City of Thieves (2008)
City of Thieves (original title: City of Thieves ) is the second novel by the American screenwriter and writer David Benioff . It was published in 2008, has been translated into 27 languages and is an international bestseller.
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The novel is set in January 1942, during the Second World War in Leningrad , which has been besieged by the German Wehrmacht for months. The novel is written from the perspective of young Lew, who, together with people of the same age, serves as a fire watch in their house. As a result of the siege , hunger and lack of many things reign in the metropolis and when they see a dead German pilot floating from the sky on his parachute, they forget the current curfew and loot the corpse. Lew puts the soldier's dagger away and they let the flask go around with schnapps. Inattentive to this event, they are discovered by a patrol of Soviet soldiers who are under orders to arrest both looters and those violating the curfew. Lew is the only one caught and taken to prison and sentenced to death in a brief trial. On death row, he met Kolja, who was two years older than him, and who didn't seem to be afraid of the imminent execution of his death sentence, and who also gave him a piece of sausage. Kolja turns out to be an educated young man working on a novel. When they are taken out of the cell the next morning, they are not shot as expected, but brought before the military city commandant, who intends to marry his well-fed daughter in the starving city and urgently needs 12 eggs for the wedding cake. If the two can get 12 eggs within a week, they will be pardoned and, on top of that, each will receive a ration card for officers, which gives them a much better chance of survival in the starved city.
Together they wander through the city and Lew learns that Kolja has not been able to "shit" for more than a week and that he missed his return to his unit because of a visit to the brothel and was therefore supposed to be executed as a deserter. At the same time, Lev Kolja tells that he is a decent chess player and the son of a poet who was arrested for his writings and has since disappeared. They visit black markets in the hope of finding farmers from surrounding kolkhozes who offer eggs. In the process, they almost become victims of a cannibal who lures them into an apartment with the prospect of eggs in order to be able to "slaughter" them there. They can only escape with luck. A rumor brings her to another apartment where an old man is supposed to keep chickens. They are not successful there either. The old man has long been dead and the boy who helped him take care of the chickens is only hours away from starvation. You can take the last animal with you, but it's a rooster. They spend the first night with friends of Kolja and eat the bird. Kolja turns out to be a womanizer, who gradually gives Lew tips and advice about women.
The next day they leave Leningrad and want to go to the kolkhozes outside the city. Before that, they receive some bread from an officer. During the migration it becomes more and more clear that the war is not going well for the Soviet Union and that both sides are fighting without mercy. Kolja tells Lew about comrades and officers in order to distract and help him, as he sees that Lew is very exhausted and that they have lost their way. After it has long been dark, they come to a hut that is obviously inhabited. There are only three young girls there who are considered prostitutes by the Germans. They receive food for their services. You won't find any eggs here either. They learn that the Germans always come with four or five men every night and that they would probably arrive soon. Kolja plans to shoot the Germans, but knows that it is very unlikely that he will survive. When the Germans arrive, they are shot by partisans from ambush. The group, to which the girl Vika belongs, is looking for Sturmbannführer Abendroth, who leads the so-called "Einsatzgruppen" of the German invaders in the area. Lew and Kolja join the partisans and follow them to their hiding place. The horror of the war becomes clear again when Lew learns from Vika that the Germans are executing 30 civilians for every dead German soldier. Vika proves to be a tough, young woman who effortlessly merges with her surroundings and who also caught the Germans who were killed at the hut with her carbine from almost 400 paces away. The second night goes by and Lew's thoughts keep wandering to Vika.
The partisan's refuge was discovered by the German troops the next day and only Lew, Kolja, Vika and the partisan's leader were able to escape. You come across a column of German soldiers who are also carrying several prisoners with them. Since Vika hopes that the column will lead them to Abendroth, they smuggle themselves among the prisoners. They leave their rifles behind, but they still have the dagger Lev took from the dead pilot and Kolja's pistol, which they found on a dead soldier on the second day. A fellow prisoner, however, recognizes Vika's last comrade as a partisan and betrays him to the Germans, who shoot him immediately. At the destination, the prisoners are separated and the illiterate people are filtered out. Vika only breathes on Lew, audibly, that he should pretend that he cannot read what he is following. Those who proved to be able to read are taken to the back wall of a hut and shot.
When the fourth morning dawned, the man who betrayed Vika's comrades was lying with his throat slit in the barrack in which the other prisoners slept. Kolja hears out that Abendroth is nearby and lets the Germans know that Lew is a highly talented chess genius who can beat anyone. The plan is that Lew Abendroth should stab him while playing chess with the dagger, which he is now wearing again in his sock, because he is the only one who can get close enough to him. The ruse works and Abendroth appears. Kolja suggests that Lew play a game of chess with Abendroth for Vikas, Lews and Koljas freedom and a dozen eggs . Abendroth only grants the eggs. Lew wins. When Abendroth, surprised but almost in admiration, tries to reach out his hand, Lew draws the dagger and attacks Abendroth. Vika and Kolja attack the guards, but Lew is not strong enough to kill Abendroth. He seems to succumb, but can still stab Abendroth by chance. He loses a finger in the process. Kolja and Lew flee from Abendroth's office with the eggs, Vika catches up with them shortly afterwards and announces that he will join another partisan group. She tells Lew that she will find him after the war.
Kolja and Lev go back to Leningrad, which can be easily made out using a cone of light. Joyfully surprised to be alive and also to have the dozen eggs, Kolja gets so elated that they come too close to a Soviet post and are mistaken for Germans because of the weapons they have captured. Kolja sustains a gunshot wound in the buttocks and dies on the way to the hospital.
When Lew hands the eggs over to the general, he learns that he has already received twelve eggs in another way and that Kolja died completely in vain. The general keeps his word and pardons him and even gives him both promised ration cards.
Lew serves as a clerk in the Soviet army and after the war is over, a pretty, red-haired woman enters his apartment. It's Vika who found him.
Reviews
The novel received mostly positive and sometimes enthusiastic reviews from critics. Benioff's writing style has generally been described as captivating.
Web links
- Interview with Benioff on deutschlandfunk.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Summary of contents and reviews on perlentaucher.de, accessed on June 30, 2014.