A little-known but classic novel about the "bitter struggle" between Soviet forces & the advancing Nazi army explores Soviet society under the stress of WW2's fascist onslaught
This column reminded me of growing up in the 1970s, when the novels of Sven Hassel were widely available on spinner racks in local convenience stores. Though (in comparison to Sholokhov's)those books were and are of dubious artistic merit, their depiction of German grunts on the Eastern Front were eye-openers for 12-year old me, an avid reader and WWII buff.
I'd love to read this novel, but as you mention...it is basically impossible to find in English.
Thanks very much for your comment! As for the availability of Sholokhov's book, I think I obtained mine via a private bookseller on abebooks.com. I'd check in there from time to time and you might luck out (as I did) and be able to obtain a copy.
Jeff, I just spent six weeks building the Netanyahu Kookooee and burning it in effigy. I had to aestheticize the imagery, some through beauty, some as grotesque, in order to make it communicate as a monumental scale sculpture and as an anti-war protest. From your recounting of his novel Sholokov faced the same dilemma.
"Second only to the Jews, Soviet prisoners of war were the largest group of victims of Nazi racial policy.”
6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis. 27 million Soviets were killed - 16 million were civilians. The numbers aren't even close. Why do westerners distort these facts?
Westerners don't just distort the facts, they consciously suppress them! - I hope you don't think that I ignore overall Soviet casualties. Just prior to the paragraph on Soviet POWs, I wrote, "From 8-10 million Soviet soldiers lost their lives battling the fascist armies. Over twice that many Soviet civilians died, as the countryside was ravaged." The killing of POWs is a discrete war crime in & of itself, as POWs are a "protected" category.
Out of these 6 millions, the largest part of them, about 2.5 millions, were also citizens of the Soviet Union (citizenship, nationality, ethnicity and religious belonging are different categories).
This column reminded me of growing up in the 1970s, when the novels of Sven Hassel were widely available on spinner racks in local convenience stores. Though (in comparison to Sholokhov's)those books were and are of dubious artistic merit, their depiction of German grunts on the Eastern Front were eye-openers for 12-year old me, an avid reader and WWII buff.
I'd love to read this novel, but as you mention...it is basically impossible to find in English.
Thanks very much for your comment! As for the availability of Sholokhov's book, I think I obtained mine via a private bookseller on abebooks.com. I'd check in there from time to time and you might luck out (as I did) and be able to obtain a copy.
The full movie is on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOxKScK1KOU
Thank you!
I have this book in Finnish edition, found it on flea market few year back
Jeff, I just spent six weeks building the Netanyahu Kookooee and burning it in effigy. I had to aestheticize the imagery, some through beauty, some as grotesque, in order to make it communicate as a monumental scale sculpture and as an anti-war protest. From your recounting of his novel Sholokov faced the same dilemma.
Wish I could have been there to see that!
"Second only to the Jews, Soviet prisoners of war were the largest group of victims of Nazi racial policy.”
6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis. 27 million Soviets were killed - 16 million were civilians. The numbers aren't even close. Why do westerners distort these facts?
Westerners don't just distort the facts, they consciously suppress them! - I hope you don't think that I ignore overall Soviet casualties. Just prior to the paragraph on Soviet POWs, I wrote, "From 8-10 million Soviet soldiers lost their lives battling the fascist armies. Over twice that many Soviet civilians died, as the countryside was ravaged." The killing of POWs is a discrete war crime in & of itself, as POWs are a "protected" category.
Thank you for clarifying!
Out of these 6 millions, the largest part of them, about 2.5 millions, were also citizens of the Soviet Union (citizenship, nationality, ethnicity and religious belonging are different categories).
Stalin, btw, was an excellent, conscientious editor and, according to Field Marshal Alanbrooke, had 'a first class military mined'.