Such a long life

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An edition from 1990

Such a Long Life (1978) is the novel by the Russian writer Igor Bondarenko .

subject

The novel is about the life of the great Putivtsev working class. Their fate is inextricably linked with the fate of the Soviet people and the Soviet Union .

In the novel, the events of the 20th century are presented in detail. The life of the great Taganrog family is linked to important historical events of the last century. The pre-war and wartime periods are shown.

The author describes the events in the first year of the war , the most tragic, in particular : tank battles in the border area, attacks by the Soviet air forces over Berlin in August 1941. The author consulted the commander of the 81st long-range aviation division Mikhail Wodopyanov , one of the first heroes of the Soviet Union, and the Senior Navigator of the Polar Air Force of the USSR Valentin Ivanovich Akkuratov . In the book, the author kept the real names of the fighter pilots who flew over Berlin, the commander of the 8th Mechanized Corps under Lieutenant General Dmitri Ivanovich Ryabyschew , whom the writer knew well personally.

The novel also depicts the work of the Soviet diplomats in Berlin and London during the war years.

The author also built the information about Hitler's private life on a documentary basis. He met with Hitler's personal stenographer, Gertrud Junge.

Many chapters are devoted to Hitler's Germany at different times (before and during the war). The novel also reflects the opening of the second front in Normandy in 1944. In the afterword, the author lists his heroes until the end of the 1980s.

Heroes

  • Mikhail Putivtsev, a party and statesman;
  • Alexei Putivtsev, a pilgrim worker, a tank soldier during the war;
  • Vladimir Putivtsev;
  • Pantelei Putivtsew, Brigade Commander (Major General of the Air Force);
  • Nikolai Banduristov, artilleryman ( Kerch operation 1941 , fighting near Stalingrad , liberation of Sevastopol 1944);
  • Mikhail Shcharensky, a prominent NKVD employee;
  • Juri Topolkow, the press attaché before the war in Berlin, during the war in London;
  • Ryabyshev , a lieutenant general, the commander of the 8th Mechanized Corps ;
  • Ivan Maiski , the Soviet ambassador to London;
  • Valery Chkalov , a famous Soviet aviator;
  • Strong, an English journalist and educator;
  • Brandange, an American journalist;
  • Adolf Hitler ;
  • Eva Braun ;
  • Winston Churchill ;
  • Hans Oster , a general, deputy to Admiral Canaris , one of the main conspirators against Hitler.

Interesting facts

  • The prototype of the main hero of the novel, Mikhail Putivtsev, is Mikhail Markovich Bondarenko, the father of the author.
  • Some autobiographical facts of the author were presented in the figure of Vladimir Putivtsev - the concentration camp, participation in the French Resistance , escape from the camp, service in the regimental reconnaissance of the 2nd Belarusian Front.
  • The second volume of the novel was published chapter by chapter in the GDR in the " Ostseezeitung ".

Major publications of the novel

  1. Such a long life: Roman. Vol. 1. - Rostov-on-Don, publishing house, 1978. - 240 pp.
  2. Such a long life: Roman. Vol. 2. - Rostov-on-Don, book publisher, 1980. - 272 pp.
  3. Such a long life: Roman. - Moscow, Sowjetski pisatel (Soviet writer), 1980. - 624 pp.
  4. Such a long life: a novel in 2 parts. - Rostov-on-Don, publishing house, 1982. - 624 pp.
  5. Such a long life: a novel in 2 parts. - Rostov-on-Don, Rostizdat, 1984.
  6. Such a long life: a novel in 2 volumes. Vol. 1 - Rostov-on-Don, Buchverlag, 1987. - 320 pp. Vol. 2 - 352 pp.
  7. Such a long life: a novel in 2 parts. - Moscow: Sowjetski pisatel (Soviet writer), 1990. - 624 pp. - ISBN 5-265-01055-6 .
  8. Such a long life: a novel in 2 parts. / Selection of works in 3 volumes. - Taganrog: Taganij Rog, 2007. - 1020 pp. - ISBN 978-5-903458-02-8 , ISBN 978-5-903458-05-9 .

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