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City of Thieves A Novel David Benioff 9780670018703 Books

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City of Thieves A Novel David Benioff 9780670018703 Books

Excellent!! What a fresh read, it was such a change of pace to have Kolya, a witty, horny young private, set as a main character with Lev during a wartime novel. I loved it, laughed along, envisioned the wretched scenery. David Benioff is very detailed and has a way of developing the characters thoroughly through out the entire book.
I recommend this to anyone and would love to read this again some time. I look forward to reading more of David Benioff

update: a lot of the reviews have said its "unnecessarily vulgar", I do not agree at all. It's wartime for crying out loud. The sexual vulgarity is not held back, it's probably exactly how most of those soldiers talked or thought. I know current day soldiers are the same way, why would these men not be? Why would he exclude that from the writing that an old man is recounting from his experience? Kolya was a man who did not hide his thoughts, of course they would be shared if he thought them.


Tags : City of Thieves: A Novel [David Benioff] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Documenting his reluctant grandparents' experiences during the infamous siege of Leningrad, a young writer learns his grandfather's story about how a military deserter and he endeavored to secure their pardons by gathering hard-to-find ingredients for a powerful colonel's daughter's wedding cake.,David Benioff,City of Thieves: A Novel,Viking Penguin,0670018708,Domestic fiction.,Saint Petersburg (Russia);History;Siege, 1941-1944;Fiction.,Survival;Fiction.,AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,Domestic fiction,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction Literary,Fiction-Literary,GENERAL,General Adult,History,Literary,Saint Petersburg (Russia),Siege, 1941-1944,Survival,United States

City of Thieves A Novel David Benioff 9780670018703 Books Reviews

I don't think I'll ever look at a dozen eggs the same way again. I'll always think of Lev, and Kolya will be one of the people I would pick to Have lunch with. The war was always present of course. But it was about it in a way that made light of the horrors, through Kolya, because that's what some people did to survive without going insane.
The plot was really unique, if course. I mean, eggs? All of the characters were amazing. I was truly sad to see some of them go. I won't be forgetting them anytime soon.This is a book that tugged at my heart.
I don't usually read historical fiction, especially novels about war. I've never watched Game of Thrones. Yet somehow I was intrigued by the premise of this novel by David Benioff. I tried a free sample and I was hooked . I never thought of choosing a novel about the siege of Leningrad , wherein the two protagonists are a Jew and a deserter from the Red Army, who meet by happenstance when they are captured and imprisoned overnight then released to attempt to complete a special task for a Colonel.
The story is narrated by Lev, a seventeen year old Jewish boy. It could be a coming of age story, or " buddy road trip", but it isn't . The banter between the two young men is amusing and natural, and it helps to offset some of the heavier parts, but this a story of a dark time in history.
In spite of the subject matter, I found this to be an easy read and a quick read, mainly because I couldn't put it down. I wanted to get to the end and find out how it was concluded.
This is one of the best books I've ever read. Loved it from beginning to end. The characters are so rich and real, and the reader is immersed into a plot with palpable tension. The story takes place over just a week or two, so you can imagine the intensity of every interaction and exchange. It is the story of a 17 year old boy in WWII during the siege of Leningrad, when the city is cut off from all supplies including of course food. He is given an impossible task to complete by a Soviet officer bring back a dozen eggs for my daughter's wedding cake. This is a time of extreme desperation, where the starving people were eating pets, and even each other. So finding a dozen eggs is truly an impossible task. Lev gets another young man as a companion for the search and their adventure is one you will not forget. When you finish the book, immediately go back and reread the first chapter to bring the story full circle. This is an amazing work!
I loved this book. David Benioff sure can write! Whether you're interested in WWII and the siege of Leningrad, or if you're just looking for a suspenseful, warm, creative, funny/tragic story, I recommend without hesitation. I stayed immersed in the story from the first sentence to the last, not a moment dragged, and it far exceeded my expectations.
This was a really enjoyable book, especially for someone with tastes for the perils of reality. I won't say a taste for books on war, because that really isn't the case. This is a book on surviving the experience of war. Not taking sides or fighting, just getting through it alive. Experiences change, realities change. It is quite compelling, great characters, and tightly put together. Just enough of a hint of fairy tale to make it very Russian. While it dealt with the war, it really was pretty light on horrific story matter, especially for a writer involved in Game of Thrones. While I can't rate it with my all time favorite books, I really did enjoy it, and I did read in nearly in one sitting and I did feel I was there enough to give it a five star rating. I don't think this is an easy area to write in. That this is a wonderfully written book in this area alone makes it worth reading.
After reading Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah I specifically looked for another novel set during the Siege of Leningrad. I am so glad I did. Although the background is the same the books were very different and illustrated the time and place in very different ways. This book feels starker, quieter while Winter Garden felt bleaker and more crowded. I think the difference may be there due to the masculinity versus femininity. Winter Garden centers on female characters and is written and narrated by a woman, while this one centers on male characters and is written and narrated by a man. I highly recommend both. I read them back-to-back over two long travel days and will likely read more soon. The time and place is fascinating and juxtaposes nicely to the lives most of us live today.

I read some excellent reviews that told you why the book was excellent or detailed why it wasn't a 5 star book but was still highly recommended. I will not try to provide the same detail as those reviews as I never put any spoilers into my reviews and they did such a great job that I do not feel the need to add to them. However, I will say that the starkness of this book, the way it is written in such a matter-of-fact way, appealed to me. It painted a picture in a completely different way than any other historical fiction book I have read, and that style of storytelling made this novel a moving, thought-provoking story of hardship and perseverance.
Excellent!! What a fresh read, it was such a change of pace to have Kolya, a witty, horny young private, set as a main character with Lev during a wartime novel. I loved it, laughed along, envisioned the wretched scenery. David Benioff is very detailed and has a way of developing the characters thoroughly through out the entire book.
I recommend this to anyone and would love to read this again some time. I look forward to reading more of David Benioff

update a lot of the reviews have said its "unnecessarily vulgar", I do not agree at all. It's wartime for crying out loud. The sexual vulgarity is not held back, it's probably exactly how most of those soldiers talked or thought. I know current day soldiers are the same way, why would these men not be? Why would he exclude that from the writing that an old man is recounting from his experience? Kolya was a man who did not hide his thoughts, of course they would be shared if he thought them.