{"product_id":"stalingrad-9781681373270","title":"Stalingrad","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe prequel to Vasily Grossman's \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eWar and Peace\u003c\/i\u003e of the 20th Century, now in English for the first time.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eVasily Grossman's \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate \u003c\/i\u003ehas been hailed as a twentieth-century\u003ci\u003e War and Peace\u003c\/i\u003e. However, \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate \u003c\/i\u003eis only the second half of a two-part work, the first half of which was published in 1952. Grossman wanted to call this earlier work Stalingrad--as it will be in this first English translation--but it was published as \u003ci\u003eFor a Just Cause\u003c\/i\u003e. The characters in both novels are largely the same and so is the story line; \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e picks up where Stalingrad ends, in late September 1942. The first novel is in no way inferior to \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e; the chapters about the Shaposhnikov family are both tender and witty, and the battle scenes are vivid and moving. One of the most memorable chapters of \u003ci\u003eLife and Fate\u003c\/i\u003e is the last letter written from a Jewish ghetto by Viktor Shtrum's mother--a powerful lament for East European Jewry. The words of this letter do not appear in Stalingrad, yet the letter's presence makes itself powerfully felt and it is mentioned many times. We learn who carries it across the front lines, who passes it on to whom, and how it eventually reaches Viktor. Grossman describes the difficulty Viktor experiences in reading it and his inability to talk about it even to his family. The absence of the letter itself is eloquent--as if its contents are too awful for anyone to take in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New York Review of Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/11\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781681373270\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 1088\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.20w x 2.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2019 pg. 26\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/29\/2019\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vasily Grossman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36665549750428,"sku":"9781681373270","price":25.46,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_2ff1ea1b-1b65-426b-81e0-5f91589ca95c.jpg?v=1603909802","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/stalingrad-9781681373270","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}