An essential part of Grossman’s vital body of work.
A colorful depiction of Russian soldiers in World War II at a critical moment in the German invasion.
Grossman (1905-1964) was a correspondent for the Soviet army’s Red Star when he knocked out this novel in two months in 1942 for serialization in the newspaper. It covers a brief period in the late summer of 1941 when Russia was enduring heavy losses after German troops invaded in June of that year. Grossman reported on the action firsthand, and his knowledge is reflected in the novel’s details of military life, the cruelty of firebombing, the impact of an order forbidding surrender or retreat. The narrative focuses on a group of encircled Russian troops and their efforts to break through enemy lines. The frontline soldier is represented by the hearty, cheerful farmer Ignatiev. Higher up the ranks is the thoughtful, stern Bogariov, a former academic whose reading of classic military texts leads him to question official strategy. As an introduction notes, this novel was Grossman’s contribution to the war effort, and the well-crafted, smoothly translated prose is occasionally marred by the clanking phrases of propaganda: “There were no people closer to him than those who had fought beside him in defence of the people’s freedom.” But for the most part it’s clear that the journalist in Grossman cannot drift far from the plain truth, including criticism of the high command. More important, this hastily drawn picture laid the groundwork for the author’s sprawling wartime canvases, Stalingrad (1952) and Life and Fate (1980). The publisher has made a significant commitment to Grossman, and this novel, though a lesser work, reflects those efforts. It includes not only an introduction, but a timeline, an afterword, unusual documents, additional reading, and extensive notes that clarify arcana and help explain editorial and translation decisions.
An essential part of Grossman’s vital body of work.Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-168137-678-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: New York Review Books
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life.
A woman faces a health crisis and obsesses over a local accident in this wonderful follow-up to Sandwich (2024).
Newman begins her latest with a quote from Nora Ephron: “Death is a sniper. It strikes people you love, people you like, people you know—it’s everywhere. You could be next. But then you turn out not to be. But then again, you could be.” It sets an appropriate tone for a story that is just as full of death and dread as it is laughter. Two years after the events of Sandwich, Rocky is back home in Western Massachusetts and happily surrounded by family—her daughter, Willa, lives with her and her husband, Nick, while applying to Ph.D. programs; her widowed father, Mort, has moved into the in-law apartment behind their house. When a young man who graduated from high school with Rocky’s son, Jamie, is hit by a train, Rocky finds herself spiraling as she thinks about how close the tragedy came to her own family. She’s also freaking out about a mysterious rash her dermatologist can’t explain. Both instances are tailor-made for internet research and stalking. As Rocky obsessively googles her symptoms and finds only bad news (“Here’s what’s true about the Internet: very infrequently do people log on with their good news. Gosh, they don’t write, I had this weird rash on my forearm? And it turned out to be completely nothing!”), she also compulsively checks the Facebook page of the accident victim’s mother. Newman excels at showing how sorrow and joy coexist in everyday life. She masterfully balances a modern exploration of grief with truly laugh-out-loud lines (one passage about the absurdity of collecting a stool sample and delivering it to the doctor stands out). As Rocky deals with the byzantine frustrations of the medical system, she also has to learn, once more, how to see her children, husband, father, and herself as fully flawed and lovable humans.
A heartbreaking, laugh-provoking, and absolutely Ephron-esque look at the beauty and fragility of everyday life.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780063453913
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
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