Why read The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years?

Book cover of The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years

Book description

" . . . a rewarding book." -Times Literary Supplement

Set in the vast windswept Central Asian steppes and the infinite reaches of galactic space, this powerful novel offers a vivid view of the culture and values of the Soviet Union's Central Asian peoples.

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Joanna Lillis

Author

Socialist realism meets magic realism in this novel by Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov, which took me by surprise when I came across it just over a decade after its publication in 1980. The Soviet literature I had read was staid, but this pushed the boundaries of both literary style and censorship. In parallel plots, a railway worker marches with his camel and dog across the Kazakh steppe to bury his friend, while two cosmonauts blast into space and go visiting extra-terrestrials. The themes are way ahead of the book’s time, touching on taboos such as Stalin’s repressions and even hinting…

From Joanna's list on to summon up the spirit of Central Asia.