Christian Dorsan, author, blogger and contributor to the 20 Minutes Books reading group, recommends “The People Are Immortal” by Vassili Grossman, published on September 4, 2024 by Éditions Calmann Levy.
His favorite quote:
« It is wrong that poets, in their songs, assert that the first and last names of soldiers who died in combat will live for centuries; It is wrong that they claim that dead heroes continue to live, that their memory and their names are eternal. It is wrong that writers with narrow souls promise in their books to the people and fight what they do not ask for. Human memory cannot retain hundreds, thousands of names. He who is dead is dead. » »
Why this book?
- Because the reissue of this novel is a treasure, in addition to an excellent translation, it offers an understanding of the time travel of this novel published in 1946, certain passages of which were redacted at the time and rehabilitated today by Calmann Levy. The reissue is done with the entire manuscript and numerous notes on the time, places and circumstances of the writings.
- Because Vassili Grossman is a writer apart in the Russian-speaking literary world: neither a Soviet author nor a dissident author, he is one of the timeless Russian writers who sing of the Russian soul: an almost carnal attachment with the native land and a certain idea of immortality. Lovers’ anthem from the Russian countryside: “Oh, how beautiful the earth was at that moment! Like its heavy folds, its yellow hills, its small ravines invaded by brambles and dusty burdocks, its holes seemed beneficial,” Vassili Grossman praises nature as well as men.
- Because we are following the defeat of a Russian battalion in front of the Germans, despite the opposition sometimes between the General and the Commissioner, the observation of the superiority of the enemy is blatant. But it is without counting on the determination not to leave this land to the Germans that anonymous soldiers, coming from all walks of life, decide on a counter-attack which risks being fatal to them. Written as a military chronicle tinged with melancholy, this novel offers a complete palette for understanding the character of Russian resistance.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot. In August 1941, the Red Army was surprised by the German attack. Story of these first days of defeat, a battalion taken by surprise by the enemy advance, through the portraits of ordinary heroes.
The characters. The battalion commanded by Colonel Petrov and Commander Mertsalov, Battalion Commissar Bogariov, anonymous soldiers, desperate civilians and the Russian soul.
The places. Somewhere between Belarus and Ukraine, the village of Marchikhina Bouda.
The era. Summer 1941.
The author. Vassilli Grossman is a very popular Russian-speaking writer. A journalist, he covered “the Patriotic War” and authored numerous works (novels, essays, etc.) denouncing the ravages of war and the abuses of totalitarian systems.
This book was read with a certain proximity to the concerns of soldiers and civilians alike regarding the advance of the Germans. This book is a gold mine for those seeking to unlock the secret of the “Russian soul”. A big tip of the hat to the editor and translators Clair Delaunay and Luba Jurgenson.
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