Many books have been written about war and the most powerful ones are anti-war in nature. Chiefly, because the author was either in war himself, or was witness to the carnage first-hand. Whether or not a book is an actual anti-war novel is not often clear, as the authors don’t usually assign such a label. Nonetheless, it is hard to imagine the graphic detail many of these books possess from being anything but—whether on purpose or not. You can decide for yourself.
Here is the most moving anti-war novel I have read in a long time.
City of Thieves
This novel is one of the most witty, powerful and entertaining novels I have read in years. And the ant-war message it portrays is clear: That no matter what the conflict is, we are all still human at the end of the day.
The novel follows the epic adventure of two young Russian boys that are sentenced to death while trying to survive in the war-torn Leningrad of World War II. At the last second, they are spared and given a chance to live in exchange for carrying out an impossible task: somehow find a dozen eggs for a high-ranking Soviet officer’s daughter’s wedding cake.
Of course, the only problem is that it is in the middle of winter in a city that has been ravaged by years of war with Nazi Germany. Finding actual chicken eggs is next to impossible when the boys are barely able to feed themselves enough to survive.
Nonetheless, the boys set out on this impossible journey and the adventure of a lifetime. Along the way, the story sheds light on the atrocities of war, as well as the ridiculousness of war itself. Expertly written by the one of the writers for The Popular Game of Throne Series, this book is well worth anyone’s time, whether or not they are in to historical period piece novels or not.
Some criticize this book as being a bit too liberal with curse words and crass sexual topics, but I think they are really missing the point. The language and adult subjects reflect the harshness of war, and the Soldier’s that are caught up in it.
It also goes a long way to developing the characters a lot more by realistically portraying how a young man would behave in such a scenario.
Equal parts literature and witty, humorous entertainment, a City of Thieves is certain to leave you wanting more by the last page.