. But, I didn’t like some of what happened toward the end, though I did understand it, and I suspected what was coming. And, I thought I didn’t like the last line, but I’d remembered enough to know it was important to go back and reread a section toward the very beginning of the book, and I’m so glad I did. The author really perfectly tied everything together; it was so well crafted. So, 5 stars it is.
Library candy! I had no idea! When I read books about starving people, here during the Siege of Leningrad, I have an overpowering urge to eat, to overeat. That happened with this book. The events in this book are truly harrowing, but there is so much humor, and humanity too, that they were bearable to read about, riveting and barely bearable, but so compelling, and so poetic.
I enjoyed and was impressed with the friendship story, and I really appreciated that war was shown as horrific as it is; one didn’t need to be a Jew in a concentration camp to experience appalling suffering or death either. As a warning to the faint hearted (and I normally count myself as one of them) I will reveal that there is brutal violence and intense suspense in this story, but it was done so well, and I didn’t feel it was done in a gratuitous manner.
Lev, Kolya, Vika, and the author are people I am likely to remember. The Siege of Leningrad was told so well, I could feel it, the hunger & the cold & the fear, and the reading experience of it and other parts of the story were completely gripping, and that’s an amazing feat. This is the kind of story that can make the reader look differently at people and wonder about the circumstances of their earlier years.
So, given the author’s name and the circumstances, I’m now wondering how much is true and how much came from the writer’s imagination.
recommended for: ll who enjoy historical fiction; anyone interested in the Siege of Leningrad & WWII
This story and its characters hooked me right from the start. Although I took a few days to read/savor it, it’s the kind of book that I found hard to put down, and I could have
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easily read it in a day.I vacillated between giving it 4 or 5 stars. Most of the way through it was a 5 star book for me. I really enjoyed the writing style, the memorable characters, the account of the circumstances, and the amazing descriptions. But, I didn’t like some of what happened toward the end, though I did understand it, and I suspected what was coming. And, I thought I didn’t like the last line, but I’d remembered enough to know it was important to go back and reread a section toward the very beginning of the book, and I’m so glad I did. The author really perfectly tied everything together; it was so well crafted. So, 5 stars it is.
Library candy! I had no idea! When I read books about starving people, here during the Siege of Leningrad, I have an overpowering urge to eat, to overeat. That happened with this book. The events in this book are truly harrowing, but there is so much humor, and humanity too, that they were bearable to read about, riveting and barely bearable, but so compelling, and so poetic.
I enjoyed and was impressed with the friendship story, and I really appreciated that war was shown as horrific as it is; one didn’t need to be a Jew in a concentration camp to experience appalling suffering or death either. As a warning to the faint hearted (and I normally count myself as one of them) I will reveal that there is brutal violence and intense suspense in this story, but it was done so well, and I didn’t feel it was done in a gratuitous manner.
Lev, Kolya, Vika, and the author are people I am likely to remember. The Siege of Leningrad was told so well, I could feel it, the hunger & the cold & the fear, and the reading experience of it and other parts of the story were completely gripping, and that’s an amazing feat. This is the kind of story that can make the reader look differently at people and wonder about the circumstances of their earlier years.
So, given the author’s name and the circumstances, I’m now wondering how much is true and how much came from the writer’s imagination.
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LibraryThing member Tambo
David Benioff’s City of Thieves is set in Leningrad, 1941, during the first winter of the siege. The story is told from the first person perspective of Benioff’s grandfather, Lev.
We join Lev at the age of seventeen. After being caught in the act of looting a dead German, he is unwillingly
The repartee between the characters in City of Thieves kept me amused, and the story moving along at a good pace held my interest.
I had one or two small plot problems concerning some unlikely coincidences, but nothing so major as to spoil my enjoyment of the book.
I’d describe City of Thieves as a three star story made into a four star book by David Benioff’s comic stylings and descriptive prowess.
We join Lev at the age of seventeen. After being caught in the act of looting a dead German, he is unwillingly
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partnered with Kolya, a soldier a few years older than Lev who is was guilty of going AWOL on New Year’s Eve. Instead of having them both shot, a high ranking Russian (with a pressing need to bake a cake) orders them out into the siege starved city with the impossible task of obtaining one dozen eggs.The repartee between the characters in City of Thieves kept me amused, and the story moving along at a good pace held my interest.
I had one or two small plot problems concerning some unlikely coincidences, but nothing so major as to spoil my enjoyment of the book.
I’d describe City of Thieves as a three star story made into a four star book by David Benioff’s comic stylings and descriptive prowess.
