The Gate: A Novel

by Ari Rostov

Ari Rostov's novel of the Ukraine during World War Two

"Toward the same evening he reached Anapa. It was sunset. The sea glittered under the sun's golden rays. In the far distance, enveloped in the misty grey, where the pale sky and the horizon merged, he could see the murky outlines of ships. Where could he go? The seaport was off limits for people like him, and he still did not have a place to sleep.... Times were bad. It was war; people were devouring each other like beasts. Compassion and love had gone out of the hearts of men forever. There was no respect left, no honor, no dignity...."

This is the story of an Armenian refugee's political and sexual awakening as he watches his world change around him. It is the time when he must make the most important decision of his life.

Beno is a young man, and already he has had his fill of war. He has had his fill of Nazi totalitarianism. If he waits around, he will certainly have more than his fill of Soviet Communism.

But before him stands the gate....

209 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Ari Rostov, a Russian Armenian, was born in 1924. He grew up in Rostov on Don and in Novorossiysk on the shore of the Black Sea. With the outbreak of World War II, he saw his homeland conquered by Germans and then threatened by the Russians. In 1949, under the Refugee Act, he emigrated to the United States, where he became a successful businessman and earned a master's degree in history and literature from Eastern Michigan University.

Mr. Rostov's poems and stories have been published in Armenian. The Gate is his first novel in English.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had potential, but I found the pace slow and lacking any excitement in the plot. I did learn a bit about the Armenian culture and what it was like being on Russian side of WWII in a German work camp, but everything the book promised did not really come to a point for me.