| Babi Yar - A Documentary Novel
(1967)
|
| Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
| Genre |
Fiction |
| Subject |
Soviet Union - History - German occupation, 1941-1944 - Fiction; World War, 1939-1945 - Atrocities - Fiction |
| Publication Date |
1967 |
| Format |
Hardcover (8.3
x
5.5
mm)
|
| Publisher |
MacGibbon & Kee |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Description |
| Documentary Novel, Russia |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
Powell's City of Books |
| Purchase Price |
$11.50 |
| Acquire Date |
2/27/2014 |
| Condition |
Very Good/Very Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
|
|
| Product Details |
| No. of Pages |
399 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
This is the story of the Nazi occupation of Kiev. Kuznetsov subtitles the book a "documentary novel". I'm not really what makes this a novel or how it differs from any number of other personal narratives of the war. He tells us what he did, what happened to him, and relates the stories of some people he met. I can't think of any other novels that have end notes.
He sets the tone in the first few pages with a few paragraphs that happen at the end - he meets some goatherds in the ravine at Babi Yar, mining gold from a seam of "coal". The coal, of course, isn't coal. While I found the whole story gripping, the chapter "Babi Yar: Finale" is particularly intense. It describes the efforts of the Nazis to disinter the thousands of bodies in the ravine and burn them before their retreat.
Throughout I found several passages that could describe the horrors of the Soviet system as well. A few paragraphs about degradation and imprisonment here and there without reference to Germans or Nazis. Are these veiled references to Stalinism? Did Kuznetsov intend them, or is that something I'm bringing myself?
Highly recommended. |
|