City of Thieves | David benioff

episode SUMMARY:

In this episode of the Books for Men podcast, Douglas Vigliotti discusses a novel called City of Thieves by David Benioff. Vigliotti describes the book as a historical fiction that doubles as a coming-of-age story about two young men’s quest to find a dozen eggs for a Russian colonel during the Nazi siege of Leningrad in World War II. He praises the novel for its unique, well-constructed story, cohesive and believable plot, and ability to evoke a sense of realism. Vigliotti also mentions that the book is relatively short, which he personally prefers, and highlights the strong characterization and humor in the story. He emphasizes that City of Thieves is a great example of a novel primarily for a male audience, a genre that he believes has fallen by the wayside in recent years. Vigliotti concludes by urging listeners to share the podcast and support the show, provides information on accessing full transcripts and the monthly newsletter at BooksforMen.org, and reminds listeners to connect with him on Instagram @douglasvigliotti.

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Welcome back, the Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I have a really special novel to share with you. I think if I was ranking it in my top novels list, I probably would put it right up in that top 10 area. I haven't made the list officially, but it would be right up there with some of the other novels that I love, many that I've shared on this podcast like naming months, Miles from Nowhere, or Richard Price's Lush Life. But honestly, I don't want you to misconstrue those books with this one because this is a completely different story. And a lot of times just because I put 'em on the same list doesn't mean they're great, at least in my eyes for the same reasons. And with this story specifically, I think that the dust jacket on the book actually hits it the best.

(01:04)

And I don't usually pay too close attention to blurbs because a lot of times I think they're hot air or meaningless fodder for your mind, so to speak. Just people trying to sell books, and that's nothing taking away obviously, from the authors or their writers or anybody. But anyway, it says, “the perfect novel” on the front of this book. I really think that that is a great way to describe it because the story is just so well put together and it doesn't rely on tricks, a lot of cleverness, but no tricks. And to me, a novel that doesn't rely on tricks but tells a great story that is cohesive and believable and logical and just feels right from the moment you pick it up until the moment you put it down. That's a really special story. And I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but it also feels really good in your hand.

(01:55)

I think that has to do with the length. I like my novels on the shorter side, and I know that that's kind of, I don't know, a hot button for some people. People think that the novel should be longer. I don't know. I just love the sub-300 novel, and this is right around 250, 260. It just reads effortlessly. It's easy to hold. In my mind's eye, I'm able to see the entire story as it's being depicted to me. I don't constantly have to flip back and forth. And to me, that's a feature of the shorter novel in general, and that's part of the reason why I like 'em so much. But I don't want to make this about the short novel. I want to make it about this novel because it really is that good. And so I should probably tell you what the name of it is.

(02:36)

It's called City of Thieves. It's a historical fiction novel, which really doubles as a coming of age story, and I will share more about that shortly. But it's by David Benioff. You might recognize the name. He's a lot more famous for his shows than his novels. He was the showrunner for Game of Thrones along with D.B. Weiss, but before that, he was a novelist, of course. I've heard some people even say that this is the novel City of Thieves that got him that gig. I don't know if that's true or not, but you could read that in some places online and I could see why, because like I said, this novel is that good. He also wrote another novel before this one called 25th Hour, which Spike Lee turned into a film that you may or may not have seen. That book is a really strong story as well.

(03:23)

Actually, there's a quote that I had written down from it when I read it, and I know that this is an episode about City of Thieves, but I think that this quote from 25th Hour actually does a really good job showing the sensibilities of Benioff as a writer. And he writes this about the protagonist heading off to jail: “In 24 hours. He boards a bus for Otisville tomorrow at noon. He surrenders his name for a number. The beautiful girl is a curse. Her face will haunt him for seven years.” I love the subtlety in a line like that because it really shows a lot of respect for me, the reader, right? It's something that I would actually think you would think about if you were going into jail. The good things about life would all of a sudden become the bad things, right? Because you are going away for seven years, and so you're not going to have them.

(04:14)

You're not going to be able to experience them. It's a really deep and paradoxically subtle line that to me rang super true and the novel that I'm sharing with you today, although that line doesn't come from it, shares the same type of sensibilities. So take from that what you will. But I should probably tell you a little bit more about the book itself. What is the story? So I talked a lot about how great it is. What is it? So really it's a buddy story. Buddy stories have existed forever. Almost every cop movie is a buddy story. You have a cop and his partner, and then the whole movie is about them, or Dumb and Dumber, or I don't know, million movies are buddy stories. And the same thing goes for books, right? It's anytime you have two people paired together. And by the way, when those two people are paired together, they're usually opposites of some fashion.

