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babsellen's review against another edition
5.0
A reading I will never forget.
A riveting documentary account of two years in the life of an adolescent boy caught up in the German takeover and occupation and then re-taking by the Soviets of Kiev. In-depth reenactment of the horrors of Babi Yar, a stone’s throw from the author’s family cottage. The intense struggles with fear, starvation, brutal loss punctuated occasionally with dark humor. The complete insanity of war!
The author’s narration does read like a novel, and a very well-written one at that. I would love to learn about the rest of Kuznetsov’s rather short life. This book sat on my shelf for many years and I am grateful to have finally picked it up. Its impact is felt profoundly in modern times, when the unthinkable march toward fascism and world war looms again.
A riveting documentary account of two years in the life of an adolescent boy caught up in the German takeover and occupation and then re-taking by the Soviets of Kiev. In-depth reenactment of the horrors of Babi Yar, a stone’s throw from the author’s family cottage. The intense struggles with fear, starvation, brutal loss punctuated occasionally with dark humor. The complete insanity of war!
The author’s narration does read like a novel, and a very well-written one at that. I would love to learn about the rest of Kuznetsov’s rather short life. This book sat on my shelf for many years and I am grateful to have finally picked it up. Its impact is felt profoundly in modern times, when the unthinkable march toward fascism and world war looms again.
sannastar's review against another edition
5.0
Inte för känsliga.
Bra men hemsk.
Händelser från krigstid i Kiev (Ukranien) från en pojkes perspektiv. Abbsolut läsbar, men ganska hemsk. Historieböckerna borde vara sådana här och inte en massa listanden av årstider, krigs-zoner å namn på krigsherrar å kungar.
På ett ställe konstatera jag att jag borde kanske inte ha läst när jag åt.
Bra men hemsk.
Händelser från krigstid i Kiev (Ukranien) från en pojkes perspektiv. Abbsolut läsbar, men ganska hemsk. Historieböckerna borde vara sådana här och inte en massa listanden av årstider, krigs-zoner å namn på krigsherrar å kungar.
På ett ställe konstatera jag att jag borde kanske inte ha läst när jag åt.
veefuller's review against another edition
5.0
War is hell. We know this. And, yet, we wage them still.
Much of this was new history to me. And heartbreaking because really Ukrainians were simply caught in the middle of two brutal armies.
I don't know how anyone survived the hell that was Kyiv in WWII, let alone how anyone was able to write their own experience of it. But, I'm grateful they did.
Much of this was new history to me. And heartbreaking because really Ukrainians were simply caught in the middle of two brutal armies.
I don't know how anyone survived the hell that was Kyiv in WWII, let alone how anyone was able to write their own experience of it. But, I'm grateful they did.
anastaciaknits's review against another edition
5.0
I first read Babi Yar as a teenager, maybe for school? I always hate to say that I "enjoyed" a book about something as horrific as the Holocaust, but I did enjoy reading the book back then. I recently got a box of books about the Holocaust & have been slowly going through them, separating the ones I wanted to read or reread from the rest. I decided to reread Babi Yar. It's a very honest & blunt look at the horror of the event. I don't remember it being so slow-going when I read it the first time, but as an adult I did notice the pace seemed slow. This is not a bad thing, however, as I think the pace gives you more time to digest & think about what is going on. It is of course one of those classic Holocaust books that every amateur historian needs to read at least once.
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