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LibraryThing member Girl_Detective
Lev is 17 during the siege of Leningrad. His mother and sister have left the city. His father, a poet, was taken by secret police and never returned. With his friends, he watches the night skies for German planes; one evening he sees a paratrooper. What follows leads to his arrest and imminent
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execution. In a bizarre circumstance, he and another young man, Kolya, are spared and put on a singular mission: find a dozen eggs for the wedding cake of a secret police colonel's daughter. As Lev and Kolya's adventure spins out, it becomes many things: a Nazi story, horror tale, buddy journey, tragedy, even romance. Once it gets to a bitter twist of a denouement, City of Thieves has taken on the trappings of a folk story. This is a grand tale, well written and peopled with characters I hope will linger with me. There are many books I like, and admire. This one, I flat-out loved. Show Less
LibraryThing member Copperskye
I finished this book several weeks ago and find myself still thinking about it. A wonderful, well-told story of survival and friendship in an extremely difficult time.
LibraryThing member Armand_Inezian
Reading City of Thieves is a bit like getting to know a brilliant drunkard, someone who has poetry at their fingertips and who has experienced sorrow, and euphoria, and who has a passion for life, but also someone who is slightly out of control, teetering and tottering down the street, incapable of
Here is my brief, non-spoilery plot summary: Lev, a scrappy Russian Jew with a tough history, and Kolya, an arrogant but charming army deserter, hunt across Leningrad at the height of the German siege to find a dozen fresh eggs. It's basically impossible. If they fail, they're dead men.
The plot works well, and with David Benioff also being a screen writer, he keeps things moving along at a smart pace. Terrible threats, uncertainty, possible love interest, and tiny bits of hope all threaten to carry away Lev, our pessimistic and worried protagonist. Kolya- his traveling companion- is Lev's alter ego, charming and utterly fearless, at ease with pretty women and psychotic killers. Benioff does a great job of playing the two off of each other. It's interesting as I think about it; Hollywood churns out buddy movies by the dozen, but there are too many "buddy-books", and yet City of Thieves managed to pull off being an incredible buddy book.
Besides the main characters, Benioff does a fabulous job of tackling the history of the moment. St. Petersburg- aka Piter- is a major character in this book as well. Benioff successfully articulates the suffering, the cold, and the hunger of this "city of ghosts"
Finally, there is the issue of war itself. I think that Benioff does a good job of balancing things out. He is not so adamantly antiwar as Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughter-House-Five) or Joseph Heller (Catch-22), he knows that the Russians were defending their country, but he's also not afraid of framing the absurdities, the insanity, and indefensible cruelties of war. In short, I think he does a good job of maintaining perspective.
If this book were an animal, it would be a drunken fairy tale swan. One that can talk and who wears a crown. A Royal and regal thing, but out of its element, stuck on a river of ice, tripping over its big, rubbery feet (it would rather swim) and cursing and laughing at its own fate, downing vodka.
If this book were drink, it would be "Seven Layers of Sin" which is the name that Kolya gives to some wood grain vodka that he purchases during the siege. This wood alcohol, the man from whom they buy it explains, is perfectly safe if first poured through a handkerchief folded seven times over.
As a warning: Set as it is in extreme and desperate times, City of Thieves contains a lot of graphic language (including intimate descriptions of sex acts, and genitalia, and excrement) and descriptions of seriously nasty violence. Not recommended for folks who don't like these kinds of nasty descriptions.
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refraining from cursing a vulgar, potty-mouthed blue streak. Yes, it's quite a book.Here is my brief, non-spoilery plot summary: Lev, a scrappy Russian Jew with a tough history, and Kolya, an arrogant but charming army deserter, hunt across Leningrad at the height of the German siege to find a dozen fresh eggs. It's basically impossible. If they fail, they're dead men.
The plot works well, and with David Benioff also being a screen writer, he keeps things moving along at a smart pace. Terrible threats, uncertainty, possible love interest, and tiny bits of hope all threaten to carry away Lev, our pessimistic and worried protagonist. Kolya- his traveling companion- is Lev's alter ego, charming and utterly fearless, at ease with pretty women and psychotic killers. Benioff does a great job of playing the two off of each other. It's interesting as I think about it; Hollywood churns out buddy movies by the dozen, but there are too many "buddy-books", and yet City of Thieves managed to pull off being an incredible buddy book.
