Life and Fate

'In it you can hear both a lament for the dead, and the furious joy of life itself'.

Vasily Grossman may be the best writer you've never heard of. But he is apparently slowly making his way into Western consciousness as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Martin Kettle, writing in the Guardian, does a much better job discussing this book than I ever could, and it is thanks to him that I am a better man. Yes, this book had that big of an effect on me.

It is sweeping in scope. Set in and around the battle for Stalingrad during WWII, it encompasses the whole of the human experience. It is a Soviet dissedent book, to be sure. But really, it is a book about people, and what it means to be truly free.

You might be inclined to dismiss this book on the grounds that it is Russian and therefore difficult to read. Let me reassure you that it isn't. Sure, it is typically full of many, many characters, but there's a handy list of characters at the back.

Janis Joplin sang that Freedom was just another word for nothin' left to lose. George Bush defined it as being his particular brand of Conservatism.

Thankfully, Grossman has a much more nuanced take on it. I'll leave it to you to experience the lament for the dead, and the furious joy of life itself.