CBC News:
Russian author Grigory Baklanov, famous for his novels about the Second World War, died Wednesday in Moscow. He was 86.
Baklanov was also editor of Znamya, a leading literary monthly, during the period when Mikhail Gorbachev reformed Russia.
Among the books he reviewed was Alexander Solzhenitzyn's 200 Years, which he criticized for painting an inaccurate picture of Jewish participation in Second World War battles.
While Solzhenitzyn made references to Jewish cowardice, Baklanov pointed out the number of Russian Jews who were decorated for valour or who died in battle.
Baklanov's most famous novel translated into English was Forever 19, the story of a teenaged soldier forced into maturity by the rigours of war.
A New York Time review praised the translation by Antonina W. Bouis, which was issued in 1989, 10 years after the Russian original.
Only one of graduating class to survive war
"Teenagers quickly became officers amid the unending Soviet casualties and we see the contrast between the young lieutenant's adult military responsibilities and his previously immature understanding of everyday life," the review said.
Baklanov was 17 when the Nazis invaded his country and he was recruited immediately into the Red Army. He was the only one of the 20 boys in his high school graduating class to survive the war, although he was wounded in combat. [More]
posted by: jrtelegraph
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