Besides the main characters, Benioff does a fabulous job of tackling the history of the moment. St. Petersburg- aka Piter- is a major character in this book as well. Benioff successfully articulates the suffering, the cold, and the hunger of this "city of ghosts"
Finally, there is the issue of war itself. I think that Benioff does a good job of balancing things out. He is not so adamantly antiwar as Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughter-House-Five) or Joseph Heller (Catch-22), he knows that the Russians were defending their country, but he's also not afraid of framing the absurdities, the insanity, and indefensible cruelties of war. In short, I think he does a good job of maintaining perspective.
If this book were an animal, it would be a drunken fairy tale swan. One that can talk and who wears a crown. A Royal and regal thing, but out of its element, stuck on a river of ice, tripping over its big, rubbery feet (it would rather swim) and cursing and laughing at its own fate, downing vodka.
If this book were drink, it would be "Seven Layers of Sin" which is the name that Kolya gives to some wood grain vodka that he purchases during the siege. This wood alcohol, the man from whom they buy it explains, is perfectly safe if first poured through a handkerchief folded seven times over.
As a warning: Set as it is in extreme and desperate times, City of Thieves contains a lot of graphic language (including intimate descriptions of sex acts, and genitalia, and excrement) and descriptions of seriously nasty violence. Not recommended for folks who don't like these kinds of nasty descriptions.
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LibraryThing member cobrien1250
When I read that this book took place during the seige of Leningrad, I almost didn't read it. I'm so glad I did. It is one of the best I've read in a long time. Excellent characterizations, sad, funny, wonderfully written, compelling story.
LibraryThing member EvelinaArnesson
One of the best books I have ever read.
LibraryThing member mamashepp
Any book that can blend humor with the siege of Leningrad and do it well deserves a high rating. Benioff does a great job of giving the reader enough detail to make the horrors of the siege real without stepping into gruesome. Wonderful, believable characters; well written. One of my big complaints
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with a lot of books is that they are just too long; this one is not. Nothing redundant; action keeps moving the reader forward. If you're overly squimish, or have a problem with frank sexual discussion, you will not care for this as much. Otherwise, I highly recommend it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Awesomeness1
This dark comedy makes it mark with its original and absurd plot: a teenage Jew and a Red Army deserter pair up on a mission to find a dozen eggs in a starving, barbaric city with their lives at stake. This novel has very memorable characters and adventures to match. It will make you laugh only to
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wipe the smile off your with the horrors on every page. A resonant novel to be read by all. Benioff holds nothing back Show Less
LibraryThing member JohnJGaynard
One of the best books I have read in 2011
LibraryThing member erikschmidt
This is a splendid book. In an era of overwrought prose, this author conveys more with a restrained sentence than many can in an entire paragraph. The characters are deftly composed and the humor and tragedy balance unevenly, giving it all the feel of an absurd but real series of events. I have
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read a fair amount of WW2 history, so I was wary when my wife recommended City of Thieves. I'm glad I picked it up; I devoured it in one long plane ride. Show Less
LibraryThing member magicians_nephew
On first reading City of Thieves doesn't seem like a great book for a Book Club.
In fact it seems like nothing else but a treatment for a movie, (The author has written for "Game of Thrones" and other TV and movie venues) or just a easily disposable airport bookstore book of casual historical
Or maybe not,
At the siege of Leningrad two lamebrains - a looter and a deserter - are sent out into the starving city on a mad quest -- to obtain a dozen fresh eggs for the colonel's daughter's wedding cake.
So it's a buddy comedy - set in the hunger and cold and sudden death or a frozen war zone.
And it's a quest novel - and a coming of age novel - and a lot of other things too. It's some solid fast paced story telling.
You can nit pick - these two birds feel more like Archie and Jughead than two soulful Russians - or you can groan at the rather tacked on happy ending - or you can just go with it.
The horrors of war and siege and starvation are much in evidence here too. Be warned.
It's not a patch on the depth and passion of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate which covers the same ground with epic majesty and genuine tragedy. But it was a good book. You might give it a try.
In fact it seems like nothing else but a treatment for a movie, (The author has written for "Game of Thrones" and other TV and movie venues) or just a easily disposable airport bookstore book of casual historical
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fiction. Or maybe not,
At the siege of Leningrad two lamebrains - a looter and a deserter - are sent out into the starving city on a mad quest -- to obtain a dozen fresh eggs for the colonel's daughter's wedding cake.
So it's a buddy comedy - set in the hunger and cold and sudden death or a frozen war zone.
And it's a quest novel - and a coming of age novel - and a lot of other things too. It's some solid fast paced story telling.
You can nit pick - these two birds feel more like Archie and Jughead than two soulful Russians - or you can groan at the rather tacked on happy ending - or you can just go with it.
