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Old 09-10-14, 01:47 PM   #11
Egan
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My pick? Vasily Grossman. Aside from his wartime articles, his novel 'Life and Fate' about Stalingrad is one of the great literary works of the 20th century.

As for his war reporting, I think he was unparalleled. His writing about Treblinka (where his mother died) is one of the most moving bits of writing I've ever read. He was disliked by the Soviet authorities. There is a strand that runs through his writing where he realises that the real war of the 20th century was not Fascism versus Communism, but Totalitarianism versus humanity. It did not endear him to the Soviets, who came to regard him more or less as an internal enemy, especially considering his Jewishness rendered him 'untrustworthy' from the start.
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