Everything Flows (Standalone) 4Stars

 

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Title: Everything Flows
Series: Standalone
Author: Vasily Grossman
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 242
Words: 83K
Publish: 1964

I have very mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand, I really don’t like when an author writes historical stuff as fiction, because how are you, as the reader, supposed to trust them? They are literally making stuff up and how am I supposed to know when they stop/start? Given that Grossman was already on the Soviet Government’s Hit List, why bother with a novel anyway? It wasn’t going to somehow magically make it past the censors. And it’s not much of a novel, more of a history with diatribes and various tangents.

On the other hand, if this is even halfway true (and I have no reason to distrust Grossman beyond my normal mistrust of broken humanity in general), it is a great look at a time in Russian history that was happening before I was born but after the Gulag Times written about by Solzhenitsyn. It proves that Communism hasn’t worked in the past and is a warning sign to all those idiots of today who want to live under Communism again. It’s a chilling tale.

This book was recommended to me, by somebody. I just didn’t make a note in my Calibre library who it was and so, as is usual sadly, I’ve forgotten who it was. It was a worthwhile recommendation though and I’m glad I followed up on it. So thank you, Kind Stranger.

★★★★☆

From Grokipedia

Everything Flows centers on Ivan Grigoryevich, released from the Gulag after thirty years of imprisonment following Joseph Stalin's death in 1953. Returning to Soviet society during the Khrushchev Thaw, Ivan struggles to reintegrate and confronts the moral aftermath of Stalinism through encounters with former associates.[1][3]Key episodes include his visit to his cousin Nikolay Andreyevich, a scientist who advanced his career by compromising with the regime, and a meeting with Pinegin, the informer who denounced him. The narrative incorporates the testimony of Anna Sergeyevna, Ivan's lover and a war widow, who describes her active role as an activist during the man-made famine of 1932–33 in Ukraine, which killed millions of peasants. A dramatic interlude features a series of informers justifying their actions under Stalin, presented as a brief play.[1][2][3]The work intersperses these personal stories with broader reflections on Soviet history, the Gulag system, and the nature of freedom.