Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit (Epub)

Description

Kraków, 1939. A million marching soldiers and a thousand barking dogs. This is no place to grow up. Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. She’s alone.

And then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see.

The Swallow Man is not Anna’s father—she knows that very well—but she also knows that, like her father, he’s in danger of being taken, and like her father, he has a gift for languages: Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish, even Bird. When he summons a bright, beautiful swallow down to his hand to stop her from crying, Anna is entranced. She follows him into the wilderness.

Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers, and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man.

Destined to become a classic, Gavriel Savit’s stunning debut reveals life’s hardest lessons while celebrating its miraculous possibilities.

User’s Reviews

Review A New York Times BestsellerA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year“[A] splendid debut novel. . . . This is masterly storytelling.” —The New York Times”Chilling yet tender.” —People Magazine”Savit’s economical prose beautifully captures a child’s loss of innocence and the spiritual challenges that emerge when a safe world suddenly becomes threatening.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review”The third-person narrative—lyrical, fluid, with a pervasive shadow of menace—lends a folkloric feel to a graceful story steeped in history, magic, myth, and archetype; comparisons to The Book Thief are apt.” —The Horn Book, Starred Review”Savit’s novel, with its wise, philosophical narrator, has the classic feel and elegant, precise language of a book that’s been around forever.” —Shelf Awareness, Starred Review”[A] quiet exploration of love and its limits.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred Review”Artful, original, insightful.” —Kirkus Reviews”A moving, thought-provoking story about coming-of-age in the midst of trauma.” —Booklist “The Book Thief. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Any book compared to both of these is in my eyes sure to have an exciting plot, be a fantastic eye opener, and have loveable characters. Anna and the Swallow Man did not disappoint. Just go and read it—it is impossible not to love.” —The Guardian“The story is powerful enough to resonate with all ages….Savit’s novel, though a quick read, is a powerful one. And just like the child is follows, it has a deeper poignancy masked by its seemingly simple surface.” —Mashable”Written like a love song for language — heartbreaking and entrancing and filled with characters whose survival is intimately, sometimes tragically, tied to their love of words.” —Bustle “Exquisite.” —The Wall Street Journal –This text refers to the paperback edition.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ I was so excited when I started reading Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit. I found a book that stood above the typical popular book of the day. To be sure this isn’t your typical “New York Times Best Seller” kind of book. It’s far too unique in how it treats or approaches its subject, and the sheer beauty of his writing style is far above the usual “appeal to the masses” gripping plot line. Having said this Anna and the Swallow Man was a compelling read and as much a page turner as I have ever read.The foundation of the story is unique to my reading. There is a seven year old girl who speaks seven languages. After her father disappears (this is World War 2 Poland and her father is highly educated) she takes up with a man who speaks five languages as well as “swallow” (the feathered variety). This man is intent on not being discovered by . . . whomever (it’s never really clear) . . . and will not even tell Anna his name. He is never anything more than the Swallow Man. He even goes as far as to take her name from her to help in the smoke screen they lay around their lives.The constant threat of discovery adds a constant suspense to the storyline. Death could come by bullet or by starvation. But Swallow Man is good at what he does—survival. In spite of the scenes of war and death Savit writes with a delicacy that surprised and impressed me. For most of the book there was no “slap you in face” kinds of scenes that tear you apart in spite of the many opportunities. Oh, the scenes are tough enough for those with imagination, but there is a sensibility there that impressed me. In a book of war, death, and survival how can you not take notice of lines like: “All she knew was that out there, in a place in the woods near Lublin, there was a beautiful man to whom she wanted to give the taste of bread one final time before he died.”Or “When she saw this, something fell into place inside of Anna. Ever since the onslaught of the Germans had begun, even by the side of Reb Hirschl, she had managed to forget completely that there had ever been such a thing as gladness. But here in front of her was indisputable evidence that the world was not everywhere on fire, and was, in fact, growing kinder in places– the Swallow Man had ventured out to forage not for food, not for gain, not for his benefit or for Anna’s, but only for the surprise and delight of her beautiful Reb Hirschl.”I had such hopes for this book. I touted its merits up until the night I read the final three chapters. I excitedly told my kids all about it on the way to my daughter’s Nutcracker Ballet rehearsal. While there I read the final chapters. On the way home I had nothing to say. The wind was taken from my sail. The romance with the book was over.As you can surmise the ending is not a happy one. That fact has nothing to do with my disaffection with the book. I’ve read and appreciated books like Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, 1984, Hamlet, and so many others that don’t leave a person smiling. So what is different about Anna and the Swallow Man? I think it’s that he left the ugly things for the very end after giving me such hope. At the end the book clearly falls into a “loss of innocence” story. That, by itself, is fine. It’s been done successfully so many times before and will be again. In this book it struck me as being done wrong.After such beautiful writing three things happen at the end that hit me like a sucker punch in the kidney. I’m not sure if I felt purposefully betrayed by the author or if he just couldn’t think of anything better than slapping me in the face and then saying, “I see by the shock on your face that I have written a good book.” I never mistake “shock” for “moving and meaningful.” I don’t mind that the ugly things happened in the book; it’s just that they sit at the end like a heart attack at the end of your birthday party. The balance is all wrong.I thought I was reading a contemporary book that was above so many others that are touted today as “best sellers” but in the end Savit brought this book down to the level of most others. I know that endings are difficult to get right. Savit missed it. The Peculiar Children of Bus 13: Book 1: The New GirlJacob and Lace