The horrors of war and siege and starvation are much in evidence here too. Be warned.
It's not a patch on the depth and passion of Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate which covers the same ground with epic majesty and genuine tragedy. But it was a good book. You might give it a try.
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LibraryThing member BHHSLIBRARY
This book has a deceptively simple plot: During the siege of Stalingrad, a colonel offers to spare the lives of Lev, a teenager arrested for looting, and Kolya, a soldier accused of desertion, if they find a dozen eggs to bake a wedding cake for the colonel's spoiled daughter. The only problem, of
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course, is that everyone in Stalingrad is starving to death and the city is surrounded by the German army. But over the course of four days, Lev and Kolya will discover what they truly value about their country and themselves: they will discover courage and friendship and love and change each other's lives forever. Benioff has meticulously researched this book and his characters come alive on the page, especially the irrepressible Kolya. I usually wish novels were shorter but this is one book I wanted to be longer: my time with Lev and Kolya was all too short. Show Less
LibraryThing member Marse
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It is exciting, fast-paced, has danger, sex, humor and at the end has a nice little twist back to the preface of the novel in which the author sets up his relation to the narrator. I can see why this was a best-seller--a perfect summer beach read. And yet, this
The setting is Leningrad under siege by the Nazis, the heroes are two opposites--an awkward 17 year-old Jewish son of a purged writer and a robust, horny deserter of Cossack stock with a tireless sense of humor. The two are sent on a mission to find a dozen eggs for a colonel's daughter's wedding. They have a week to find these eggs or else their lives are forfeit.
It is easy to see that this book was written by a screenwriter--their task is of utmost importance (their lives depend on it), yet is beyond ridiculous, a constant joking and humorous commentary by the deserter even in the face of almost certain death, over-the-top horrors that the two confront with the non chalance of Bruce Willis in any of his movies, the impossible defeat of a monstrous enemy by the least likely protagonist and the tragic, but not too tragic, death of a main character.
Maybe it's me, but there is something way too facile about this story. One shouldn't read a novel set during the siege of Leningrad and at the end of it feel like "hey, good story, now what's to eat?" Even the 'horrifying' parts (they come upon cannibalism, for example) is treated with the same shock that one would find in watching a "Friday, the 13th" or "Texas Chain-Saw Massacre" movie, that is no shock at all. For a much more frightening and artistically superior description of living through the siege of Leningrad, read some of Andrei Makine's stories.
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book bugs me. The setting is Leningrad under siege by the Nazis, the heroes are two opposites--an awkward 17 year-old Jewish son of a purged writer and a robust, horny deserter of Cossack stock with a tireless sense of humor. The two are sent on a mission to find a dozen eggs for a colonel's daughter's wedding. They have a week to find these eggs or else their lives are forfeit.
It is easy to see that this book was written by a screenwriter--their task is of utmost importance (their lives depend on it), yet is beyond ridiculous, a constant joking and humorous commentary by the deserter even in the face of almost certain death, over-the-top horrors that the two confront with the non chalance of Bruce Willis in any of his movies, the impossible defeat of a monstrous enemy by the least likely protagonist and the tragic, but not too tragic, death of a main character.
Maybe it's me, but there is something way too facile about this story. One shouldn't read a novel set during the siege of Leningrad and at the end of it feel like "hey, good story, now what's to eat?" Even the 'horrifying' parts (they come upon cannibalism, for example) is treated with the same shock that one would find in watching a "Friday, the 13th" or "Texas Chain-Saw Massacre" movie, that is no shock at all. For a much more frightening and artistically superior description of living through the siege of Leningrad, read some of Andrei Makine's stories.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
This story is set in Leningrad during the siege (1941) and is told by Lev Beniov, a 17 year old who's poet father was taken and killed by the NKVD and who's mother and sister have fled Leningrad. He has insisted on staying and defending his city from the Nazi incursionists.
One night, while on duty
It is here that Lev meets the charismatic Kolya,who has been charged with desserting the Red Army. Instead of being shot, these two are given the impossible task of finding a dozen eggs for the wedding of Col. Grechko's daughter. In a city where people go days without food, eggs haven't been seen in months. The journey of Lev and Kolya, who must go behind enemy lines, is fraught with danger and the author spins a haunting tale where they meet cannibals, guerrilla partisans and a branch of the German army known for their brutality.
Though adventure is the vehicle for the story, the drivers for it are the two unlikely heroes, Lev and Kolya, who surprise each other in the end and yet do not prepare you for the final conclusion. Benioff does a great job with character development. Meticulously researched and finely written.
