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City of Thieves

Author: David Benioff
Copyright: 2008
Type: Fiction
Finished: September 7, 2019

Rating: ★★★★★

Image from Amazon

I went from the pure escapism of Son of Tarzan to one of the grittiest, intense novels I’ve ever read,  in City of Thieves by David Benioff. The protagonist, Lev, is a teenage watchman in his apartment building in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) during the German siege in the winter of 1941-1942. Benioff paints a devastating portrait of the cold and deprivation under the siege.

“At night the wind blew so loud and long it startled you when it stopped; the shutter hinges of the burned out cafe on the corner would quit creaking for a few ominous seconds, as if a predator neared and the smaller animals hushed in terror.” [p 7]

There were no wooden shutters in the hinges since they had long since been used as firewood. By the time of the story everything was gone from the city. 

“We spent our spare time hunting rats, who must have thought the disappearance of the city’s cats was the answer to all their ancient prayers, until they realized there was nothing left to eat in the garbage.” [p 10]

And then one night he and his friends spotted a German aviator parachuting into the city. At first, they thought the impending attack had begun. But actually it was just a lone pilot who had ejected during a bombing run. The friends rushed down to investigate and grabbed some of the dead man’s belongings including a knife and a flask of Cognac, his wallet, watch, and a knife – which Lev kept. Having these items was a state crime – stealing from the people. The group and the corpse were soon discovered by Russian soldiers on patrol; all got away except Lev whom the soldiers decided “was a good one for the Colonel.” [p 16] . He was thrown in a dark prison cell and was sure he’d be executed in the morning. 

Lev was terrified

“…contrary to popular belief, the experience of terror does not make you braver. Perhaps, though, it is easier to hide your fear when you’re afraid all the time.” [p 18]

At some point he is joined in the dark cell by a Russian army deserter Kolya. In the morning the two were brought before the colonel in charge of defending the city. He did not have them executed, but he did take their ration cards and gave them a chance – return in a few days time with a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter’s wedding. Without ration cards, they’d die of starvation so they had to do something.

Kolya is a good counterbalance to the taciturn Lev.

“Kolya’s blue eyes, neither fear nor anger nor excitement about the prospect of a fight—nothing. This, I came to learn, was his gift: danger made him calm.” [p 50]

This attribute would come in handy over the next few days. The rest of the novel follows this mismatched pair on their scavenger hunt. The things they see and hear about are horrifying. The deprivation and degradation of the “Piter” residents, the countryside, and the Germans is appalling. After a day and night in the city they decide they have to go out to the countryside behind enemy lines to find the eggs. This novel is compelling and is a book I almost couldn’t put down. But I’d have to put it down for a few hours just to process what I had read. 

“The days had become a confusion of catastrophes; what seemed impossible in the afternoon was blunt fact by the evening. German corpses fell from the sky; … [summary of events edited so as to not spoil the plot]…I had no food in my belly, no fat on my bones, and no energy to reflect on this parade of atrocities. I just kept moving, hoping to find another half slice of bread for myself and a dozen eggs for the colonel’s daughter.” [p 212”]

Benioff bases much of his work on “Harrison Salisbury’s masterpiece, The 900 Days [which] remains the best English-language book on the siege of Leningrad.” [p 259] He was also the head writer of the Game of Thrones TV adaptation (which I never watched or read) and wrote the screenplay of The Kite Runner. Perhaps that experience and approach is why this novel is so fast paced. 

I highly recommend novel, but steel yourself.

The Son of Tarzan

Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Copyright: 1915 (Original)
Type: Fiction
Finished: August 31, 2019

Rating: ★★★

Image from Amazon

For a misogynistic, racist, and scientifically inaccurate novel, this is a fun read. Lord Greystoke (Tarzan) is living back in London with his wife and teenage son, Jack. They keep Jack in the dark about his father’s identify but the Tarzan spirit is strong in this one. Tarzan’s friend Akut the Killer Ape ends up in London – you’ll have to read it to find out how – and Jack contrives to return Akut to Africa. One thing leads to another and yadda, yadda, yadda, Jack turns into Korak the Killer in Africa.

Run-ins with whites and blacks turns Korak into a loner;  until one day he rescues Meriem from an Arab sheik and they start an innocent life together along with Akut. But poor Meriem, she is captured by bad men so many times it’s hard to keep count. In the midst of her travails she is rescued – temporarily – by the Great White Hunter she knows only as Bwana and his wife “My Dear”. 

Although it ends up being too much of “Perils of Pauline” (a 1914 movie serial) for Meriem, it can be a fun read and an interesting look into early 20th century adventure stories. I especially liked some of the narrative descriptions of action. At one point Jack is fighting with a man and his helped out by Akut.

“[Condon’s] eyes bulged in horror at the realization of the truth which that glance revealed.” [Loc 471]

Moments later…

“His head whirled in the sudden blackness which rims eternity.”  [Loc 475]

But my favorite florid description is when Korak is forced to defend himself against an indiginous group.

“Weighted down as he was by dogs and warriors he still managed to struggle to his feet. To right and left he swung crushing blows to the faces of his human antagonists…

A knob stick aimed at him by an ebon Hercules he caught and wrested from his antagonist, and then the blacks experienced to the full the possibilities for punishment that lay within those smooth flowing muscles beneath the velvet brown skin of the strange, white giant.” [Loc 1646]

Does Meriem get freed from her various tormentors? Does Korak the Killer ever reunite with his family? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out. 

The Kindle edition is available free on Amazon thanks to the Gutenberg Project; so all it will cost is a day or two of your time. For pure escapism this is fun page turner, just be prepared to bring a willing suspension of disbelief. [Coleridge]

Chances Are
Author: Richard Russo
Type: Fiction
Finished: August 21, 2019
Copyright: 2019

Rating: ★★★★★

Image from Amazon

Lincoln, Teddy, and Mickey were college friends who worked together cooking and cleaning for a women’s sorority house in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Their paths diverged on the military draft night of December 1969.

