The Devil's Pit

13 hrs. 35 min.

Romance & Prose

Language Russian

Author Viktor Astafyev

Narrator Vyacheslav Gerasimov

The first book of the novel tells how, out of a motley crowd of conscripts in the harshest conditions, a fully combat-capable and, overall, cohesive unit is formed. Through much the future soldiers go: constant undernourishment, cold, dampness—already made worse by conflicts among the conscripts, between the conscripts and their commanders, and even among the commanders not everything is smooth. In the boys’ presence, the commander kills a fallen, degraded man to death; two twin brothers are shot because, in ignorance, they had left on their own temporary part; a show trial is held over Zelen tsov. The author describes an apocalyptic, hopeless picture of soldiers’ everyday life in rear units—young men whose life, before that, was already “in most cases miserable, humiliating, poor, consisting of standing in lines, receiving rations, tickets, and also fighting over the harvest, which was immediately confiscated for the benefit of society.” A special place in the book is occupied by winter bread procurement operations, to which the first company was sent in the village. During these procurement efforts—where the soldiers were provided with good food and care—the gray mass of crushed people transforms: romances begin with local women (for many, these are both the first and last), and it becomes clear that the soldiers are, after all, just boys.

1. The Devil's Pit (narrated by Vladimir Knyazev) 1. The Devil's Pit 1-2. Cursed and Killed (narrated by Leonid Derkach) 2. The Bridgehead (narrated by Yury Zaborovsky) 2. The Bridgehead (narrated by Vladimir Knyazev)