Said to be the greatest work of Vasily Grossman, Jewish Soviet journalist and author, this book was impounded and almost certainly destroyed in 1960 by the KGB, but Grossman had given copies to two friends. Finally published in English in the 1980s and in Russia during the period of glasnost in 1988, this is a great, moving, and terrible account of the siege of Stalingrad, the Holocaust, the Gulag, and the circumstances and philosophy of everyday life in Stalin’s Soviet Union. The author constructed the work as a new War and Peace with similarities including the title itself, the many characters, its episodic nature, Hitler and Paulus substituting for Napoleon, and probably many others that I’ve missed. Some of the episodes are reminiscent of Chekov’s stories, with their examination of complex human behavior, the use of humor, the lack of a tied-up ending and the sense that the characters continue on after the story ends. Grossman’s well-known fine powers of observation, his interviewing techniques, and his imagination yield especially striking accounts of the thoughts of a child entering the Auschwitz gas chamber and of a Soviet Commissar undergoing interrogation at the Lubyanka prison in Moscow.

Some of the author’s thoughts that caught my eye:

And what did this doctrine of peace and love bring to humanity?....[It] caused more suffering than all the crimes of the people who did evil for its own sake.....People are wrong to see life as a struggle between good and evil....[human kindness] is what is truly human in a human being....Kindness is powerful only while it is powerless.

By the way, do you know the difference between a good type and a bad type? A good type is someone who behaves swinishly in spite of himself.

Tell me what you accuse the Jews of–I’ll tell you what you’re guilty of.

...however rich and famous a man may be, he will still grow old, die and yield his place to the young; that perhaps nothing matters except to live one’s life honestly.

You say life is freedom. Is that what people in the camps think? ( )

I have read this novel twice, the second time herein dated. I will avoid repeating the same praises of other reviewers. Comparing this novel to War and Peace appropriate. Its range broad, character vary from Stalin to a tank commander who refuses to give the order to begin the counter-attack until he, the tank commander is ready. The freedom which exists at Stalingrad among the chaos in death contributes to the tragedy as anyone familiar with Stalinist history knows what is waiting for the defenders after the battle. Contrary to some reviewers who defy sense by giving this novel a lesser review, I love Soveit and Russian literature. Like Soveit films, they are long, ponderous and existentially worth the effort. Sadly, today, with the war in Ukraine, it is sad to read emails from translators of Russian that demand for their services have dried up. Literature, especially great literature such as Life and Fate, transcends frontiers and enemy soldiers. One of the more powerful threads of the novel is the defenders of House 6/1. Will leave the reader free to encouter it. ( )

o frescă a efectelor stalinismului asupra vietii de zi cu a zi a catorva oameni foarte diversi, pe fundalul războiului mondial (in timpul bataliei de la Stalingrad 1942-43, unde se petrece o parte din actiune). personajele sunt foarte bine construite si individualizate, cu sentimente vii si particularitati, iar subtilitatile intunecate ale vietii sub cea mai monstruoasă tiranie din istorie sunt surprinse impecabil si incredibil de complet/complex. Relatiile dintre personaje evoluează si ele credibil si captivant, chiar dacă peste spatii foarte mari (ca distanta).
O carte care, dacă ar fi renuntat la cam o treime din text, ar fi fost impecabila. Ce vreau sa spun? Din păcate, cam 40% din continut sunt divagatii si filozofari extinse, neinteresante si plictisitoare, deseori exprimate direct de autor (cu vocea auctoriala), uneori deghizate in dialoguri extra-lungi si total nerealiste intre personaje; unele discutii sunt pe teme complet absconcse pentru ne-rusi, extrem de aprofundate pe teme literare si culturale sau partinice necunoscute strainilor si, probabil, si rusilor care nu au trait acea perioadă. Din aceasta cauza, in pofida faptul ca are vreo 1100-1200 pag (2 volume), povestea propriu-zisă nu e suficient dezvoltată, ci pare doar o monstră dintr-una mai mare. E foarte buna, dar pare doar varful icebergului.
Per total, o carte foarte buna si memorabila, care pe un traseu normal ar fi fost probabil editata destul de mult (fiind interzisa, a fost scoasa din URSS in secret, pe microfilm, si publicata doar in Vest, initial numai in.... italiana. in URSS manuscrisul a fost confiscat si distrus de NKVD, iar el a fost persecutat). ( )

The author’s purpose was to draw similarities between life in general and life in the concentration camps/gulags under the Nazis and the Red Army of the USSR. Rebellious spirits and hostile ideologues were purged from the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, from the cities to the villages, and individuals were swept into a seething cauldron of darkness which they wanted no part of. This book is the “War and Peace” of this Century and the most complete novel (by an insider) of Stalinist life that we have or are most likely to ever have. The plot weaves back and forth in time and space between Soviet and Nazi armies/prison camps/citizens interacting with the Shapasnikov extended family and their outside relationships with employers, lovers, and colleagues during the siege of Stalingrad (Aug 1942-Feb 1943.) The turbid ebb and flow of human misery washed in a flood of fatalism permeates the entirety of this book and makes for difficult reading. There were a few times I despaired of ever completing this book for the constant suffering and anguish of the characters were deeply affecting. ( )

Vasili Grossman was a renowed writer and journalist in the USSR. In World War II he covered major events, including the Battle of Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk and the Battle of Berlin. He was one of the first who wrote about the German extermination camps, as he was there when Treblinka was liberated.
When Khrushchev spoke openly about the Stalin terror in 1961, Grossman thought the time for his magnum opus "Life and Fate" had come. He was devastated when the manuscript (and all copies) was taken by the KGB. Fortunately for us, he did hide two copies at friends, one was smuggled out of the USSR and first published in Switserland in 1980, 16 years after Grossman died.

The story takes place around the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943), following the Shaposhnikova family and some their friends. Grossman paints a wide and very vivid portrait of Sovjet (and some German) citizens in World War II.
Most gripping were the last letter of a Jewish mother to her son, she writes from the German occupied Ukrain and will be killed and her voyage freight train to the gaz chamber in Auschwitz; and the downfall of a loyal communist, victim of Stalins brutal reign.
All characters are very human, with human flaws, making mistakes, that sometimes are held harsh against them. Everyone tries to survive in his own tiny way, some do survive, others are crushed in the war, in the camps, in Stalinism...

I was blown away by this epic story. It is no easy read, both the content and the many characters can be overwhelming at times. I learned a lot, not only about Stalingrad and its significance in WW II, but also about Stalin, the great purge of 1937 and the early days of the USSR.

With a lot of footnotes and over 200 characters, I found it handy to keep two extra bookmarks at the footnotes and the list of characters at the end of the book. ( )