Jack Feise’s Reviews > Life and Fate > Status Update
Jack Feise
is on page 171 of 864
Grossman’s prose is stunningly beautiful. An overall sense of defamiliarization of the war reminds me a lot of Tolstoy. There are also like 150 named characters in this book and 8 pages of character lists in the back. I’m just meeting the Soviet airmen 170 pages in and they are pretty intriguing. I need a shorter book rec after this so hmu.
— Jul 08, 2026 09:11AM
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Jack’s Previous Updates
Jack Feise
is on page 140 of 864
Still getting introduced to everyone… very much like War and Peace that the character list for this book is nearly 8 pages long in the back of the book. The marathon continues. Haven’t even made it to Stalingrad yet…
— Jul 06, 2026 05:57AM
Jack Feise
is on page 95 of 864
If this is 100 pages in… I’m gonna need a lot of time to process the next 800. Stunning writing. A psychological exposé of fascism that certain present day figures would really benefit from reading (though I assume Grossman is far above their reading level…) This book is already shaping up to be EPIC — both as a literal, all encompassing historical epic, and in the overall style.
— Jun 14, 2026 05:42PM
Jack Feise
is on page 49 of 864
Wow. So much of this book reminds me of War and Peace… dare I say I like it better. It’s so interesting that so much of the style is in conversation with War and Peace - I’m glad I read that Grossman ONLY read W+P while actually at Stalingrad! The metaphors and description are brilliant. Hopefully I don’t finish it before Tuesday… I think I might binge Russian WW2 books the rest of the summer.
— Jun 12, 2026 03:52PM
Jack Feise
is starting
So excited for this. Needed a book for a long plane ride(s). LFG
— Jun 12, 2026 01:17PM
