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Notes of a Sniper
Vassili Zaitsev Book Review

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Plot Summary of Notes of a Sniper
"Vassili Zaitsev, the Russian hero of Stalingrad, wrote his own biography, which is now in print in English. It was the book that inspired the movie "Enemy At The Gates" and the novel "War of the Rats."

Zaitsev titled the book Notes of a Sniper; For Us There Was No Land Beyond the Volga. Zaitsev details the battle from when he was first sent to Stalingrad, up until he was wounded by shrapnel in January of 1943. He heard the German surrender from his hospital bed in Stalingrad - he heard the captive German army marching past. If you are the sort of person who likes first person accounts by actual participants, this is the book for you - Zaitsev explains how he became a marksman in his youth, and then how he and a small band of Red Army snipers managed to terminate more than 1200 Nazis - mostly officers, sergeants, machine - gunners and artillery spotters. "

Neil Okrent, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Notes of a Sniper
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
War/Cloak & Dagger story? - Fought as soldier
War/Spying Yes
Period of greatest activity? - 1900+
Which war? - World War II

Subject of Biography
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - navy soldier
Age: - 20's-30's
Biography of famous person? Yes
Ethnicity - White
Nationality - Russian
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other people
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 ()
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - Russia
Prairie? Yes
Misc setting - moving train - fort/military installation
Century: - 1930's-1950's

Style
Book makes you feel? - encouraged
Is book humorous? Yes
If humorous, kind of humor - Dry-cynical
Commentary on society? Yes
Commentary on - decency - selfishness - war - dying
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards
Writer's slant towards subject: - neutral
Story of entire life, or part? - story of set of events during life
Autobiography? Yes
Pictures/Illustrations? - Some in color 1-5
How much dialogue in bio? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
How much of bio focuses on most famous period of life? - 76%-100% of book
How much is philosophy rather than life story? - 0-25% of book
Most similar books to Notes of a Sniper
Soldiering for Freedom by Herman J. Obermayer
Under Wraps: One Soldier's Hidden Diary of WWII by Jay Coffman
Flights of Passage: Reflections of a World War II Aviator by Samuel Hynes
Five Chimneys by Olga Lengyel
Churchill: The Unexpected Hero by Paul Addison


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Vassili Zaitsev Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Neil Okrent  

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