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Life and Fate: The Complete Series (Dramatised)

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Life and Fate: The Complete Series (Dramatised)

By: Vasily Grossman
Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, David Tennant, Raquel Cassidy, Greta Scacchi, Adrian Scarborough, Alex Tregear, full cast
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About this listen

Kenneth Branagh stars in BBC Radio 4's ambitious eight-hour dramatisation of Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman's epic masterpiece set during the Battle of Stalingrad. This powerful work, completed in 1960, charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the KGB placed the manuscript under arrest and Grossman was informed his book would not be published for at least 200 years.

Having been a household name as one of Russia's most distinguished war correspondents, Grossman died aged 58 - the banning of his book hastening the end of his life - and he would never know the fate of his masterpiece: smuggled out of the Soviet Union on microfilm, to freedom and eventual publication in the West. Today it is increasingly hailed as the most important Russian novel of the 20th century.

©2011 AudioGO Ltd (P)2011 AudioGO Ltd Entertainment & Performing Arts Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War & Military Entertainment War Russia Soviet Union Military Inspiring Thought-Provoking Destiny Socialism

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All stars
Most relevant
I confess that I started listening to this in 2019 and gave up. Recently I listened to a podcast of the prequel and realised I had this already. I did find hearing them in order quite useful because there are key moments that surround events in the first book but it wouldn’t be a disaster to read one without the other.
The book itself is the story of several interlinked families and associates during the Siege of Stalingrad during WW2. There’s a lot of politics and references to groups within Communism but you don’t really need to know anything to understand Dialectical Materialism to get the point of the ever-moving goalposts in Russia under Stalin. The sense of mistrust and fear that the characters feel towards their friends and neighbours makes the Nazis at the gates to the city seem like a minor worry. It’s got some moments of humour among the pathos but it is a hard listen in places. It also reminded me of Russian classics I read years ago in that what it’s really about is people, place and good.

Stunning

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A cleverly dramatised set of tales documenting the hideous similarities of two opposing ideologies and the price paid by people caught between them.

A powerful portrayal of the price of ideology

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A very long book but absolutely worth it. So many characters with depth and perspectives. It finishes with fighting taking place in the city itself - the continuation of the stories are in the next book - Life and Fate.

Amazing breadth

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This was amazing - l have ordered the novel, as l was not always clear on the identity of the female characters in the dramatization, and the story is exceptional

Now to read the book !

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Very entertaining audio book. I've not read the book so cannot tell how this compares but it was very engaging and well performed. I listened to Stalingrad on Radio4 before this and to me that seemed to make sense as the (same) characters were introduced more fully.

Engaging dramatisation

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