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beorn_101's review against another edition
2.0
Parts of this book were completely engrossing, while others were quite dull or repetitive. This is a historical study of Partisans during WWII, with a special focus on the Bielski and Jewish Partisans. It also inspired an amazing movie, Defiance, which is why I wanted to read the book.
Quick overview of pros and cons:
Pros:
-Interesting fresh view of some parts of Jewish resistance
-Nice section examining the difference between Bielski's emphasis on "surviving" vs other partisans' emphasis on fighting
-Nice beginning showing some of the political and social environments of the are pre WWII, specifically giving an intimate view of Tuvia
Cons:
-After first few chapters the book is not chronological and jumps around
-very tough to get a true feel for the everyday lives of the Bielski partisans, which was odd since most of the source material used was oral
-The book begins arguing Tuvia as a great example of Jewish militaristic resistance to the Nazis, but then pretty much gives no accounts of anything done by him or his men militarily.
-Tuvia starts as the focus, disappears from the narrative for sections, and then pops back up, but the rest of the Bielskis are pretty much nonexistant
Unfortunately, the book didn't really do a great job actually solidifying my understanding of the Bielski family or brothers. Instead, it uses primarily Tuvia, as a lens to examine the large movements of Jewish resistance, or as the book calls it Defiance, in the Belorussian forest, specifically examining partisans, but also families, ghetto runaways, ect. This larger focus was fine; however, it did take away from a truly focused argument.
The book begins mostly chronologically but then meanders depending on what topic the author wanted to discuss, making the overall narrative VERY difficult to follow.
I also was shocked how little I truly felt I knew about the Bielski partisans after reading the book. I didn't have a firm grasp of their everyday lives. Food and food distribution is mentioned, but it was never entirely clear beyond that and producing goods what everyday life in the camp was like. How frequent were attacks on the partisans by Germans? How frequently did they do partisan activities? What, beyond basic survival things, did they do in camp, if anything? What discussions took place in camp about antisemitism? What happened to camp members once the camp was disbanded?
I wanted a better understanding of the experience, and felt like this book gave jarring quick snippets, in a jumping around sort of order, but I didn't feel like I gained too much new understanding. It was tough to place the partisan movement in the forests alongside the larger events at the time, even brief mentions giving context would have helped immensely, but this wasn't done.
Overall, I went in with very high expectations and hopes, and did not feel like this book delivered. It was at times fascinating (about 20% of the time) and the rest of the time very repetitive repeating things about food, distribution, and weapon scarcity over and over and over.
Please note, I am no stranger to denser historical books, so merely being more academic is not what made me think it was merely Ok.
Quick overview of pros and cons:
Pros:
-Interesting fresh view of some parts of Jewish resistance
-Nice section examining the difference between Bielski's emphasis on "surviving" vs other partisans' emphasis on fighting
-Nice beginning showing some of the political and social environments of the are pre WWII, specifically giving an intimate view of Tuvia
Cons:
-After first few chapters the book is not chronological and jumps around
-very tough to get a true feel for the everyday lives of the Bielski partisans, which was odd since most of the source material used was oral
-The book begins arguing Tuvia as a great example of Jewish militaristic resistance to the Nazis, but then pretty much gives no accounts of anything done by him or his men militarily.
-Tuvia starts as the focus, disappears from the narrative for sections, and then pops back up, but the rest of the Bielskis are pretty much nonexistant
Unfortunately, the book didn't really do a great job actually solidifying my understanding of the Bielski family or brothers. Instead, it uses primarily Tuvia, as a lens to examine the large movements of Jewish resistance, or as the book calls it Defiance, in the Belorussian forest, specifically examining partisans, but also families, ghetto runaways, ect. This larger focus was fine; however, it did take away from a truly focused argument.
The book begins mostly chronologically but then meanders depending on what topic the author wanted to discuss, making the overall narrative VERY difficult to follow.
I also was shocked how little I truly felt I knew about the Bielski partisans after reading the book. I didn't have a firm grasp of their everyday lives. Food and food distribution is mentioned, but it was never entirely clear beyond that and producing goods what everyday life in the camp was like. How frequent were attacks on the partisans by Germans? How frequently did they do partisan activities? What, beyond basic survival things, did they do in camp, if anything? What discussions took place in camp about antisemitism? What happened to camp members once the camp was disbanded?
I wanted a better understanding of the experience, and felt like this book gave jarring quick snippets, in a jumping around sort of order, but I didn't feel like I gained too much new understanding. It was tough to place the partisan movement in the forests alongside the larger events at the time, even brief mentions giving context would have helped immensely, but this wasn't done.
