Jason Rice: City of Thieves arrived just as we were launching Three Guys One Book, so it wasn’t possible for us to discuss it. In the parallel universe where I write as Frank Bascombe for Ain’t it Cool News, I reviewed it. You can also find my interview with the author in the blog archive section. This book is really starting to sell, so we thought the moment was right for this.
You’ll probably recognize this author from his screenplays, ‘Troy’, ‘Stay’, ‘X-Men Origins; Wolverine’, and the amazing ‘25th Hour’ which he adapted from his own novel. I discovered Benioff when the grand Madame of criticism heaped praise on him for his brilliant debut, then unknown to everyone, The 25th Hour, which was a book that I used to stop people on the streets of Manhattan to tell them about. Then he wrote a book of short stories; When The Nines Roll Over (great title), equally potent, and then I waited… Hollywood called, he got ‘25th Hour’ off the ground with Spike Lee, (Beginning an upward trend for Lee which changed the path of his career), and I was floored at how faithful to his own book he was. Nothing was left out of that adaptation especially the down ending, and with widow’s peak for Edward Norton, (listen to the commentary on the DVD…). I want everyone to know about David Benioff the writer. Sure, his screenplays are great, I loved ‘Stay’, but was I the only one to see that little gem? (Marc Forester is a true artist if you didn’t already know that. Everyone should know about him now with his adaptation of the Kite Runnerlanding on screens everywhere, Benioff writing the script.) David Benioff is a real storyteller and I like to think of him as a novelist.
I don’t read historical fiction, as a rule – it just doesn’t make any sense to me. So when City of Thieves came my way I immediately realized that I was going to read some historical fiction and this might do me some good. The Siege of Leningrad isn’t something I know much about and to be honest never really had an interest in. Yes it’s part of world history, yes it’s important and no I’m not belittling it by saying I had no interest in it. I’m a fiction guy, contemporary modern fiction, (if you have a book you want to send me, please keep that in mind). The first pages of this novel are truly brilliant; Benioff goes to Florida to talk to his retired grandparents and this tight little section really soars. He wants to know about their collective past, his grandmother isn’t interested and what his grandfather recounts is truly amazing.
From here we meet two unlikely heroes’ in the form of Lev Beniov who has been caught looting a dead German soldier that has literally fallen from the sky. This is the first taste of lyrical imagery that Benioff sprinkles through out the novel and by far it is the most palatable. This writing flows between fierce and savage, as Lev begins to think that this is the end, firing squad the next morning he shares his cell with the memorable Kolya, a handsome pick pocket double talker that is common around whorehouses, pool halls and downtown Providence, RI. They’re given a chance to live if they can acquire from the barren city of Leningrad a parcel of eggs for a typically severe colonel who doesn’t want his daughters wedding to be cake-less. The boys set out on a road that is desolate and war torn and filled with extremely sickening violence. At first this task seems easy, get the eggs, and return them to the colonel and walk away. First is a pair of cannibals who cross their path and I can’t believe how vivid this section becomes. It sets the tone for a narrative pace that will gurgle forth some scenes that will leave you’re scarred for life. Lev is shy and not very skilled in the ways of the opposite sex, where Kolya is just the opposite, getting women to do what ever he wants at almost every pit stop they make. The search for eggs becomes their holy grail and the road ahead is filled with pitfalls that will impress grizzled veterans of historical fiction from the battles of the past. Lev and Kolya seem to be at fundamental odds over things like literature, manners, and how to live life. It’s a funny thing to read, Benioff delivers little sermons through his characters about race and history that are as sly as they are insightful. There is a kind of wild intellectualism from that time that is running underneath the main storyline; from games of chess to a novel that may or may not have been written by a main character. Which makes me wonder how smart these guys are, and how cunningly literate Benioff makes them.
What struck me as most honest and sincere was the fact that these people were hungry, whether they’re eating each other, dried candle wax or boiled bark, there is an underlying slow death that floats like a cool mist around every corner. You never knew when the enemy was going to turn his gun on you, say for instance, if they found out if you could read or not. I’m trying not to spoil this novel for you. There are tons of memorable moments from a house in the woods that’s filled with young girls (use your imagination) to a small hunters lodge that gets truly grizzly when it’s filled with too many people. Then there is Lev and Kolya who are both funny and charming, shy and gregarious. Kolya never really amounts to more than a foil for Lev, who himself is coming of age in a time where the most dangerous thing you could come upon was man himself. From the opening pages to the last moments City of Thieves is a top notch story. Benioff gives us a thrilling ride that is a shocking and profound historical document and a wild adventure story rivaling Jack London and Toby Wolff.
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