Armenian Sketchbook

Armenian Sketchbook

Few writers had to confront so many of the last century&#39;s mass tragedies as Vasily Grossman. He is likely to be remembered, above all, for the terrifying clarity with which<br /> he writes about the Shoah, the Battle of Stalingrad and the Terror Famine in the Ukraine. <br /> <br /> An Armenian Sketchbook, however, shows us a very different Grossman; it is notable for its warmth, its sense of fun and for the benign humility that is always to be found in his writing. <br /> <br /> After the &#39;arrest&#39; - as Grossman always put it - of Life and Fate, Grossman took on the task of editing a literal Russian translation of a lengthy Armenian novel. The novel was of little interest to him, but he was glad of an excuse to travel to Armenia. <br /> <br /> This is his account of the two months he spent there. It is by far the most personal and intimate of Grossman&#39;s works, with an air of absolute spontaneity, as though Grossman is simply chatting to the reader about his impressions of Armenia - its mountains, its ancient churches and its people.