One night, while on duty
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as a fireman protecting his floor in the apartment building, he and his friends watch as a German paratrooper falls from the sky. When they realize he is dead, they rush to strip him of anything of useful, specifically firearms. It is then that Lev is caught by the GAZ and taken to the infamous Crosses prison," that gloomy redbrick stain on the Neva, a brutish, brooding warehouse of the lost where each day the guards dragged the skin-draped skeletons out onto sledges where the dead were stacked eight high."It is here that Lev meets the charismatic Kolya,who has been charged with desserting the Red Army. Instead of being shot, these two are given the impossible task of finding a dozen eggs for the wedding of Col. Grechko's daughter. In a city where people go days without food, eggs haven't been seen in months. The journey of Lev and Kolya, who must go behind enemy lines, is fraught with danger and the author spins a haunting tale where they meet cannibals, guerrilla partisans and a branch of the German army known for their brutality.
Though adventure is the vehicle for the story, the drivers for it are the two unlikely heroes, Lev and Kolya, who surprise each other in the end and yet do not prepare you for the final conclusion. Benioff does a great job with character development. Meticulously researched and finely written.
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
I tend to love books that deal with WWII. There are so many different amazing stories to tell about people at the best and worst that take place during that awful war. Despite that, I’ve read very little about WWII in Russia, so I was excited to read this book.
Lev, the narrator, is a young naive
The plot and style of writing reminded me of the film Inglorious Bastards. There’s a good story there but you have to wade through some violence and crass language to get to it. It’s definitely targeted at a male audience with frequent references to sex, defecating, etc., and though I could have done with less of that, it’s still a great story.
This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart. Leningrad was no picnic during the Siege and Lev must face some heinous situations. Yet Benioff doesn’t dwell on the violence, he uses it to show the atrocities that human beings can do to one another under the blanket of war. It’s a powerful book that’s at once funny and heartbreaking.
“The truth might be stranger than fiction, but it needs a better editing.”
“I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept.”
Lev, the narrator, is a young naive
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man, is paired up with the worldly-wise Kolya when both men face disciplinary action in the army. They are assigned the odd task of finding a dozen eggs for a superior officer's daughter's wedding cake. Their adventure forces them to cross paths with some vicious people. Lev is forced to grow up quickly as he copes with all that he sees. The plot and style of writing reminded me of the film Inglorious Bastards. There’s a good story there but you have to wade through some violence and crass language to get to it. It’s definitely targeted at a male audience with frequent references to sex, defecating, etc., and though I could have done with less of that, it’s still a great story.
This is definitely not a book for the faint of heart. Leningrad was no picnic during the Siege and Lev must face some heinous situations. Yet Benioff doesn’t dwell on the violence, he uses it to show the atrocities that human beings can do to one another under the blanket of war. It’s a powerful book that’s at once funny and heartbreaking.
“The truth might be stranger than fiction, but it needs a better editing.”
“I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept.”
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LibraryThing member Drifter83
This is one of the better books I've read in some time. Good plot, quality writing, interesting characters - City of Thieves has it all.The war setting makes every scene a bit more anxious, particularly when juxtaposed with otherwise light or humorous situations. Benioff does a nice job
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establishing the atmosphere, and then staying in it completely. I particularly like that the story has a deadline; you know that everything that is going to happen has to happen in under a week. This works very well at driving the plot along, even when the characters are forced to take detours.The writing is also very well constructed. Benioff is descriptive without being overly flowery or verbose, and he does an especially good job of establishing the mood with his words. This is most evident in his treatment of the characters' greatest preoccupations: hunger and cold. He tends to go on mini-tangents, but they never last long and seem to be consistent with the characters and their thoughts.As far as the characters, both Lev and Kolya are particularly well developed. As the reader, you feel about each character as they must feel about each other. Lev is shy and pitiable, but loyal and intelligent. Kolya is obnoxiously charming, and you can't help but love him. The two never quite get each other, but they certainly enjoy trying to learn.Two final notes: first, I enjoyed the ending of this book, which is where many stories tend to fall short. Second, I liked the length of this book. It is fairly short for a novel, but this works well with the deadline in the story, and also keeps the writing or characters from getting stale. A good book should always leave you wanting more. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2010)
Alex Award (2009)
Indies Choice Book Award (Honor Book — 2009)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2011)
This Mystery is Amazing! (#3 — 2011)
Notable Books List (Fiction — 2009)
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
272 p.; 8.98 inches
ISBN
0670018708 / 9780670018703