David Herman
Vasily Grossman
Summary
A thorough exploration of the life of Vasily Grossman (1905–1964) and his literary career, underscoring his significant contributions amidst the tumultuous backdrop of Soviet history. Despite enduring the Stalinist era’s repression, Grossman emerged relatively unscathed, though his circle suffered arrests and disappearances. His writing evolved markedly, shifting from socialist realism to more critical themes, especially evident in his later works. His masterpiece, Life and Fate, smuggled out of the Soviet Union, posthumously solidified his international acclaim, celebrating his insights into war, totalitarianism, and human resilience against adversity.
David Herman
David Herman is a freelance writer based in London. Over the past 20 years he has written almost a thousand articles, essays, and reviews on Jewish history and literature for publications including the Jewish Chronicle, the Jewish Quarterly, Jewish Renaissance, the Guardian, the New Statesman, and Prospect. He has taught courses on Jewish culture for the London Jewish Cultural Centre and JW3. He is a regular contributor to Jewish Book Week, the Association of Jewish Refugees, and the Insiders/Outsiders Festival on the contribution of Jewish refugees to British culture.
Luck. Luck is the only answer. Many survived only through luck and friends, relatives were killed. His second wife was taken by the security forces and Grossman wrote to everybody he could pleading for her release. Eventually she was released. It’s an extraordinary story, both of his courage and of how the regime could sometimes do that.
Yes, they are now. This was really only in the last 20 years that they’ve been mostly translated. As far as I know, I haven’t heard that he’s working on any other translations.
The two obvious choices should be Life and Fate and Stalingrad, because these are two extraordinary novels. However, I would opt for a short selection of his reports, including “The Hell of Treblinka” and his greatest short stories called “Road.”