And Quiet Flows the Don, Vol 1 of 5

by Mikhail Sholokhov

This is volume 1 of a five volume set. Sholokhov's book introduces the reader to a New World that is not merely the Don Region, but the world of the author's inimitably poetic prose; giving fifteen years of his life to the creation of And Quiet Flows the Don. He began the first book at the age of twenty, in 1926. The last was finished in 1940. While Leo Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace (1863-69) immortalized the Napoleonic campaigns to the eve of the Decembrist revolt, And Quiet Flows the Don showed the destruction of the Cossacks and the birth of a new society.

Genres: Russia, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Classics, Russian Literature

648 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2001

About the author

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the artistic power and integrity with which, in his epic of the Don, he has given expression to a historic phase in the life of the Russian people."

Reviews

[kunkku · Rating 5 out of 5]

aino-erica took this book on one of our visits island hopping in greece, and when she stalled i started and then could not put it down...the first of many of Sholokhov's

[Rachel DeGolia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this first as a teenager and again much more recently and was totally absorbed into the story once again.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know. Read this one for my studies. I really disliked the whole thing.
And how can it go on for 5 biiig, thiccc books??
*
It has such a slow pace, the dialogue is so uninteresting, the whole family tree described in great detail, the old question of who did who is in the air (told in a pretty stale way) and the uneventful everyday of farmers is described like it brings something to the story. Well, newsflash- it really doesn't, at least for me. But maybe that's how Russian realism works. Then I'd say- I guess this really wasn't for me.
*
And man, even when the war episodes start (which is like only page 400), it didn't startle me as it should have with such a long build-up. Does that make sense?
A small thing I did like though- it was cool, how the reader doesn't follow just one person. Several people and their war-stories are shared.
*
All in all, I was so disappointed. I was waiting for another war mind-blowing adventure like with Remarque, but this felt really underwhelming. Don't have the slightest clue how it got the Nobel Prize.

[Noah · Rating 1 out of 5]

So sad, so trist, often times it becomes unbearable to read longer passages... I gets more lively but not more positive when world war one starts and especially at the eve of the revolution.

[Des · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whilst the odd political/communist view of the author comes to the forefront occasionally, this is a epic caleidoscopic description of the Cossack life, which for most Westerners today is pretty unusual in the way they interacted. Hardly any joy, rough use of language when talking to each other, not much warmth o the outside but great drama on the inside of each of the personea.

In structure and themes similar to War and Peace and yet so different in this appearing to be much more real and therefore is more harrowing.

[Maxime Trencavel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would one of the most famous works of the 1965 Nobel Prize for literature winner count as a great work of world fiction? Let's say that is true, which many would agree, then might it also be true that great works of fiction do not have to follow what American fiction writing teachers, books, and experts profess? Could it be good fiction outside of the USA doesn't need strong character arcs, plots that flow seamlessly from chapter to chapter, emotional connection to a main character, even a likeable protagonist. If that's what you want, then don't read this. It's a grand biopic not of a person, but of a people. The folks who lived, farmed, familied, and fought for their place near the Don River. it paints a rich textured fabric of those lives and times. One would cherish this type of historical fiction to imagine what life was like at that time and era of the Russian civil war. These six hundred plus pages are but one book of a series. I can't help but ask after this first book, is the portrayal of woman an accurate reflection of that time and place or is it the POV of the author? "A woman's like a cat. She makes up to anyone who strokes her. Don't you trust them, don't give them your trust." This is a man's book looking at woman as necessary evils. Perhaps book one was just setting up the Bolshevik times were gender equality became embraced. I will not know as I stop here at one book of this great author's work.

[neve dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very long read that was rather neglected at times for other books. Amazing for all you history fanatics like me. An intense plot with numerous time changes and a vast amount of characters. I truly felt I deserved a pat on the back once I finished this novel. Tolstoy-esque.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

i Really loved this book. Hard to read but interesting