From "The Human Mother" to "Oblomov"

My most beloved book is "The Human Mother" by Vitaly Zakrutkin. This novella is one of the most heartbreaking works in literature about the Great Patriotic War. A young woman, Maria, loses her husband and son before her eyes, her village is burned down, and she herself miraculously survives in an open field. But instead of becoming bitter, she finds the strength not only to survive but to save a wounded German soldier and shelter orphaned children. She becomes a true mother — to all those in need, without dividing people into "us" and "them." Here is the whole truth about war — not the ceremonial version, but the terrifying, ugly truth at the very limit of human endurance. This book makes you sob and, at the same time, believe in humanity. I like to be sad and to reflect — this is precisely that case when sadness purifies

This phrase resonates in my heart. I read it in tears, tried for a long time to recover from what I had read, but everything written there truly happened. This is history. It happened

This is a novel that perfectly suits my taste: the fates of people pushed to the limits of human possibility. It is a book about a lost generation, about love that does not save but torments, and about a person trying to preserve himself in a world crumbling before his eyes

This is, perhaps, Tolstoy's most powerful book about conscience and responsibility. Here, historical reality (courts, prisons, exile) is shown without embellishment. But the main thing for me is that this is a book about real change in a person. I value stories where the hero does not just suffer but acts, trying to rectify the evil caused by himself or by the world. And here there is what I value — genuine drama, tears, and a deep, almost agonizing, yet purifying conclusion

And one more book that I have loved since my school days and remember reading in one sitting. But when I tell someone that it is a favorite, I hear in response: "How???" At first glance, it may seem strange: after "The Human Mother," "Auschwitz Lullaby," and "Arch of Triumph" — suddenly "Oblomov," where the main character spends almost 500 pages without getting off the sofa. Goncharov's "Oblomov" is not about laziness at all. In this work, there is real truth about the Russian character, an immersion into the human soul, deep sadness, and a reason to reflect on what it means "to live rightly"