“City of Thieves” by David Benioff
I went into this City of Thieves blind, not knowing what to expect. What I found was a well researched and entertaining story of a side of the Second World War that we don’t hear a lot about in the West. However, there was something about it stopping clicking with me as well as I thought it should have.
During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet 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 through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.
I received my copy of City of Thieves as part of my Mr B’s Emporium book subscription. (Something I very much recommend). This meant I had no idea what to expect from it, other than knowing it had been selected based on my stated preferences.
Now, let me ask you a question. Going from the book cover, what genre would you be expecting? Me, I thought it was going to be Fantasy. Is that just me?
In fact, it’s actually Historical Fiction, set during the Siege of Leningrad.
The story is introduced as the recollections of Benioff’s grandfather telling the story of how he met his wife during the war. According to the author, this is all fiction, but it works from a story point of view. By giving us this modern viewpoint, we are brought into the story far more effectively than had we just come in cold.
The plot revolves around two Russian youths; a looter and a deserter. Both crimes have the death penalty, but a high ranking colonel makes them an offer. The city is starving, but he wants a dozen eggs to make his birthday cake. If the two of them can find these within 72 hours, he’ll spare their lives.
On its own, this seems ridiculous. The city is about to fall to the German Army, people are starving, and a colonel is looking for eggs? But in context, it works. The core of this story is about the absurdity of war. This desire of men in power to want the ridiculous which people around them are dying fits this perfectly.
The story is well researched, has a good pace, and all of the characters are engaging.
And yet, something was stopping me from getting invested. The further I got, the more I couldn’t work out why I wasn’t more engrossed. I just couldn’t put my finger on why.
It wasn’t until the final scenes that it hit me.
City of Thieves is essentially a retelling of All Quiet on the Western Front.
If I hadn’t read the other book so recently, it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me. Both books are about a young man trying to survive during the absurdity of war. In a series of largely separate set pieces, we are shown different, almost absurd vignettes of ways different people learn to survive during wartime. The only real connecting line being the futility of war, reminding us that, beneath it all, we’re all just animals fighting to survive.
I don't want to put people off reading this by highlighting the similarity. It's a good modern retelling of the story, in a different setting.
Overall, this was an enjoyable book just just couldn't quite break through to hit that extra level. I wonder now if I would have been able to get into it more if I’d noticed the similarities to All Quiet On The Western Front from the start. Either way, I can definitely recommend City of Thieves.
