Forever Nineteen

by Grigory Baklanov, Григорий Бакланов

The story of a nineteen-year-old lieutenant in the Russian army tells of an "ordinary" man whose bravery and dedication helped save the Soviet Union from German rule in World War II, and describes the rugged and bitter battle he fought

Genres: Russia

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Grigory Yakovlevich Baklanov was a Russian novelist and editor, well known for his novels about World War II, and as the editor of the literary monthly Znamya during the time of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms.

Reviews

[Alexandra Popoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's a proper review of this book:

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/23/bo...

See more about the author in my blog: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Hải Lưu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chán

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.49 stars.

Hard to review. Perhaps it's really "non-fiction fiction" -- the author's WW II experience written as a novel. It would be easy to write a spoiler, so I'll stop. Suffice it to say, the author reports (perhaps in the preface?) that from his 1939 school graduating class of 20, all the males went to war and he was the only one to live.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I happened upon this book while weeding the fiction section of our school library for an upcoming move. As a big fan of "All quiet on the western front" I wondered if it was a Russian version during WWII. It does have anti-war aspects as "All quiet" does, as well as the relationships that soldiers have with each other in wartime. But I found it a bit lacking in that the characters weren't totally developed. While there is a relationship between Volodya Tretyakov and Sasha, it never quite goes deep enough. Nor does the relationship between Tretyakov and his troops.
But all in all, it was an enjoyable read, giving me some insight to what it was like to be a soldier in the Red army in WWII.

[Olea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Curiozitatea de a citi scriitori tinuti la obroc si publicati tirziu, in timpul sau dupa perestroika, m-a adus si la aceasta carte. Cum zicea un critic rus cunoscut, Viktor Cealmaev, Baklanov este dintre scriitorii care perpetueaza calitatea "cuvintului rus", si anume capacitatea de a exprima "durerea universala a tuturor".
"In veci de nouasprezece ani" - avem, deci, de a face cu un roman de razboi, tragic. Titlul spune cam totul...
"Mezinul" este de aceeasi factura - propaga suferinta si vulnerabilitatea.