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Transcript

City of Thieves

By David Benioff

Book Presentation

By: Estefania Arcos

Summary

Plot Summary

In the introduction the story starts off with David wanting to do his report on his grandfather's experience at war. Lev, Davids grandfather, lives in Florida with his wife who is famous in the family for her refusal to cook. This story takes place during WWII, in which Leningrad is under siege. Most of Leningrad has evacuated but 17 year old, Lev Beniov, and some others have decided to stay in the city and defend it, even though he is too young to join the army. Lev is caught and thrown in jail for looting a German officer. In jail he later meets Kolya who is in jail for deserting his regiment. The two are given a shot at saving their own lives by taking on a mission to retrieve twelve eggs for Colonel Grechko's daughter's wedding. They are given one week in which they need to cross enemy lines though lawless areas in Leningrad, while encountering enemies to fulfill their mission.

Characters

1.) Lev Beniov

2.) Kolya Vlasov

3.) Vika

Characters

Lev Beniov

The story's protagonist, Lev, is 17 at the beginning of the story. The book is primarily about Lev's coming of age, transitioning between boyhood and manhood. Since he is now living on his own, Lev has yet to make love to a woman or fight for his country, two of the things his society views as defining manliness. Lev heavily criticizes himself throughout the book. While in jail, he says, “I would never be a great Russian”, because he views himself as lacking the moral fortitude. He criticizes himself for envying Kolya’s pull on women, though he knows that Kolya is not to blame for Lev’s lousy and slender appearance. By the end of the novel, Lev has fought, and killed, for those he loves, and though he hasn’t made love, he has met his lover.

Lev Beniov

Cole Sprouse

Kolya Vlasov

Kolya is Lev’s best friend even though they had only known each other for less than two weeks, and had been brought together by circumstance. At first Lev saw their relationship viewing Kolya as arrogant and reckless, but eventually comes to respect his confidence in their adventures, and he becomes Lev’s mentor and a figure similar to an older brother, educating him on romance and fighting. Kolya is described as handsome and confident. Very different from Lev who sees himself as a coward. Despite these differences, Kolya and Lev become very close friends. While walking towards Mga, Kolya convinces Lev to open up about Abraham, Lev’s father, who was taken by the Soviet secret police, after a controversial book of poems was released. Lev had not discussed his father with anyone since the disappearance, and yet, he opens up to Kolya, a man he has known for less than a week.

Kolya Vlasov

Jimmy Kent

Vika

Vika is Lev’s love interest. She is a sniper in the Soviet resistance. Vika is shown to have a high devotion to the Soviet state, willing to sacrifice her life for the war if needed. She represents the manliness or adulthood that Lev has yet to reach. She kills for her country on a consistent basis and doesn't fear death. Vika also represents the object of Lev’s long-repressed sexuality emerging. He fantasizes about her and views her as a sexual creature. He claims that his act of bravery in fighting back against Abendroth is spurred on only by a desire to save Vika, not out of courage. If Kolya is the mentor who guides Lev on his path to adulthood, Vika represents the main point of his efforts towards coming of age: romance and violence.

Vika

Laura Prepon

Book Quotes

The theme of the story is masculinity. The characteristics that seperate a man from a boy.

Book Quotes

Quote 1

"But I wasn't leaving Piter. I was a man.." (pg. 1)

Quote

1

Lev says this because he really wanted to join the army but he was too young so he decided to stay in Piter (Leningrad) to help with whatever he could.

Quote 2

"So many great Russians endured long stretches in prison. That night I learned I would never be a great Russian." (pg.20)

This quote shows how Lev didn't believe in himself.

Quote

2

Quote 3

"I was betraying Kolya, deserting him when he was weaponless and I had a good knife. I tried to will my feet to move, to carry me back to battle, but i was shaking so hard I couldn't keep my knife hand steady." (pg.60)

In this quote Lev is beating himself up for running away and not helping Kolya fight the cannibals when he had a perfectly good knife. He felt like a coward.

Quote

3

Quote 4

"Her gloved hand still rested on my cheek. "Tell me your last name."

"Beniov."

"I'll track you down, Lyova Beniov. All I need is the name." She leaned forward and kissed me on the lips. Her mouth was cold, her lips rough from the winter wind, and if the mystics are right and we are doomed to repeat our squalid lives and infinitum, at least I will always return to that kiss."(pg.216)

Quote

4

This quote is towards the end of the book showing that Lev has matured and finally has a girl.

Symbol 1

Symbols

This is a picture of Leningrad during the seige. Most of the city was evacuated while few stayed to fight for their country. I chose this symbol to show a picture of the setting.

Symbol 2

Symbol

2

I chose this picture of a knife because it is significant in the book. This knife throws Lev in jail, though they do not confiscate it. Later on through his journey he used the knife to kill two Germans.

Critic Quotes

1.) “This spellbinding story perfectly blends tragedy and comedy.”

-USA Today

2.) “The novel tells a refreshingly traditional tale, driven by an often ingenious plot . . . [Benioff] shifts tone with perfect control - no recent novel I have read travels so quickly and surely between registers, from humor to devastation.”

-The New York Times Book Review

Critic Quotes

3.) “David Benioff, has written a gripping war novel. With lots of humour, suspense and tragedy he shows the desperate lives of the people who were caught between two opposing forces during the Second World War.”

-The Guardian

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