Russian-Jewish writer Isaak Babel’s
collection of stories, Red Cavalry, comes close to perfection in many
ways. In terms of theme, tone, pacing, and momentum, Babel gets
everything right.
The collection follows the exploits
of a Cossack cavalry unit in its fight against the Poles. Although war
features heavily in the stories, it is merely the focal point of the
action. Babel takes characters from diverse backgrounds, experiences,
political and religious stances and shades, and gives them a voice in his
tales.
It is no wonder that Babel did not
survive Stalin. A mind and creatively so vast and encompassing could
never fit into an ideology no matter how broadly defined.
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