“Life and Fate”
Vasily Grossman’s “Life and Fate” is a tremendous read, as complicated but enthralling as “War and Peace.” I spend almost as much time in the glossary reviewing the characters’ roles as I do in the narrative itself. But it is a grand tale as big as Russia of the whole conflagration of Stalingrad — every character comes at the story from new angle that you might’ve never imagined. You are taken, as William Burroughs loved to say, right there. A lot of people read this book a while ago when it came out of the Soviet Union, but I’d never heard of it. What a find. Absolutely one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Tags: Books to read, Reading
