I've read many books about Nazi Germany and the Holocaust over the years, but I was completely unprepared by this book by Benioff. It really knocked me around emotionally, in part because it contained so much tragedy and so much humor.

Background: this is based on the author's grandparents and their "how we met" story as Nazi hunters in Russia circa the end of WWII. It is true to the extent that his grandfather dictated it to him, with the instructions to his grandson to 'make stuff up' if he needs more information. His grandfather, Lev, was a Jew living in Piter, who was inadvertantly caught out during curfew (when he was trying to rifle the pockets of a dead German). He ends up in jail where he meets a blustery blond soldier, who was also inadvertantly caught absent without leave (he was making a quick trip to visit his girlfriend and stayed too long). Both face firing squads the next morning.

They get lucky, or so they think. They are taken to a powerful General who agrees to free them if they first find him a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding the following week (supplies are nonexistent). Sounds easy, and it isn't. This is the tale of their search. It is appalling, graphic, and funny. Weird combination.

What surprised me was the detail to which the Russians suffered. For example, food deprivation. I knew that cannibalism took place, but the idea that they ate dirt from below a candy factory (the dirt was infused with sugar) or peeled book bindings to eat the glue (i.e. "library candy") shocked me more.

This book has genuine surprises and you really don't know what is going to happen at any given time, in fact, the more you assume the bigger the surprise. ( )

A wonderfully dark and funny story of two young men from Leningrad during World War II. Lev, a teenage boy arrested for robbing a German soldier's corpse, is sent to prison. Kolya, a young solder with the Russian army, is arrested for desertion. The two become cellmates and then brought to a colonel who assigns them a mission to find one dozen eggs. The two main characters set out in a besieged Leningrad where food is so scarce people have resorted to eating glue from books and in some cases cannibalism. The novel is both a coming of age story and a war story. Kolya, intent on helping his new friend meet girls, is full of advice and snide comments throughout the book including a discussion on how ladies are attracted by "calculated neglect." In the midst of horrific cruelty and death the two characters grow to trust each other while outwitting and outrunning their enemies. An interesting plot with well written action scenes and dialogue make this a worthwhile read. ( )

What exactly does it take to become a New York Times bestseller? Of course, I know it is sales, but how do those occur? Maybe a better question – what does it take to get a good review in The Week (which is really a conglomeration of reviews)? The last is the better question for me because I picked this book up based on that review. It’s not that I’m disappointed; it’s just that, with those recommendations, I expected something more.

This tale is set during the siege of Leningrad when a young man (20) and an almost young man (17) are picked up (separately) by the police on charges that should have gotten them executed. However, a colonel within the city has a different plan and sends them off to find a dozen eggs within the starving city. Such an absurdity should lend itself to a vitriolic attack on the fools who exist within real battles. Nope, not what the author planned. Instead, he went with something that was a little closer to a war story. And, while he does manage to speak to the young man’s coming of age, he also manages to take an absurd situation, make it mundane, and then bring back the absurdity towards the end of the story in order to “make a point”. It really feels as if this is a book that was on the cusp of something great, and decided to just be good.

And, two quibbles with the book. First - one of the things I absolutely hated about Saving Private Ryan (a movie I really liked) was the way Spielberg felt he had to bookend the movie with current day events (the visit to the beaches). This book does the same thing by providing an introduction purporting to show the author’s grandfather is relating the story. Then, the book does not end with a revisit to the present. Great - a device I don’t like, and then there is no real closure. (Yes, I know it sounds a little like the old joke “The food was bad – and the portions were small”. But I stand by the fact that, if you are going to use a device [even if I don’t like that device], you should use it completely.) My second quibble is somewhat related. I won’t give a spoiler, but the end is far too cute. And maybe it’s an attempt to bring the present into the end of the story, but it just serves to make the entire experience too phony.

A perfectly fine book. A nice, quick read. But nothing that makes it stand out. If you’ve already picked it up, it won’t be a waste of your time. However, I wouldn’t rush out and get it if not. ( )

This dark comedy makes it mark with its original and absurd plot: a teenage Jew and a Red Army deserter pair up on a mission to find a dozen eggs in a starving, barbaric city with their lives at stake. This novel has very memorable characters and adventures to match. It will make you laugh only to wipe the smile off your with the horrors on every page. A resonant novel to be read by all. Benioff holds nothing back ( )

Graphic and honest telling of a young man going through a war. ( )

