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The War Of The Rats

The War Of The Rats

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Also, I felt like Zaitsev, one of the main characters, didn't become really complex until about halfway through - would've been nice to get to know him earlier. A frighteningly realistic patchwork depicting the long siege that changed the course of the war. Based on a true story, the novel deftly captures an extraordinary time and place in history...[in a] vivid, authentic representation of men of unusual skill and focus in the midst of a barbarous war." --Richmond-Times Dispatch After listening to an audio version, I also enjoyed reading the print version of the Stalingrad sniper duel. The book ending interview on tape of one of the primary characters was a pleasant surprise and encouraged the print read. Colonel Heinz Thorvald was joined by Corporal Nikki Mond in his search to find and kill Vasily Zaytsev. Nikki acted as a spotter and general accomplice to Thorvald.

The book did give a fairly good description of the type of warfare that was conducted in Stalingrad, and the author made a good attempt at describing the psychology of the two main characters and how they interacted with each other and their environment. I loved this book. That's quite something, coming from a person of notoriously squishy sensibilities whose last encounter with what you might call a war novel was a required reading of The Killer Angels in tenth grade. Interesting historical fiction on the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. We don't get a full view of the battle; we get thumbnail sketches through the eyes of Russian snipers - including Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily "Zaitsev" and "Tonia Chernova" - and their counterparts. This book, like the movie Stalingrad traverses every human emotion imaginable. The fortitude of the Russians to fight for the Rodina, not for political ideology but for themselves and the thousands of Russians caught in the grips of the Nazi war machine. He also paints a vivid description of the invaders. The arrogance has been left far behind. Stalingrad is a war unto itself. The once proud Wehrmacht is faced in a titanic struggle for what? Will the battle bring them victory or will is be just another conquered city along with thousands of others? Will the war end or will it continue to drag on taking with it tens of thousands other lives? Zaitsev was a senior sergeant of the 2nd Battalion, 1047th Rifle Regiment, 284th Tomsk Rifle Division. He was interviewed by Vasili Grossman during the battle, and the account of that interview, lightly fictionalized in his novel, Life and Fate (Part One, Chapter 55), is substantially the same as that portrayed in the novel, without putting a name to the German sniper that he dueled with. On the other hand, the duel is portrayed quite differently in Zaitsev's own book, Notes of a Sniper, [1] and in William Craig's 1974 history Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad.

The plot focuses on a 1942 battle between the Nazi Germans and the Soviets set in Stalingrad, Soviet Union. The battle is declared by Viktor Tabori to be " Rattenkrieg"; translated, War of the Rats. German soldiers call the battle Rattenkrieg, War of the Rats. The combat is horrific, as soldiers die in the smoking cellars and trenches of a ruined city. Through this twisted carnage stalk two men—one Russian, one German—each the top sniper in his respective army. These two marksmen are equally matched in both skill and tenacity. Each man has his own mission: to find his counterpart—and kill him. There are four main characters, two Russians and two Germans. The Russian snipers are certainly real. Vasily Zaytsev became famous during World War 2 in the Battle of Stalingrad, the bloodiest battle of the war. He was so successful as a sniper that he eventually started his own sniper school. Tania Chernova was one of his students and lover. The two Germans, not so real. One is a corporal named Nikki Mond, who I think is pure fiction, the other, Heinz Thorvald, is mentioned in Zaytsev's diaries as a main sniper in the German army that he had a duel with. There is no other record of him existing. a good candidate for the thriller of the summer award... gives a compelling and graphic sense of the heroism-filled nightmare called Stalingrad...A readable, gritty adventure story." --The New York Times

Wasn't sure if I would enjoy it because it is a war novel, but it is actually a love story masquerading as a war novel - kind of. Also it was about tactics, survival, humanity, good and evil, and some very good characters. a good candidate for the thriller of the summer award… gives a compelling and graphic sense of the heroism-filled nightmare called Stalingrad…A readable, gritty adventure story." —The New York TimesFor six months in 1942, Stalingrad is the center of a titanic struggle between the Russian and German armies—the bloodiest campaign in mankind’s long history of warfare. The outcome is pivotal. If Hitler’s forces are not stopped, Russia will fall. And with it, the world…. Mr. Robbins doe an excellent job in describing not only the supposed duel between Zaitsez and Thorvald (which is still being debated by historians) but his ability to paint the picture of a city ravaged by the opposing forces is phenomenal. He puts you in the heart of the dieing city. Can you imagine the closets metropolitan town in your vicinity being decimated to hulks of sagging I-beams, burning timbers and crumbled concrete structures. Yes, it is worse than the current destruction we witnessed in Joplin, Mi and Tuscaloosa,Ala (all weather related).

The book just didn't keep me gripped. The storyline was a bit vague, the supporting cast of characters had little or no depth, there was far too much made of the love story between Zaytsev and Tania, and the finale had some really stupid inconsistencies. Really the only reason the German sniper, Thorvald, lost was because he suddenly became really stupid at the last minute. For a guy who was supposed to be so cowardly that he took no risks, he took a really huge risk in gambling that he could shoot at the dummy target first when he knew that Zaytsev had him in his sights. Why would he do that? Yet at the same time, by the end, I found myself a little perplexed regarding what it was about - it both began long before and ended after the supposed central conflict of the novel, a sniper's duel. This off-center presentation was very appropriate, since war shouldn't be reduced to a simple high concept narrative, but it was rather noticeable by the end. Finally I have read a novel by my former creative writing professor! I can stop feeling guilty now.

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The final chapter features Nikki Mond, Thorvald's accomplice while he was alive. Nikki is wandering about the German camps, talking with soldiers and thinking about the war. The German's are surrounded by a huge amount of Russian troops and they have almost no chance of escaping without being taken prisoner. Their resources were being depleted and some men had resorted to cannibalism. He sums it up with one good thought: A frighteningly realistic patchwork depicting the long siege that changed the course of the war. Based on a true story, the novel deftly captures an extraordinary time and place in history...[in a] vivid, authentic representation of men of unusual skill and focus in the midst of a barbarous war." "-- Richmond-Times Dispatch"



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