Pic related, I'm planning on reading it after I finish Crime and Punishment. Does /lit/ have thoughts on this book?
Not enough war chapters.
Fuck that boring scientist and his boring family.
>>7435630
While it was very daring in Khruschev's Soviet Union to come out and say that Stalin was just as repressive and blood thirsty as Hitler, it isn't exactly revelatory in the present day.
>>7435771
I forgot to say the parts about the Battle of Stalingrad were pretty intense. Particularly that one building the Germans couldn't drive them out of.
>>7435771
What you described there is Everything Flows rather than Life and Fate.
Life and Fate is about the people experiencing the war, and the system that they live in.
How much historical background should I have for this book? I have knowledge of World War II and the Soviet Union, but not in depth knowledge of Stalingrad. Pic is an acclaimed history of the Battle of Stalingrad, should I read this first?
>>7435920
It's a fantastic book. Read it first if you feel like, you'll have a great time I'm sure. You'll also probably then appreciate what the men who fought that battle went through.
It's not really necessary to read it first though. What you should pick up however is One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. It's a quick read and gives you some insight into how the Soviet union was really run. Also has some really comfy snow feels.
>>7436571
What a mediocre book. Read Kolyma Tales instead if youre gonna read gulag fiction.
>>7436628
It's literally on par with Tolstoy. You just have bad taste.
>>7436666
Kek. Is that it, really? On par with Tolstoy? Really? How many russian books have you read? Do you even knowwho Varlam Shalamov was? Do you know Solzhenitsyn bowed to him? Read up about him and read Kolyma Tales, and his poetry too.
Dumbass
>>7436704
I've read literally every single important Russian work.
You have poor taste. Sorry.
>>7436666
Not sure if you're comparing Grossman or Solzhenitsyn to Tolstoy, but you're wrong either way, sorry to say.
Grossman paints a broad picture of life like Tolstoy does, but he doesn't combine it with Tolstoy's eye for detail and for the everyday as well as the epic. Life and Fate has its powerful moments for sure, but it isn't as sustained as War and Peace and, although the characters are good, they don't have the depth of Tolstoy's characters.
Solzhentisyn is great and Ivan Denisovich is one of his best works, but the greatest works of Tolstoy are way beyond Solzhenitsyn's power.
I agree with the Shalamov recommendation if the goal is an accurate representation of life in the Gulag. Solzhenitsyn is describing one good day in a prison camp, focusing more on expressing his personal religious beliefs; Shalamov's stories are more representative.
>>7436712
Right, thats why you recommended Solzhenitsyn, a baby's first, instead of Shalamov.
>>7435810
Quite a bit of it is about Stalin being a cunt as well.
More thoughts on Life and Fate, or Russian and Soviet literature in general?
Also, more thoughts on One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Kolyma Tales, or the Gulag Archipelago?
>>7435630
The War parts are top tier. The end is pretty good. The chapters with the mother were good.
Lots and lots of filler, Master and Margarita this is not.
>>7438529
What the fuck does M&M have to do with Life and Fate? They are nothing alike, why would you compare them? I bet thats the only Bulgakov youve read too.
I recommend The Red Wheel and Quietly Flows the Don. They are more like Life and Fate, but they deal with the revolution.
