The Fighter

“The Fighter” is a novel about Soviet aviators—the “falcons of Stalin.” They crossed the North Pole and forged air routes to America. Their lives are a metaphor for overcoming in the name of a higher goal, the trust of the people, and the leader. Dmitry Bykov tried to look beyond ideology and understand what force governed Soviet history. The word “fighter” in the novel is multifaceted. In the 1930s a new nation appeared in the USSR—each member of which could be both a fighter and, depending on circumstances, the one to be destroyed. Many plot twists of the novel, telling of feats in battle and behind-the-scenes struggles in institutions, illustrate this idea well.