Kenny Shovel
Active Member
‘A Writer at War’ details the experiences of the Russian author Vasily Grossman throughout his time as a frontline correspondent during the Second World War. A period of his life that would inspire Grossman to write ‘Life and Fate’, arguably the greatest novel of the Soviet era; as well as undertake ‘The Black Book’ with fellow Russian Ilya Ehrenburg, which documents in meticulous detail the atrocities committed by the Nazis against the Jewish population of Eastern Europe.
At the time of the German invasion of Russia, Grossman was an overweight writer in his mid-thirties. Declared unfit for active duty, he signed up as a war correspondent for ‘Red Star’, the newspaper of the Red Army, and insisted on reporting from the front line.
The scale and importance of the events he witnessed and reported on were breathtaking. From the disasters of the summer of 1941, where huge German encirclements threatened to destroy the Russian army wholesale, to the months he spent detailing the street fighting at Stalingrad. From the massive tank engagements at Kursk, to the re-capturing of the Ukraine the following year. As well as being one of the first journalists to enter Warsaw, Grossman also witnessed the discovery of the horrors at Treblinka and finally, in May 1945, found himself standing inside Hitler’s office at the Reich chancellery.
In addition to the articles he wrote for ‘Red Star’, Grossman kept detailed notebooks from that time. Indeed, one of the most interesting aspects of Grossman’s writing is that the level of quality between finished articles and extracts made in those notebooks seem almost negligible. Without clarification from Beevor it’s almost impossible to judge from which source a particular passage is drawn. Perhaps a clue to the consistent quality of his work is found in this comment from Grossman’s editor David Ortenberg:
“Although he had taught himself to write in any conditions, however bad, in a bunker by a wick lamp, in a field, lying in a bed or in a izba (Russian peasant house) stuffed with people, he always wrote slowly, persistently giving all of his strength to the process.”
The dedication shows through. I’m sure that as he started shifting through Grossman’s wartime notes Beevor must have soon realised the treasure-trove he had to work with. A large part of ‘A Writer at War’s narrative is drawn from this source, interspersed with excerpts from his articles, letters to friends and accounts from those who Grossman met during that time. All skilfully woven together and put in context by the insightful commentary of Beevor, to form simultaneously the story of one mans war, as well as the fortunes of two countries.
At the time of the German invasion of Russia, Grossman was an overweight writer in his mid-thirties. Declared unfit for active duty, he signed up as a war correspondent for ‘Red Star’, the newspaper of the Red Army, and insisted on reporting from the front line.
The scale and importance of the events he witnessed and reported on were breathtaking. From the disasters of the summer of 1941, where huge German encirclements threatened to destroy the Russian army wholesale, to the months he spent detailing the street fighting at Stalingrad. From the massive tank engagements at Kursk, to the re-capturing of the Ukraine the following year. As well as being one of the first journalists to enter Warsaw, Grossman also witnessed the discovery of the horrors at Treblinka and finally, in May 1945, found himself standing inside Hitler’s office at the Reich chancellery.
In addition to the articles he wrote for ‘Red Star’, Grossman kept detailed notebooks from that time. Indeed, one of the most interesting aspects of Grossman’s writing is that the level of quality between finished articles and extracts made in those notebooks seem almost negligible. Without clarification from Beevor it’s almost impossible to judge from which source a particular passage is drawn. Perhaps a clue to the consistent quality of his work is found in this comment from Grossman’s editor David Ortenberg:
“Although he had taught himself to write in any conditions, however bad, in a bunker by a wick lamp, in a field, lying in a bed or in a izba (Russian peasant house) stuffed with people, he always wrote slowly, persistently giving all of his strength to the process.”
The dedication shows through. I’m sure that as he started shifting through Grossman’s wartime notes Beevor must have soon realised the treasure-trove he had to work with. A large part of ‘A Writer at War’s narrative is drawn from this source, interspersed with excerpts from his articles, letters to friends and accounts from those who Grossman met during that time. All skilfully woven together and put in context by the insightful commentary of Beevor, to form simultaneously the story of one mans war, as well as the fortunes of two countries.