Background
Vasil Bykau was born on June 19, 1924 in Bychki village near Vitebsk. His parents were peasants.
(Towards the end of World War II, a Belarusian soldier and...)
Towards the end of World War II, a Belarusian soldier and an Italian girl escape from a Nazi concentration camp. The soldier wonders if he should get rid of the girl; she is a burden and is slowing him down. However, he cannot bring himself to abandon her in the snowy wilderness. Somewhere along the way, the two develop feelings for each other, but their love is not destined to grow beyond the edge of the mountains. Yet their bond cannot be denied, and in the end it proves stronger than death itself. From the master of psychological narrative whose firsthand experience with World War II enabled him to re-create the ordeal on pages of his books, Alpine Ballad is Vasil Bykau's most heartfelt story. Bykau sends a powerful message to his readers: human values can be extrapolated and in the context of war people can still uphold their humanity. An altruistic, philanthropic project of Glagoslav Publications, Alpine Ballad is coming out as a gesture of peace and a reminder to all of the human cost of wars that ransack our planet to this day. Translated from Belarusian by Mikalai Khilo. The previous translations of Alpine Ballad were based on the Soviet-censored Russian version of the original manuscript.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1784379441/?tag=2022091-20
1964
(This book is one of few works by a Soviet writer that pro...)
This book is one of few works by a Soviet writer that provides an honest portrayal of the life of a Soviet foot soldier on the Eastern front in World War II. Aside from the brilliant depiction of life at the front, it reveals how members of Stalin's secret police transformed themselves into war heroes and began to resurrect Stalinism, following the War. Understandably, Bykau's novel was res non grata and not published in its entirety until after the demise of the Soviet Union.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0779902351/?tag=2022091-20
1965
Vasiliy Bykov, Bykaŭ
Vasil Bykau was born on June 19, 1924 in Bychki village near Vitebsk. His parents were peasants.
He studied at school in Kublichi village. In 1939, he entered Vitebsk Art Academy where he studied sculpture, but in 1940 had to leave, because the Academy stopped to pay a scholarship. Later he studied in the builders’ school. In 1942 - 1943 he studied at Saratov Military Academy.
In 1941, Bykau was in Ukraine when World War II began. By the time Bykau was 17, he was digging trenches and volunteering for the Red Army. In the height of World War II, Bykau was already a junior officer. He was nearly killed when he was mistaken for a German spy.
Shortly after the war ended Bykau returned to the USSR in the mid-1950s and went to work writing for the Hrodna Pravda newspaper as a journalist. It was around the same time that his first published books called novellas, or short novels, were released, including “Sotnikov”, “The Obelisk” and “To Live Till Sunrise”.
Some of Bykau's earliest writings were already delving into the subject of war atrocities and the lives of soldiers and officers on the front lines of battle. He was unapologetically critical of the Soviet government, focusing his writing on government abuse of power and sociopolitical (relating to society and politics) issues. He also focused much of his writing on the behaviors and poor decisions of his superiors during wartime.
A particular feature of Bykau's fiction is the tension of critical situations, where the temptation to make moral compromises is highlighted, often from the viewpoint of a young military officer witnessing the cynicism, cowardice and even treachery of his superiors. Also characteristic is Bykau's linking of past and present: Stalinism is shown not to have died with the dictator, but to be a constant threat.
From 1949 to 1955, he returned to serve in the Soviet Army, and only in 1955 he was finally demobilized in the rank of major. From 1955 to 1972, he continued working at the Hrodna Pravda newspaper. In 1959, he became a member of the USSR Writers' Union. In 1972-1978, Bykau was the Secretary of the Belarusian SSR Writers' Union Grodno Branch.
Vasil Bykau rose to popularity with the publication of his story Third Rocket in 1962. In the 1960s he published The Alpine Ballad and The Dead Don't Feel Pain, and in the 1970s Sotnikov, The Obelisk, Live to See the Dawn and To Go and Not to Return. These works have marked Vasil Bykau as one of the greatest writers about war in the 20th century.
In 1978, Bykau moved to Minsk. He was elected Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian SSR in 1978-1989.
His anti-Russian writing caused him considerable problems, including censoring of his work in Russian translations and harassment from the KGB, the country's primary security organization. Despite the obvious unhappiness from the government with Bykau's work, he was highly regarded by the public and literary critics, earning a mass following and several awards including the USSR State Prize, the Lenin Prize and the People's Writer of Belarus.
During the Soviet period, his works were translated into most major languages of the world. However, most of the translations were done on the basis of Russian rendering. Bykau wrote all of his works in his native Belarusian language, and translated several of them into Russian by himself.
In 1980 he was awarded the honorific title of People's Writer of the Belarusian SSR.
In 1988 he became one of the founders of the Belarusian Popular Front. In 1989 he was elected People's Deputy of the USSR, and joined the Interregional Deputies' Group. He was the president of the Belarusian PEN International Center (a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere). In 1990-1993, Bykau was the president of the Belarusian Peace Association "Battskaschchyna. In October 1993, he signed the Letter of Forty-Two. During the Presidential election in 1994, he became a confidant of Zianon Pazniak.
As Bykau aged, he continued writing about the realities of war, what some people would call the unadulterated version compared to the romanticized version frequently portrayed by the government. He eventually moved away from the subject of war altogether, to focus more on speaking out against the government.
An opponent of Alexander Lukashenko's regime and a supporter of the Belarusian People's Front, he lived in exile for several years since 1997. Bykau was given refuge, first by the Finnish Pen Club and later by its German equivalent, before the Czech president Vaclav Havel offered him asylum in Prague. During this period, he continued to write, producing the concise but profound Parables (1999), followed by a collection of non-fiction, The Way Of The Cross (1998), and a book of memoirs, The Long Road Home (2002). Bykau returned to his homeland just a month before his death. He died on June 22 in Barauliany clinic, near Minsk, because of stomach cancer.
(This book is one of few works by a Soviet writer that pro...)
1965(Towards the end of World War II, a Belarusian soldier and...)
1964Bykau supported the Belarusian People's Front. A fierce critic of Pres. Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s pro-Russian regime, Bykau lived in exile since 1998 but he never called himself a political exile. He spoke openly, however, about Mr. Lukashenko's government, which he frequently referred to as ''the regime.''
Quotations:
"Suffering makes us human. A person without suffering is just grass."
"The nationalism of a great nation inevitably degenerates into chauvinism and imperialism. The nationalism of a small nation is aimed primarily at the survival of the nation among others."
"In a society where every third person is a communist and every second person is an informer, it is difficult to expect to win by democratic means."
"Bureaucracy and culture are incompatible. Bureaucracy needs power, and culture is not wanted by it."
Quotes from others about the person
Chingiz Aĭtmatov said "Bykov's prose reminds one of a tightly compressed steel spring that, swiftly uncoiling and straightening itself out, carries such a charge of inexhaustible energy that one feels he has lived his whole life together with his heroes."
Michael Glenny said "Vasil Bykov is a very courageous and uncompromising writer, rather of the Solzhenitsyn stamp."
He was married twice. His first wife was Nadezhda Kulagina. They had 2 sons. The second wife was Irina Suvorova.