⭐ This is really a story about how you can be fooled in life. Anna’s story features beautiful language. It often has thought-provoking philosophy, but the story really goes nowhere and the end is quite unsatisfactory. It is overly sad and often confusing. It is difficult to pinpoint who the audience is really supposed to be. Some sites say 12 and up, but language and certain incidents make the unacceptable for children. It could be Young Adult book, but even then, there is too much up in the air; too much ambiguity about who the Swallow Man really is to grab the attention of many YA readers. I found the ending most disappointing. The story basically fits the plot. It is a wandering, meandering series of events that are not resolved in a satisfactory manner. The author gets away with a lot because the language is often beautiful, but that’s not enough to sustain a great book. This is not All the Light You Cannot See and it is not The Book Thief because the novel lacks the positive, uplifting elements that could redeem such a maudlin story.

⭐ The three central characters draw you in. You soon find yourself caring for them, and will want to know what happens to them after the book ends–but even then you will not be entirely sure what will happen next to either of the two more important ones. Also, for most of the book, you will not be quite sure about the true character of the definitely odd and possibly creepy Swallow Man, and the clues to his real identity can easily be missed. Therefore I would recommend the book mainly for readers who are relatively comfortable with uncertainty, and also like to spend time teasing out deeper meanings rather than just reading for plot.As for those plot readers, they will probably enjoy the way the book draws them on, and will read to the end, but they may feel let down by the uncertainties that remain after they’re done.

⭐ Sometimes I read a book and immediately think, I need to read this again. This is one. This story of how to survive during under unimaginable circumstances, yet maintain a humanity, is an amazing testament to the strength of the spirit. The stories are enhanced by a language poetical in its prose. There were passages and descriptions that I would read again and again, wishing I could commit It to memory. I plan to visit this book again.

⭐ The invasion of Poland by the Nazi’s in 1939 has been written about many times. But Savit has written about the beginning of the war from the eyes of Anna, a 6 year old girl who is faced with the horrors of war too quickly in her young life. Who is the Swallow Man? Why did he decide to protect and save Anna from this destruction? How did he keep her from danger as they travelled and hid in the forest. A beautiful yet sad story of Anna’s introduction to the war. Savit wrote a compelling, tender, protective story of the horrors of war and yet demonstrated the strength of individuals, even the very young, to survive.

⭐ While very creative in imagery, I needed more definitive explanations to help with the story and meaning. The author says through a character that questions are better then answers however for me I would have preferred more answers. I found myself rereading sentences to try to figure out what was said and what it meant. I was confused more than not especially at the end.

⭐ I found the book hard to put down. Who was the Swallow Man and why did he change his rules to survive World War II by taking care of Anna. The three central characters draw you in. You soon find yourself caring for them, and will want to know what happens to them after the book ends–but even then you will not be entirely sure what will happen next to either of the two more important ones. Very interesting sad story.

⭐ Hmmmm, I don’t know what to say. I thoroughly enjoyed this book until the ending. The ending flops dead in the water. What in the world is up with that? The writing is beautiful. The story captivating. As a reader you love Anna and develop a love/hate relationship with the Swallow Man. Why in the world the author (or editor allow) such am ambiguous ending to such a well-written beautiful tale?

⭐ I really liked Anna and The Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit. I didn’t understand all of it, especially the ending. I am going to have to re-read the last couple of chapters or possibly the entire book, to see what I missed. It is a kind and sweet book, though not without conflict and heartache. I think it would make a great discussion book.I would recommend Anna and The Swallow Man.

⭐ I’ve never written a book review before. But I so rarely read a book I really love, in spite of reading constantly. And oh, I loved this one. The story takes a horrific circumstance and turns it into a dark almost-fairy tale of survival. In no way did I feel like this was simply a young adult story though I can see a young adult enjoying it. But it’s richer than that and I won’t bore you further with my interpretation of the allegory. I will tell you to read it and enjoy it. I hope to find more from this author soon!

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