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bonniejgm's review
2.0
This is one of those rare books that I actually liked less than the movie. It is really a shame because I felt the story was as fascinating as Shindler's list. The author may be thorough in her research, but she is not a good storyteller.
beorn_101's review
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.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Defiance paints a very good picture of what life as a partisan was like. Tec presents the life warts and all, even presenting detail about how the locals felt about the partisans. At one level the book fails. Tec seems to be trying to paint a picture of partisan life and write a biography of Tuvia Bielski, as a biography the book fails. The reader never really gets a sense of knowing any of the Bielski brothers. The only person that readers seems to know is Chaja Bielski, possibly because of the inteviews. Despite this, the book is very good.
annhartman67's review
4.0
This book goes in-depth to the Bielskis and their forest survival helping other Jews. It is based on a lot of interview with the author...reads only somewhat like a novel. Very fascinating but gets bogged down occasionally in too many details.
stevenk's review against another edition
3.0
This book is about a group of Jewish partisans who worked to save Jews from the Nazis in (then) western Poland during WWII. Well researched, with many first had interviews, this book contains lots of great information about the lives of this groups leaders, the Bielski brothers, particularly Tuvia Bielski, the oldest and group commander, as they worked as resistance rescuing and protecting Jews from the Nazi's as well as Antisemitism from the local Belorussian peasants as well as their Soviet allies. The creation of a community as well as a resistance force when faced with so many obstacles is an important one that isn't often told, and as this book demonstrates the leaders of this group were even forgotten by some of those that they fought to protect. The author presented a balanced and factual account of the Bielski partisans, however her writing style was a little dry considering the material she had to work with.
lnatal's review against another edition
4.0
From IMDb:
Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters, and endeavor to build a village, in order to protect themselves and about one thousand Jewish non-combatants.
Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters, and endeavor to build a village, in order to protect themselves and about one thousand Jewish non-combatants.
dangernoodle's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent read giving insight into a unique situation. Heart wrenching despite it's somewhat clinical tone. Definitely designed as more of a history book than a narrative but all the better for it, i think. The film was good but i'm glad I had already read the book before viewing it.