This is one of the greatest things I have ever read. It might not have have the philosophical or theological depth of Dostoevsky or Tolstoy but the story in it's brutal straightforwardness and simple prose reminded me of Storm of Steel in a way while reading it.
Has anyone else ever read it? What did you think? I've seen virtually no discussion about it on IQfy or even on the internet as a whole. It's like it's been thrown aside. Would you recommend his other works?
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IQfy doesn’t read much anymore and if they do it’s rarely fiction which isn’t popular here anymore. I wanted to read this a long time ago but lost interest. I’ll get around to it eventually
I still think there's plenty of fiction discussion here tbf
I should warn you it's not like Storm of Steel as in it's a single narrative written in first person from start to finish. It's a third person novel based around a host of characters. My comparison to Storm of Steel comes from the rawness of the prose and descriptions. It reminds me of how Junger wrote his book. There's no stopping for long periods of introspection, you get a few words and move on but it's still moving all the same.
>My comparison to Storm of Steel comes from the rawness of the prose and descriptions.
Oh that's exactly what has me intrigued, and a big part of why I like Storm of Steel so much. I've always wanted more books that were written in a similar manner, but I thought Junger was it.
That's true, I've struggled myself to find someone like Junger. He's probably my favourite writer in history though so it's a high bar. His non-fiction works are amazing as well.
>I still think there's plenty of fiction discussion here tbf
It's overwhelmed by nonsense posts and pseud philosophy stuff though. I come back to this board every so often over the years and it's always the same tripe about Guenon or Nietzsche etc. There's diamonds amid all the shite though, and I've read some genuinely interesting and novel takes on literature here that I haven't come across elsewhere. I just wonder who actually makes the constant rubbish threads and why.
I've seen it discussed, mostly in Russian book recommendation threads or ones on some of the lesser known authors, like Bulgakov and Grossman. I know Grossman wouldn't stop singing it's praises. Never read it myself, but your comparison to Storm of Steel has me intrigued. Thanks OP, I'll check it out sometime.
One of my tbh favourite rusIQfy books. Would love to see discussion over it. Idk bout translation BC one of its finest virtues was prose and language.
It was personally significant for me BC it allowed to put the history of my family in some perspective.
Eurasia is so kino…
"the Garry translation also chops the original book in two and dropped apparently about 25% of the original"
See here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4785340648
"Garry’s translation... lacked around 25% of the original text, mostly due to the haste with which it was completed"
I only own the Garry but haven't read it for these reasons
What the frick really?? Is there a good translation?? What’s been cut out?
Pic related version has all 4 volumes although the above anon says the translation cut a lot out
What really interests me is how the author managed to print all this during Stalins time and not get shot. It’s not really pro-Bolshevik at all
>What really interests me is how the author managed to print all this during Stalins time and not get shot.
The same fricking question I was asking myself the whole time as I was reading. But, here. First publication was in the 20s, not in a Stalin's regime. Moscow in the 20s was I suppose a 'very special place 'and 'with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back' so I guess Stalin would lose 'intellectual brownie points' if he pushed a combed down version with original still around.
Plus here on 4chin exists an urban legend about plagiarism of 'silent Don' in a way that original manuscript was a war trophy and some anon claimed that mishka koshewoy was a self inserted character.
It sounds like a pipe dream but I don't buy that a card carrying commie in such tender age could write that tolstoyan masterpiece.
>quoting Fear and Loathing
Lel. I don’t buy this plagerism stuff tbh. It’s fun to discuss but that’s about it as far as I can see, like Shakespeare theories. Although it’s very fun to think about. There’s a lot of depth to the book, it’s a good mind to go hunting in
There's a recent English biography of Sholokhov called Stalin's Scribe that paints a pretty interesting and sympathetic image of Sholokhov trying to negotiate the role of a writer in Stalin's USSR. [Long story short, it drove him to alcoholism but kept him out of a gulag].
Also, Stalin could be famously lenient with writers whose work he liked aesthetically even if he thought their politics were counterrevolutuonary. He was also relatively forgiving of Bulgakov and Pasternak.
I read and enjoyed the first half but can't find an English translation of the rest.
Here's a good question: How much is it worth the time investment? Because if you're going with 4 volumes for a novel, it better be making the most out of its material. And i don't mean that in a utilitarian ''oh there's nothing happening now'' dipshit kind of way. It just has to be as ambitious horizontally as it should be vertically, if you see what i mean. If all you get is a dry extended stretch of time, and demands a lot of miscellaneous knowledge for you to scrape its surface, then I don't know about this adventure. I'm more of a short story kind of guy, as i like to dwell or reread them, so i hope you understand my apprehensions.
The original of picrel was as engaging as the W&P, AK or TBK are.
I've heard of shitty translations and abridged versions so idk
>Eurasia is kino
Location does not matter.
The fact that history is brutal and dirty is kino, the art is how to write about it w/o turning it into a sõy fuel. I.e. Steinbeck's Grapes of wrath was sõy fuel.
Why? Because it was le socialist?
Great book.
I only read the first volume, however.
We were discussing this book here 2 years ago or so.
I was impressed that it got published under Stalin. Loved how Cossack women were depicted as absolute prostitutes while the men were spilling their guts out on the battlefield.
I also recall the vividly described backgrounds...
Fate of a Man was a fantastic read