This is an excellent World War II story set in and around St. Petersburg (aka Leningrad) in 1942. Lev is arrested for looting a German corpse and Kolya is arrested for desertion. A colonel gives them a choice: die by execution or find him a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding in four days. They choose the latter. The story is funny, horrble, suspenseful, heart-breaking and exciting. It draws you in completely and the writing has that effortless feeling. Great characters too. I really wouldn't want to tell you anything more. It's best to discover this story on your own. It's a quick read. ( )

Almost hated to finish it, it was so good. ( )

I loved this book have already recommended it to several people who have also enjoyed it and are now busy recommending it to others.I agree that this reads like a movie but this only makes it more readable.
I wont bore you with the details of the story which have already been described in earlier reviews but it is at times horrific, amusing, tender and sad. I couldn't put it down read it for yourself before the movie comes out. ( )

This book has all the makings of a coming of age historical foreign movie (makes sense, the author is also a screenwriter). I can actually picture the movie in my head and watching it. It's something I would watch. It's both funny yet certain parts remind me of the horrors of war still thriving within the city. The story is told in the point of view of Lev who's young and stays behind while his mother and sister move away from the city. His father, is most likely dead, as he gets arrested and is never seen again. When he meets Kolya, the charming deserter who seems to have a tale for everything and has to say something every waking moment, they make a comical duo. Lev is very surly at first and is annoyed frequently by Kolya, who doesn't really care what he thinks of him and keeps on going with his little quirks and stories of his various romantic conquests and how he hasn't gone to the bathroom in a very long time.

I liked this book because of its' interesting mix of comedy and drama set in a rather serious and sombre setting. Come to think of it, I haven't even read a book set in World War II where there is comedy in it. In fact I think it's quite a rarity, yet this kind of rarity, and written and executed well, makes it a rare gem. I have to admit, I liked Kolya from the start. You could tell he was the comic relief of the duo here. He provided the light hearted side of the story and actually had very funny and interesting things to say. It was hard to like Lev. I don't know what to make of him. Surly, hard to like, easily angered (really all the makings of an angsty teenager) although on the other hand, he knew how to survive on the streets which had made him mature faster while Kolya was more of the child of this twosome. However towards the end of the book where Lev actually does grow up both mentally and physically, I started to rather respect him more as his character developed.

As you read through their journey, you start to see their relationship develop and it becomes even brotherly, as Lev asks Kolya for some tips when it comes to romancing the ladies (and other "sports"). Although Lev sort of begrudgingly and even is embarassed by asking him, Kolya acts like a father figure, an elder brother, and a personal friend to Lev (although sometimes it's more like an annoying friend you never asked for) which makes the relationship funny, but also at the same time, very personal because of the various events they went through both life threatening and yet comical. Believe me, those comical parts actually had me laughing out loud at times, the dramatic parts are just that and there's a good balance between the two so you won't be bored reading this novel.

The things I didn't like about this book? well for starters, there were some very graphic and gruesome parts that aren't for the squeamish and some parts even made me squirm uncomfortably. Lev rather annoyed me because he wouldn't stop thinking as how Vika would look naked (and those moments increased towards the end of the book) it got annoying and stagnant. One other criticism, what happened to Kolya was rather predictable in the end. I figured that out at least before halfway of the novel. (Which is why I said it had all the makings of a great foreign movie).

Despite these faults, I enjoyed reading the book and following these two on their dangerous journey to find eggs. The whole finding eggs bit does make it comical but on the other hand it's mixed so well with the horrors of war that you're left being reminded that it's still there, but that it's okay to sometimes laugh once in a while even when the situation is very bleak. Besides, you have nothing to lose when you're starving, and you're always reminded of death everywhere you turn. Overall a good read if you can get past the graphic parts. ( )

this is an easy read of some interest. the author, David Beniff, hints at the likelihood that it is based on a true story based on the episodes his grandfather lived through during WWII.

the action takes place in and around Leningrad ( fondly known to its citzens as Pieter). Under seige by the German armies 2 unlikely heroes: Lev, a somewhat shelterd Jewish teenager and Kolya, a Russian Army deserter more intertested in getting laid and writing the great Russian novel than in fighting and soldiering. Both end up in the same prison jail cell for minor infractions and are given a chance at freedom: their task - to find a dozen fresh eggs, not an easy task given the seige and the lack of fresh produce- both vegatbles and meat. in fact most of the city inhabitants survive on pieces of old bread and other meager tidings. The eggs are to be used to bake a wedding cake for the Commanding Russian officer's daughter's upcoming nuptuals.

they set off on an adventure meeting up with thieves, cannibals and German SS troopers. Along the way they befriend a group of young Russian whores who survive by screwing German officers and then a band of toughened partisan fighters led by an unlikely young woman who is a crack shot assassin.

the action is quick and the story is easy to follow. the main characters though remain brief sketches. my favorite scene is the chess game Lev plays with a German Kommandant and the subsequent murder of the German as Lev, Kolya and the assassin-femme fatale escape heading back to Pieter.