(05:06)

And that's what creates the tension, hence what creates the drama and the entertainment. And in this book specifically, you definitely have that. But don't let me get ahead of myself. Let me take the step-by-step so I can set up the book for you. Well, so it starts off with this narrator, David Benioff, perhaps, I don't know, who happens to be a writer from la and he's writing an autobiographical essay on Leningrad. And so he goes to see his grandfather because that is where he grew up. And this book essentially is the story that his grandfather tells David the screenwriter. So that's the opening scene. And then the narration changes into the main character, the protagonist of the novel. His name is Lev. He's 17 years old. Inexperienced, sort of gets in his own way young in a lot of ways, but brave because he is living through the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis during World War ii.

(06:04)

And that's when this book takes place. And so basically, a German soldier falls from the sky and he starts looting that soldier. And the Russian secret police basically takes him to prison. And all of his friends ran away. And then in prison, he meets this other boy or man, really because 20. So he's a few years older than him, and his name is Kolya. He's older, he's confident, he's brash, he's sarcastic, and he's a deserter from the Russian army. So that's why he's in jail. So they both get taken to this kernel of the Russian secret police or army or I can't remember exactly. Basically he says that you could be free if you find me a dozen eggs for my daughter's wedding. That's coming up. And I know that this is wacky and kind of silly, but that's part of the genius of it because it's really hard to find a dozen eggs in a siege where everything is rationed, including food and everything else.

(07:06)

It's just this really desolate dark, I don't want to say lawless, but it's Leningrad under siege by the Nazis. And so there's nothing really, and so they have to go out and try to find these dozen eggs and bring them back, and that's what this story is about. But along the way, Lev becomes a man in a way, and Kolya is his guiding force. And he's really funny. The novel has a lot of humor in it, and I think that that's one of the strengths of the book. Of course, it's really a guy's novel. I mean, I can't think of a story that is more of a guy's novel. I guess there isn't a better book for Books for Men than this book because of that. I maybe should have led this episode with that. But it's also worth it to note that we don't see many of these novels published anymore.

(07:54)

And that's just because the audience really isn't there. And I know that you are a reader because you're listening to this podcast, but there sadly just isn't the demand for fiction that is primarily driven towards a male audience. They just are few and far between. As I've talked a lot about on this podcast before. Perhaps that's part of the reason why I do the show. It's to inspire more men to read. And this is a great example of a style of book that has sort of fallen by the wayside because the audience just isn't there for it anymore. Or it's perceived that the audience isn't there for it anymore. Which I don't know. I can't tell the difference between the two because either way, the books aren't being published. If you do know of books that are similar to this one in style in story, then please send 'em to me.

(08:47)

Email me, come connect with me on Instagram @douglasvigliotti and share them with me. I'd love to check 'em out and make me eat my, make me bite my tongue. I love nothing more than to have to do that. Trust me, it will not be the first time and something tells me it will not be the last time either. Alright, so I think I've been going on long enough, but before I wrap this up, lemme close on. Two more thoughts and one of them being, I love the ending of this novel. It is such a good ending. Everything just makes sense. It fits together so well. It's cohesive and it's clever. And that is really just the North star for endings for me. It leaves you saying yes. And the last thing that I wanted to just remind you, maybe because it might've come through already in the way I've described it, but the characterization in this novel is super strong.

(09:37)

You really feel for both Kolya and Lev, you learn more about them as the novel goes on. And to me, I love being able to understand why a character is doing what they're doing and not hitting you over the head with it, but working it into the story itself and doing it in a subtle way, doing it in a brief way. You don't have to tell me a million things to get me to see why Kolya is acting the way he is or why Lev is acting the way he is. It's just baked in and it works seamlessly and synthetically with the story and the theme and everything that's happening in the novel. That's why it lands so well. So yeah, the characterization is top notch. Alright, that's all I've got. Thank you so much for listening. This is the time when I remind you, please, if you enjoyed today's episode, share it with family, friends, other people who you think might enjoy it, because word of mouth is everything when we're trying to spread awareness.

(10:32)

And with this podcast specifically, and as I just mentioned moments ago, the goal is to inspire more men to read. And if you want to double down on that support, you can by rating, liking, subscribing, following, anything that you could possibly do. Do it on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on because it will help more people find the show. And if you're a multi-time listener, and this is the zillionth time, you've heard me say this and you haven't done any of that stuff, shame on you. Help the show. Come on, please. I don't know how many times I got to say it. So take 30 seconds and do it. Of course, I already mentioned it once during the episode, but I'll say it again here. If you want to connect with me, you can @douglasvigliotti on Instagram. It's the only social media I have. And lastly, if you want more information, you could visit BooksforMen.org where you can get full transcripts for all of these episodes. As well as sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of every episode, complete with full book and author information, all the best quotes, as well as newsletter only book recommendations. So again, if you're interested in that, just head over to BooksforMen.org.