Common questions

Which should I read first Stalingrad or Life and Fate?

Which should I read first Stalingrad or Life and Fate?

STALINGRAD, NOW APPEARING in English, was first published in Russian in 1952, the last year of Stalin’s life. Its more famous sequel, Life and Fate, Grossman’s masterpiece, was written after Stalin’s death and refused publication.

Should I read Stalingrad before Life and Fate?

James Spencer Since Robert and James answered this question, NYRB has published “For a Just Cause” under the title “Stalingrad.” While I still agree that “Life and Fate” can be read on its own and in fact is a much better book than “Stalingrad,” the back stories for dozens of characters are contained in the earlier …

Is Life and Fate a sequel to Stalingrad?

In Stalingrad, published here for the first time in English translation, and in its celebrated sequel, Life and Fate, Grossman writes with extraordinary power and deep compassion about the disasters of war and the ruthlessness of totalitarianism, without, however, losing sight of the little things that are the daily …

What is the book Life and Fate about?

Suppressed by the KGB, Life and Fate is a rich and vivid account of what the Second World War meant to the Soviet Union. Twenty years later, the novel was smuggled out of the Soviet Union on microfilm. At the centre of this epic novel looms the battle of Stalingrad.

Who wrote the book Stalingrad?

Vasily Grossman
Stalingrad/Authors

The unexpected Soviet counter-offensive forms the climax of Vasily Grossman’s 1952 novel Stalingrad, one of the great novels of the 20th century, and now published in English for the first time. Grossman originally envisaged Stalingrad and his masterpiece, Life and Fate (1960), as a single organic work.

Who wrote Life and Fate?

Life and Fate/Authors
A notable Russian author and journalist, Vasily Grossman bore witness to some of the most pivotal events of the 20th century and wrote about them with courage and truth. His masterpiece, Life and Fate, has been compared frequently to Tolstoy’s War and Peace.

How long is life and fate?

The novel is long, 871 pages in the Harvill edition, with a huge cast of characters that makes for a formidable challenge.

How many pages is Stalingrad?

This won a new audience for the book, though the actual number of people who made it through the 850-page volume is another question.

When was Life and Fate first published?

1980
Life and Fate/Originally published

When was life and fate by Vasily Grossman written?

Life and Fate ( Russian: Жизнь и судьба) is a novel by Vasily Grossman, written in the Soviet Union in 1959 and published in 1980. Technically, it is the second half of the author’s conceived two-part book under the same title.

Who was Vasily Grossman and what did he do?

Vasily Grossman. Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (Russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман, Ukrainian: Василь Семенович Гроссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Russian writer and journalist.

Why did the KGB raid Vasily Grossman’s flat?

The KGB raided Grossman’s flat after he had completed Life and Fate, seizing manuscripts, notes and even the typewriter ribbon on which the text had been written.

What kind of book is Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman?

Grossman writes with extraordinary power about the disasters of war and the ruthlessness of totalitarianism, without losing sight of the little things that are the daily currency of human existence. This is the prequel to ‘Life and Fate.’

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