Benioff acknowledgess his thanks to Harrison Salisbury's THE 900 DAYS and KAPUTT, "a work of strange genius" by Curzio Malaparte. Interestingly enough, KAPUTT was gifted to me by my LibraryThing friend, LRiley. ( )

It's obvious that screenwriting is Benioff's primary career. This novel reads like a movie--one explosive action sequence after another, at the expense of character development and the strength of the prose itself. I was disappointed; I'm always interested to read novels set in Soviet Russia, and this is by far the worst.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. ( )

two unlikely fellows sent on an impossible mission. Great premise for a picaresque ( )

Transcendent coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of WWII and the Siege of Leningrad. Alternatingly humorous and horrific, warm and terrifying, it's first and foremost an adventure story of two unlikely cohorts looking for a dozen eggs in war-torn Russia. ( )

Great story of 2 boys coming of age during the attempted occupation of Lenningrad. ( )

A grandfather tells the story of when he was 17 and living in Leningrad during the war. Very good. War from an individual's perspective. ( )

I've been reading a lot of good but harrowing books recently, and this is one of them, and it is the best of them. I love this book -- it has everything, believable, likeable characters, suspenseful plot, horror and pain and hunger, historic realities, marvelous descriptions that put you in that cold deadly place, adventure, romance, humor, and most of all, humanity. ( )

Lev, a Russian Jew, and Kolya, a Russian army deserter, embark on an unlikely journey together. Their lives are often in danger from Russian officials, the German army, thieves, cutthroats, starvation and the winter cold. It's unusual when a story of the depths of wartime depravity can leave the reader with a smile at the end, but Benioff manages to leave the reader with an optimistic outlook for humanity. - CKL ( )

Facet-paced tale of two young men struggling to survive during the siege of Leningrad. A GREAT read! ( )

A fun novel which fictionalizes the 'true' story of the authors grandfather. The relationship between the two leads is the driving force of the novel and the book leaps from the page. David Benioff has written a well paced adventure set in and around Leningrad during WWII which takes in war, death, loss, family, prostitutes, cannibals, partisans, chess and bowel movements. While this is not a book that will stay with you for the rest of your life, it is worth the time for a brief fling. ( )

January 1942, the siege of Leningrad. Two young Russian men are arrested, one for theft and the other for desertion. Serious war-time offenses.Enter a high-ranking officer, who is preparing a wedding for his precious daughter. He lacks a main ingredient for the wedding cake. He offers the prisoners a deal. If they are able to scour the ravaged streets of the ruined city and find a dozen eggs and return in a few days, they will be offered amnesty. It is a nearly impossible mission. This is a sharply-written novel, with well-crafted characters. It is both funny and horrifying. A must read! ( )

A great book, period. ( )

I really liked this book. I found the bantering between the two young men to be entertaining. And I thought the author did a good job of really making the reader feel as if they were traveling along with the two men- you could feel the coldness of Siberia and the desperation of life during WWII. There's plenty of action and laugh out loud moments, but it is really the relationship of these two men that make the book memorable. ( )

Probably the most entertaining historical fiction I have ever read. The author does an excellent job of describing the terrible conditions of Leningrad during the Nazi invasion and how people survived. The descriptions of soldiers, prostitutes, cannibals, and "food," all help create a detailed and easily imagined setting. The shy, unsure, and big-nosed character of Lev and the loud, confident, handsome face of his foil Kolya, are both realistic and believable. This book should be reserved for older HS readers for two reasons: 1) the dark and realistic descriptions of war and starvation (including cannibalism); 2) the frank sexual comments and descriptions frequently made by the character Kolya. ( )

A truly enjoyable book that has the reader laughing, crying and on the edge of his or her seat to the final sentence. An unlikely duo, one an adolescent Jew, and other a Red Army soldier who took leave of his troop, find themselves spending the night in jail and fear they are about to be shot for their minor offensives. Instead, the general sends them on a quest to secure a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake in the depths of a Russian winter and during the Siege of Leningrad when nearly everyone is starving. ( )