City of thieves by david benioff book club discussion. Set in russia during world war 2, city of thieves follows the adventures of 17yearold lev as he and kolya, a 20yearold russian army officer, must find a dozen eggs for the wedding of a colonels daughter during the siege of leningrad. Game of thrones, city of thieves and telling lies for grown ups duration. No recent novel ive read travels so quickly and surely between registers, from humor to devastation benioff reminds us. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 258 pages and is available in hardcover format. In any case, he remarks on the peculiar surrealism of the most recent couple of days as he veers between terrible close demise. Summary as wise and funny as it is thrilling and originalthe story of two young men on an impossible adventure. Lev and kolya are thrown together by circumstance when lev is arrested as a looter when a dead german is found in his neighborhood. Identify and contextualize the following excerpts from city of thieves 1. My grandfather, the knife fighter, killed two germans before he was eighteen. I tackled the book in my usual cheating way, without dice, winning every battle and being lucky all the time. You dont have to be a lover of war literature or a fan of historical fiction to appreciate city of thieves. The city of thieves quotes below are all either spoken by abendroth or refer to abendroth.
The improbable birth of australia the stolen chapters story thieves arabian nights illustrated edition of the tales of the thousand and one nights, including aladdin and the wonderful lamp, ali baba and the forty thieves, and sindbad the sailor a book of spirits and thieves white city, black city. Abendroth accurately surmises that vika is a young lady, lev is a jew and each of them three are extremely proficient. It is, in part, a coming of age story set in the world war ii siege of leningrad. It is an exhilarating but fearful story where the main 2 protagonists, lev and koyla, have been. Our reading guide for city of thieves by david benioff includes a book club. City of thieves a novel david benioff phoenix union high school. Benioffs finest achievement in city of thieves has been to banish all possible pretensions from his novel, which never wears its research on its sleeve, and to deliver a roughandtumble tale that clenches humor, savagery, and pathos squarely. Readersguide liked david benioffs city of thieves, about the siege of leningrad during wwii, so when we decided to read together for an afternoonas much together as we could, considering our time zones are three hours aparti chose it as my indulgence for the day, and found it a good story in which to get lost for a while. City of thieves by david benioff, which was the may book club selection, is set during wwii on the western front of the war between 1942 and 1945, though mostly during the nearly 900 day siege of leningrad, which was cut off from supplies of food and more.
This 32page guide for city of thieves by david benioff includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 27 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis. City of thieves david benioff, 2008 penguin group usa 272 pp. But for the most part, they and the minor characters satisfyingly inhabit the historical wreckage. City of thieves by david benioff david benioffs second novel following the 25th hour is a modern masterpiece, a work that is both heartstopping and heartbreaking and one worthy of occupying the same shelf as wartime classics like catch22 and slaughterhousefive. A writer visits his retired grandparents in florida to document their. Monty was an antihero, but benioff made the reader root for him as a selfaware cog in a. Two teenaged boys, lev and kolya, embark on an seemingly impossible taskto gather a dozen eggs for the wedding cake of a soviet colonelin order to escape death sentences. This to me was a very powerful statement since the reader is left questioning whether the rest of the novel is really what the grandfather said or. In any case, he is very dazzled that they figured out how to. This novel was sparked by taperecorded memories of author. Free download or read online city of thieves pdf epub book. Somehow, i knew i would need a twoday block because the story was so tight, the plot so extravagantly dark and twisted. City of thieves audiobook david benioff hd audio books. This book is very linear and does not offer many paths to victory.
That book featured a handsome new york city drug dealer named montgomery brogan a workingclass boy forced to appear tougher than he felt who was whiling away his last hours as a free man before heading off to a notoriously brutal upstate prison. City of thieves is tender, illuminating, and, be warned, often shocking. City of thieves is a 2008 historical fiction novel by david benioff. If any character could be identified as the novels antagonist, abendroth would easily claim the title. City of thieves reads like a novelized buddy movie think butch cassidy and the sundance kid or thelma and louise. Lev, at 17, is a fireman for the city, and sits on the roof covering of his apartment building with his pals vera, grisha, and also oleg. City of thieves is a comingofage story brilliantly amplified by its wartorn backdropat times lev and kolya seem too free from the strictures of soviet ideology. As a child i found mapping this town was pretty tricky although thankfully there are plenty of online resources to refer to these days. Nonetheless, he is quite impressed that they managed to fool the other nazi officers. Wartime is tough and as the journey of the two lead characters is followed, the author very realistically depicts the starvation, suffering and constant state of fear the russians live with. We only learned about the facts about how many people died because of starvation. Suggested by adrev for a 3rd party the low gold orchestra mountain heart part 2 official music video.
