The red wheel
The red wheel ( Russian Красное колесо / Krasnoe koleso ) is a ten-volume series of novels by Alexander Solzhenitsyn , only partially published in German. In this series Solzhenitsyn tried to document the recent history of Russia .
The individual volumes are referred to as knots , the entire row is called The Red Wheel .
Of the 10, possibly even 20, planned nodes, only four were implemented. In July 1991, Solzhenitsyn announced in the Paris émigré newspaper “La Pensée russe” that he was abandoning his business.
Content of the nodes
First knot, August fourteen
In this book, the author explores the question of why the First World War, and especially the Battle of Tannenberg, ended with such a devastating defeat for Tsarist Russia .
It begins with a description of the mood in the countryside and among the urban intelligentsia in the period shortly before the outbreak of war.
After that, the reader accompanies the heroes of the presentation, the colonel appointed by the commander-messaging Worotynzew and front General Samsonov , by the events of Front march through the first battle successes defeats and by the chaos in the Russian troops during their destruction.
Solzhenitsyn paints a picture of bravery and patriotism, but also the poor education of the soldiers at the front, but especially the inability, nepotism, intrigues and disorganization in the staffs: the troops are senselessly sent miles on foot through the sand, because orders are daily be changed. Obviously wrong orders are not corrected out of vanity. The result is that the Russian troops operate far apart in a deserted space and tens of thousands of soldiers can be surrounded by the German army.
While General Samsonov commits suicide in the face of defeat, Vorotynzew manages to break out of the encirclement with some comrades and reports to the Commander-in-Chief about the real conditions at the front.
In the last chapters, the mood among students in Moscow and in a family in Rostov is shown, which Solzhenitsyn provides explanatory material for the impending October Revolution .
Second knot, November sixteen
Third knot, March seventeen
Fourth Knot, April Seventeen (untranslated)
German editions
- August fourteen. Translated from the Russian by Swetlana Geier. Hermann Luchterhand Verlag, Darmstadt and Neuwied without a year (© 1972); 640 pages.
- August fourteen. Translated from the Russian by Swetlana Geier. Alexander Piper Verlag, Munich 1987; 1049 pages.
- November sixteen. Translated from the Russian by Heddy Pross-Weerth . Alexander Piper Verlag, Munich without a year (© 1986); 1200 pages. Review by Rainer Traub in Spiegel (39/1986).
- March seventeen. The red wheel, third knot, first part. Translated from the Russian by Heddy Pross-Weerth. Alexander Piper Verlag, Munich 1989; 746 pages. Review by Horst Bienek in ZEIT (November 17, 1989).