"Life and Fate" - Vasily Grossman

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'Life and Fate' is one of the greatest Russian novels of the twentieth century, a semi-autobiographical account by Vasily Grossman of life under the twin horrors of Stalinism and Nazism. Grossman, a Russian Jew, was a war reporter and his book (banned in Russia under Khrushchev) focuses on an extended family scattered across the siege at Stalingrad, a Jewish ghetto and Nazi death camp, and a Stalinist concentration camp, mostly in the period 1941-43.

Robert Chandler, its translator, has written an impressive introduction to the book.

Grossman rejected all total ideologies, as Chandler observes:

"The tribute that a Grossman character pays to Chekhov is a statement of Grossman’s own hopes and beliefs: “Chekhov brought Russia into our consciousness in all its vastness… He said, let’s put God - and all these grand progressive ideas - to one side. Let’s begin with man; let’s be kind and attentive to the individual man - whether he’s a bishop, a peasant, an industrial magnate, a convict in the Sakhalin islands or a waiter in a restaurant. Let’s begin with respect, compassion and love for the individual - or we’ll get nowhere.”

Large Russian novels, books compared to Tolstoy's 'War and Peace' and acclaimed as classics, can appear intimidating. In fact 'Life and Fate' is beautifully written (and I should also add, translated) and many of the chapters are quite short, little more than a page.

In the Kindle version, it's quite easy to do a book search to refresh one's memories of the large cast of characters.

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Those of us who have led sheltered lives shudder at the thought of what the Grossman generation had to endure. Yet his conclusion seems too austere: history is driven forwards by social movements, and those necessarily clothe themselves in banners and ideals. Few great social upheavals have been unmarked by sustained, collective violence against those invested in the status quo.

The atrocious luck of Grossman (and millions of others) was that the twin forces of Stalinism and Fascism, which pressed so lethally upon them, were going nowhere in history.