Leben und Schicksal

According to Sign and Sight, a new translation of the complete version of Vassily Grossman's masterpiece, Life and Fate, goes on sale in Germany. It's a chance for me to say that this book is well worth reading--its more than 1,000 pages rush by, thanks to Grossman's narrative gifts. It also has some of the most unforgettable scenes and characters I have ever encountered in literature, and the comparison some make between it and War and Peace is completely deserved.