Can anyone recommend a good Soviet book?

[GabrielMk3]

Hello guys!

I wanted to ask you if you know about any good Soviet books,
or at least a book about the USSR, DPRK etc? Kinda like "The Hunt for Red October" for example.

I was looking for a good book, preferably non-fact, about the Great Patriotic War, from the eastern front, or something post-apocalyptic like Metro 2033.
I just went trough Amazon, and Google'd for a while, but couldn't find a good book. At least not in English...

And thank you in advance!

Gabriel

[Roscoe]

I can recommend 3 authors you might be interested in.

1. Isaac Babel: He wrote in the early '20s about the Civil War and the Polish war mostly short stories.

2. Konstantine Simonov: "Days and Nights" This is fictionalized account of the battle of Staligrad. It follows a sargent, forget his name, during the hieght of the battle. It's fast paced and an exiciting read. Really puts you in the trenchs.

3. Vasily Grossman: "Days and Nights" This is the most serious work and the one the will stay with you forever. Considered by many critics to be the best and most important work of Soviet literature and also one of the greatest of the 20th century. It follows the members of one family during the battle of Stalingrad. It takes place all over the country and recounts thier struggles to survive both the Nazi's and the Soviet regime. I read it over 2 years ago and parts of the book are still vivid in my mind. It's a hard book to read but truely a masterpiece.

All these authors are availble on Amazon.

[GabrielMk3]

Thank you! Thank you very much indeed.
Do you mean that Vasily Grossman wrote the book "Life and Fate"?

I'll probably buy one of these books within the week.
I don't think there are better candidates.

Gabriel

[Bob]

Originally Posted by GabrielMk3

I was looking for a good book, preferably non-fact,

why non factual when the real history is fascinating enough as it is?

you may want to consider Anthoney Beaver's book on Stalingrad, a real page turner

[CtahhR]

Brezhnev's Maya Zamlaya..... I read the whole book aloud and enjoyed the story.... Preferable to Zhukov's book which is very matter of fact and shy on descriptive texts....

The "left book club" published soviet propaganda stories in Britain during the 40's so you might want to look up some of the title they issued. My LBC books are 4500 miles from me now so I can't tell you any titles.

[GabrielMk3]

Originally Posted by Bob

why non factual when the real history is fascinating enough as it is?

you may want to consider Anthoney Beaver's book on Stalingrad, a real page turner

I know... I know... I like facts and history a lot more, but I need to read a fictional book before my final exam. Because I've only read fact and history my whole life....
The book on Stalingrad is a good piece of history, but it's history so I can't choose it again.

CtahhR; I'm trying to find Small Land, but it's a little bit difficult. Maybe I haven't just searched right. I'll try some more. Thanks for the tip, I had almost forgotten it.

Gabriel

[Auke]

Originally Posted by CtahhR

Brezhnev's Maya Zamlaya.....

Malaya Zemlya.

[CtahhR]

That's the one! Not too bad a go to say it was 2 30am and I have flu..... The delirium tells me to buy buy buy (or is that just normal?).

Brezhnev's "Little Land" can usually be got for almost nothing on Amazon either soft or hard back or as part of the book "Trilogy". It was also released "with pictures" under a different title in the US. I have the original US soft back, the original US hard back "Trilogy", The hard back US version "with pictures" and the first Lithuanian language print. Each of them cost me at maximum $1 each. If you put "Leonid Brezhnev" in a amazon search as author you'll find all his "Stories". I bought about 85 lbs of books either written by the top men or factual books for under $30 early last year. You can't go too wrong buying the unpopular used books on amazon! I focused mainly on Dimitrov..... You could always pick up his diaries nice and cheap.... DPRK books usually tend to be rather expensive and until they are under $5 delivered they will remain undelivered!

[GabrielMk3]

I see...
I'm still not finding The Small Lands, though.
I'm gonna try the American Amazon...

Ach! Nothing... -.-
Well. Let's check eBay...

Back to Amazon...

Haha, I found it! After searching "trilogy", lol...

[Roscoe]

Originally Posted by GabrielMk3

Thank you! Thank you very much indeed.
Do you mean that Vasily Grossman wrote the book "Life and Fate"?

I'll probably buy one of these books within the week.
I don't think there are better candidates.

Gabriel

You're correct, Vasily Grossman wrote "Life and Fate". Poor proof reading on my part.