“Earlier, while serving the girls’ dinner, they’d been in the same boat, but now their birthdays made individuals of them, people with singular destinies, and one by one they drifted away, back to their dorm rooms and apartments, where they would call their parents and girlfriends and discuss the fact that their lives had just changed, some for the better, others for the worse, their grades and SATs and popularity suddenly beside the point.” [Loc 113]

“Lincoln and Teddy, both luckier on a night when that – not smart, not rich – was what you wanted desperately to be” [Loc 126]

All three were in love with Jacy- a  young rich woman who lived in the sorority. Over 50 years later the three men gather back to Lincoln’s family vacation home on the east coast. The main topic of discussion is what happened to Jacy. No one seems to know and the speculation is widespread. There is a touch of murder mystery in the story.

After describing the events on draft night, Russo masterfully drops back into the men’s childhoods and we see the formation of three distinct characters. Russo is one of my favorite novelists and his skills are on display in this story. The characters are richly drawn and distinct. He carries much of the action forward through dialog instead of droning on in narrative. In other words, Russo shows his characters through dialog and action rather than merely describing.  

At one point during the weekend the stresses of being with old friends are evident to Teddy:

“It came to him that the whole weekend had been a mistake, a misguided attempt to preserve something already lost. Clearly the friendship that had served them all so well had played itself out. Whey the graduated from Minerva, they’d somehow, without meaning to , graduated from one another.” [Loc 2274]

But they keep working through that tension to come to a resolution. Most of the story is told from Lincoln and Teddy’s points of view. After a few turns, including a battle with a neighbor, we learn what happened to Jacy.  As the title implies and as we watch the characters past and present, we understand the influence that chance has on one’s life. Our parents play enormous roles in our lives – whether by action or inaction. 

Perhaps this novel speaks to me so profoundly because I remember the draft numbers being pulled for my age group. Five of us were together; three received very high numbers, Dave and I were not so lucky, getting 13, and 25.  Spoiler alert: I wasn’t drafted and the Vietnam War was over by the time my student deferment was over.

Richard Russo is just fantastic at examining the nuances of lives and relationships. His characters are so real. If you are familiar with Russo’s work, you may have already made an appointment with yourself to pick it up. If you are not, this is a great place to start. I started my blog reading reports too late to discuss the Russo’s earlier work, but you can find my reports on Richard Russo’s later works here on my blog. Mohawk and Empire Falls are his masterpieces, while Nobody’s Fool and Everybody’s Fool are probably his most popular; the former was made into a movie staring Paul Newman

Where the Crawdads Sing
Author: Delia Owens
Type: Fiction
Finished: August 1, 2019
Copyright: 2018

Rating: ★★★★

Image from Amazon

This is a tale of a young girl – Catherine “Kya” Clark – who is abandoned by her mother, brother, and father to life in a marshy North Carolina cabin. From the age of six she has to learn to fend for herself after her mother left. Her father – a terrible, violent, often absent man – left a few years later. Always alone, she developed abilities and an inner strength, but her “differentness” was a barrier between her and society. Delia Owens poignantly examines the tension between loneliness and the desire for connection. 

As a young teenager she slowly establishes a bond with Tate who teaches Kya to read.

“Her impulse, as always, was to run. But there was another sensation. A fullness she hadn’t felt for years. As if something warm had been poured inside her heart.” [p 98] 

And then when Kate doesn’t come back for a while, the lonesomeness comes back:

“…loneliness had become a natural appendage to Kya, like an arm. Now it grew roots inside her and pressed against her chest.” [p 100]

Mixed metaphor aside this is a very descriptive passage.

Owens other strength is her description of nature. The derivation of the title is nice. She has won awards for her non-fiction nature writing and it shows here. 

“AUTUMN WAS COMING; the evergreens might not have noticed, but the sycamores did. They flashed thousands of golden leaves across slate-gray skies.” [p 122]

And

“The shack sat back from the palmettos, which sprawled across sand flats to a necklace of green lagoons and, in the distance, all the marsh beyond. Miles of blade-grass so tough it grew in salt water, interrupted only by trees so bent they wore the shape of the wind. Oak forests bunched around the other sides of the shack and sheltered the closest lagoon, its surface so rich in life it churned, Salt air and gull-song drifted through the trees from the sea.” [p 7]

I love that description of the trees bent by the wind. 

While we know that after mating the female praying mantis kills the male, Owens’ description is deliciously detailed, gross, and riveting. These rich descriptions paint a beautiful picture of Kya’s world. 

I also like the structure of the novel where we jump between Kya’s early life and the investigation of a death. It doesn’t take long to realize she will be a suspect – it’s  novel afterall; why else would the death be mentioned – and the story of her life leads up to the accusation when the two paths join.

There is a map at the front of the book; I wish I would have realized that at the beginning. In addition to being helpful, it shows the detail Delia Owens included. I didn’t picture the Fire Tower where it was.

Could a six year old really survive like that? Kya’s language and use of idioms don’t ring true given that her major exposure to language is through Tate’s textbooks. Talking with my attorney son about the legal process, parts of the story are just flat wrong. But like my son says, if you wrote about it realistically, you’d have a terrible story Finally, some of the ending – which I don’t want to give away – is a little too perfect.

However, the story is so compelling and beautifully written that I gladly employed  Coleridge’s “willing suspense of disbelief”. I highly recommend this book – and I’m not alone: it’s number 1 on the Amazon charts on the week I wrote this, and has a full 5 stars with over 18,000 reviews. It’s a perfect summer read.

Pick it up.