Horrific events are reported the reader observes, but does not relate. City of thieves is a really entertaining book that not only takes into account a period in the second world war, that has its own defining history, but it concentrates on the relationship that develops between 2 men under these unique circumstances. They each come equipped with an improbably deep understanding of their society. So if you read city of thieves and don t feel compelled to run out immediately and shout about it in the street, we ll give you two different, fantastic books for free. City of thieves was a book i really enjoyed as a child.
Pdf city of thieves book by david benioff free download. Lev beniov, a young man, is alone in the city, his mother and sister have been. City of thieves showed us the extent people went to and the emotion behind everything that is happening to their lives. Khaled hosseinifour months into the siege of leningrad, the city is starving. The character of abendroth in city of thieves from litcharts the.
City of thieves by david beniofflevs vivid narration and the historical detail that make this an enthralling novel, says robert collins. City of thieves chapter 23 summary freebooksummary. I dont remember anyone telling meit was something i always seemed to know, the way i knew the yankees wore pinstripes for home games and gray for the road. David, the narrator of the prologue, tells the reader that his grandfather lev killed two germans in a knife fight before he was 18, and that this knowledge is just something he knows, not anything hed ever been told. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Abendroth correctly guesses that vika is a girl, lev is a jew and all three of them are really literate. Lev and kolya then join the partisans to hunt for abendroth, a notorious. The book i am reading is city of thieves by david benioff.
The following version of this book was used to create the guide. I remember my friend spencer reading it before, so i called him and asked if it was a good book. Lev, kolya and vika are taken to the dreaded abendroth for the chess game. A novel to download this book the link is on the last the nines roll over book details author. City of thieves summary and study guide supersummary. The first edition of the novel was published in 2008, and was written by david benioff.
A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. City of thieves is the rare book written by a screenwriter that works because it is written by a screenwriter. The backdrop for this historical fiction novel is the siege of leningrad during wwii. Kolya manages to convince him that they are simply. The city of thieves community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. In this, especially, benioffs background as a screenwriter is evident. This 32page guide for city of thieves by david benioff includes detailed chapter. In the prologue, a 34yearold american named david asked his russian grandfather to tell him about his past. City of thieves is a comingofage story brilliantly amplified by its worntorn backdrop.
From the writer of the awardwinning game of thrones series for hbo based on the books of george r. We touched on how people starved but never actually heard peoples stories. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one. Seventeenyearold lev fears for his life when he is arrested for looting the body. Vera identifies a german soldier dropping from the sky in a parachute and also the four diminished right into the street to check out. Although engaging, city of thieves does not contain great emotional depths. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. Author and screenwriter david benioffs second novel, set during the siege of leningrad, crosses genre lines even as his characters cross battle lines to. And he was a tougher man than you, so you cant impress her with toughness. He describes his grandfather as a small, quiet, smiling man. City of thieves chapters 2224 analysis freebooksummary. Benioffs finest achievement in city of thieves has been to banish all possible pretensions from his novel, which never wears its research on its sleeve, and to deliver a roughandtumble tale that clenches humor, savagery, and pathos squarely together on the same page. Excerpt from city of thieves by david benioff, plus links. The main characters of this historical, historical fiction story are lev beniov, kolya nikolai alexandrovich vlasov.
In the introduction of the city of thieves, the grandfathers last words are. Abendroths patience is wearing thin, and he tells kolya that he has the power to kill kolya and rape vika later. As wise and funny as it is thrilling and originalthe story of two young men on an impossible adventurea writer visits his retired grandparents in florida to document their experience during the infamous siege of leningrad. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. His grandmother wont talk about it, but his grandfather reluctantly consents. My guess is she was a little bit in love with that korsakov. The captivated lev isnt prevented by the likelihood that the object of his expressions of love might be from the nkvd, and vikas coquettish conduct during the mornings walk gives the primary sign that his sentiments might be returned.
I picked up this little world war ii novel at this bookstore in san diego, and buried it away in my apartment, only reaching for it when i had a little time to read. Although the first chapter begins to frame the story as biography. Lev, kolya and vika are taken to the feared abendroth for the chess game. The result is the captivating odyssey of two young men trying to survive against. Novelist and screenwriter benioffs glorious second novel the 25th hour, 2000 is a wild actionpacked quest, and much else besides. Abendroth is intrigued by the motivation behind the bet, particularly the request for a dozen eggs.