Overall, I went in with very high expectations and hopes, and did not feel like this book delivered. It was at times fascinating (about 20% of the time) and the rest of the time very repetitive repeating things about food, distribution, and weapon scarcity over and over and over.
Please note, I am no stranger to denser historical books, so merely being more academic is not what made me think it was merely Ok.
nerdofdoom's review against another edition
4.0
This is an epic and amazing story and that's why i gave it 4 stars. It mad me think a lot about the difference between justice and revenge and about those times when there really is no difference. I like it also because it is so counter to the classic image of Jews in WW2 simply going along with the extermination. The bad thing is that i didn't think it was very well written and at times it was just plain boring.
P.S. The movie sucks ass.
P.S. The movie sucks ass.
kingfan30's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly what I know about the Jews urging the war cones from school, which was mostly consentration camps and gas chambers, so when I saw the film a coupleof years back, it was great to see a new view and one that showed there were survivors out there. On browsing the charity shop for books for an elderly aunt, I spotted this and for 75p couldn't resist! And finally I sit down to read it. It's not a story as such, more of a factual book based on interviews with people that went through this. It wasn't an easy read by any means, but was certainly an eye opener and an education to a different part of the war. And in some ways uplifting, what a hero for saving so many lives.
desirosie's review against another edition
2.0
Okay, so I actually only skimmed this one. I wanted to learn more about the story, but the author was really bad at building a comprehensible narrative.
l1dka's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting story about Jews in Belarus during WWII. The reason I could not enjoy this book was primarily the author's views. Not saying that she didn't have good things to say, but she is prejudiced against Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians. Guess what, I combine those in a three-in-one package. So, of course, when she talks about them you're like, I don't agree with you at all. And that's totally fine, she can have her own views. I just couldn't get involved in the book because of that. But otherwise, it was really interesting to see how an otriad functioned and how the partisan system was set up.
cailmank's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
ayushinayak's review against another edition
4.0
This one was hard to read but every ounce of energy I had put into reading the book was reciprocated back with interest.
We read a lot about heroes, soldiers but little do we take notice of common men who turn into real heroes when the need arises. Defiance is one such story.
Though the movie based on it was good enough for Daniel Craig (The Bond) to be a part of it, it was nowhere as good as the book.
Indeed, a goodread!
We read a lot about heroes, soldiers but little do we take notice of common men who turn into real heroes when the need arises. Defiance is one such story.
Though the movie based on it was good enough for Daniel Craig (The Bond) to be a part of it, it was nowhere as good as the book.
Indeed, a goodread!
rachaelreads92's review against another edition
4.0
**4 stars**
A very informative read!
Let me preface this by saving, I added this to my TBR back in 2012 after rewatching the film Defiance which was based on this book. I loved the film, and I think that I had somehow expected the book to be like the film, where it follows mainly the lives of the brother, this was not the case.
This is a novel that explores the stories of the Bielski Partisans, particularly, how they came to join the otriad. As previously mentioned, this is not what I had expected. I had expected a story that was more about the Bielski brothers and not so much about the other partisans. However, when I started getting into the book, it makes sense why it was not done this way. Firstly, the author was only able to interview Tuvia Bielski for approximately two hours before he passed away. Therefore, most of her interviews came from the wives of the brothers and surviving partisans.
The stories of the partisans are very moving and insightful. It is incredibly moving to hear their stories of strength, bravery, courage and sacrifice. It is also amazing to see how over 1,000 people were able to create an almost fully sustainable community in the middle of the forest.
Furthermore, another interesting element of this book was reading about the Soviet Otriads and reading about their interesting makeup.
Would recommend as a read, I will probably continue. to explore the lives of the Bielski partisans.
A very informative read!
Let me preface this by saving, I added this to my TBR back in 2012 after rewatching the film Defiance which was based on this book. I loved the film, and I think that I had somehow expected the book to be like the film, where it follows mainly the lives of the brother, this was not the case.
This is a novel that explores the stories of the Bielski Partisans, particularly, how they came to join the otriad. As previously mentioned, this is not what I had expected. I had expected a story that was more about the Bielski brothers and not so much about the other partisans. However, when I started getting into the book, it makes sense why it was not done this way. Firstly, the author was only able to interview Tuvia Bielski for approximately two hours before he passed away. Therefore, most of her interviews came from the wives of the brothers and surviving partisans.
The stories of the partisans are very moving and insightful. It is incredibly moving to hear their stories of strength, bravery, courage and sacrifice. It is also amazing to see how over 1,000 people were able to create an almost fully sustainable community in the middle of the forest.
Furthermore, another interesting element of this book was reading about the Soviet Otriads and reading about their interesting makeup.
Would recommend as a read, I will probably continue. to explore the lives of the Bielski partisans.