Christina and her son Vovka

The novel by Tatiana Uspenskaya (Oshanina) is a fascinating tragic epic about three generations of people who are able to withstand any terrible ordeal, but are often unable to recognize the meaning and purpose of their personal existence. The state authorities, which appear in the novel as a determining but unobtrusive background, represent a country in which no one ever thinks about the little man, plunging him into cold, hunger, wordless work that never ends, squeezing out all human feelings, destroying the purest and most decent people. And the terrible vicious circle of history turns: drunkenness, slave psychology, outbreaks of rebellion and again-the abyss...This is Russia!Is it possible to become a free man, not to depend on power, on circumstances, on the will of others? Is it possible to change one's life, to change one's destiny? These are eternal "Russian" questions that are so difficult to answer... ()- , , . , , , , , , , , . : , , -... ! , , , ? , ? , ...