Vasil BykaÅ: His Life and Work by Z. I. Gimpelevich (review)

548 SEER, 84, 3, JULY 2006 Communism in Russia was still fighting the capitalist system in a life and death struggle.Russian writerswho derided the Soviet Union were betraying their own country. This analysis may now seem outmoded, but it formed the background of Sholokhov's thinking and led him to condemn many of the more vocal dissidents. He went on to attack corruption: just imagine Tolstoi coming into an editor'sofficeto give a fairwind to his son'smanuscript or that Rakhmaninovcould askShaliapinto let his niece sing alongsidehim in TheBarber of Seville.'Osipov goes on to remark:'It's a pity that we have not followedthisadvice. It has long been saidthat a prophetis not honouredin his own country.' This biographyis published in the seriesZhizn'zamechatel'nykh liudei,which is intended for a wide readership. The book has only one short page of bibliography and we cannot check sources, since there are few detailed references.If we accept these limitationsit may be said that Osipov providesa useful insight into Russian politics over some fiftyyears of Soviet power. Ramsden BRIAN MURPHY Gimpelevich, Z. I. VasilBykaicHis Lifeand Work. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, 2005. 26o pp. Notes. Index. Appendix. CAN $49.95: US $39.95: C25.95. VASIL BYKAU'(I924-2003) was without doubt the leading Belarusian prose writerof the twentieth centuryand this is the firstcriticalbiographyof his life and works in a Western language. The book's particular strength lies in Gimpelevich's detailed description of his life and, indeed, the passion and emotional language with which she lovingly creates what is perhaps more a Zyc#e(life of a saint) than a conventional literary study. Of all Belarusians, Vasil Bykaucertainlymeritssuch enthusiasm,being duringhis lifetimea symbol of the aspirationsand faithof nationallyconsciousBelarusianseverywhere. This is an unusual and necessarybook that deserves a warm welcome. The writingof Bykaiu, who survivedWorld War Two and variousforms of Soviet repression before seeing his long-sufferingcountry turn into 'the last dictatorshipin Europe', is morally consistent, although far from uniform or unchanging in form and theme. Best known as a war writerwho presentswar in microcosm ratherthan panoramas,he went on in the late Soviet period to stories about peacetime and, specifically, the long lasting traces of military conflict. In his last years, alreadyin exile, he turned not only to memoirs but to lapidaryyet profoundshortformsthat he termedparables.In each of these periods Bykaushowed a particularlyacute historical awareness that enabled him to bring out the springsof human behaviour,outsideas well as within the context of the immediate action; in many of his workslinksbetween past and present play a major thematic and psychologicalrole. This useful and, for the time being, unique biographyis divided into eight chapterswith an introductionand epilogue, each bearing descriptiveheadings that convey (even without capitals)something of the tone of the book: Introduction 'The generation that is almost no more'; chapter one 'Childhood: REVIEWS 549 Vasilok, the blue cornflower'; chapter two 'Youth, Ukraine, the War, and post-war military service'; chapter three 'Lieutenant Bykaiu's prose'; chapter four 'Partisannovels: victims or victors?';chapter five 'On both sides of the front lines: Signs of misfortune'; chapter six 'Scars of war: Being hunted down'; chapter seven 'On oppression in war and peace: Poor folks';chapter eight 'There is no prophet in your fatherland:Vasil Bykau6's crossroadsand the politics of freedom';Epilogue 'Exile and a long way home'. The appendix offers a note on pronunciation and transliteration. The bibliography of primaryand secondary sources is comprehensive. For students or others interested in particularworks by Bykaiuthe Index is, at one level, very helpful, going beyond simple reference to analysis and critical opinion. It in fact ranges very wide indeed, with a quantity of broad items such as 'chance', 'conscience', 'moraltruth'or 'losstheme', to take four examples that referto only one page each. The firstof them concerns specifically Bykaiu'sinterest in existentialism, whilst the second and third are veritable leitmotivs in his writing as a whole. For anglophone readers, however , the translatedtitles of works do not appear separatelyin the Index, so that one of Bykau6's most popular and successfulnovels, Znakbiady(Sign of Misfortune)is given in this form, thus hindering immediate access; another novel, turaulinycyk, [sic]is without the English translationof the title. This is...

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