| Life and Fate (1985) |
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| Notes/Review |
| Bookseller: Bookdonors CIC Purchase Method: Visa Payment Processed By: Abebooks Estimated Delivery Date: March 16, 2011 Author: Vasilii Grossman Title: Life and Fate Bookseller Book No.: BDSAA4102H2-244 Price: US$ 21.49 Book Description: USED HARDBACK WITH DUST JACKET; VERY GOOD CONDITION; CLEAN TIGHT TEXT WITH NORMAL READING WEAR TO JACKET Date Processed: December 22, 2010 Approximate Shipping Speed: 28 - 60 business days Orders are usually shipped within 2 business days Total Book Price: US$ 21.49 Updated Shipping: US$ 19.36 Updated Total Order Amount: US$ 40.85 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Epic in scope, Life and Fate tells the tales of a couple dozen characters during the Battle of Stalingrad. I went in with high expectations, having heard the book described more than once as the best Russian novel of the 20th century. It's a good book, but I don't rate it as the best. I certainly do understand why the Soviet authorities found it dangerous - Grossman doesn't pull any punches when describing the awesome power of the state, whether that state is Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia. If you need a satisfying ending in a novel, you'll be disappointed. The book is very much a slice of life thing - we get to the end of the book, but many of the stories are not at their ends. Obviously, those characters who met their ends during the battle or in the gas chambers have their stories end, but many other characters are simply in transition (from defensive to offensive, or from freedom to imprisonment). |