Four Soldiers

A Novel

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Pub Date 09 Oct 2018 | Archive Date 09 Oct 2018

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Description

Longlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize

“Its simplicity lends it grandeur. One thinks of Maxim Gorky, or even the early sketches of Tolstoy.”
The Wall Street Journal

"A small miracle of a book, perfectly imagined and perfectly achieved."
—Hilary Mantel, author of Booker Prize-winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies

A novel of war, revolution, youth, and friendship by the "remarkable" (Ian McEwan) French author of A Meal in Winter

Hubert Mingarelli's simple, powerful, and moving stories of men in combat have established him as one of the most exciting new voices in international fiction.

In Four Soldiers he tells the story of four young soldiers in 1919, members of the Red Army during the Russian civil war. It is set in the harsh dead of winter, just as the soldiers set up camp in a forest in Galicia near the Romanian front line. Due to a lull in fighting, their days are taken up with the mundane tasks of trying to scratch together what food and comforts they can find, all the time while talking, smoking, and waiting. Waiting specifically for spring to come. Waiting for their battalion to move on. Waiting for the inevitable resumption of violence.

Recalling great works like Isaac Babel's Red Cavalry, Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, and Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Four Soldiers is a timeless and tender story of young male friendships and the small, idyllic moments of happiness that can illuminate the darkness of war.

Longlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize

“Its simplicity lends it grandeur. One thinks of Maxim Gorky, or even the early sketches of Tolstoy.”
The Wall Street Journal

"A small miracle...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781620974407
PRICE $19.99 (USD)
PAGES 144

Average rating from 19 members


Featured Reviews

Author, Hubert Mingarelli, pulled me aside for a trip back in time to revisit the Russian Civil War; the year was 1919. It'd been the one clash between nations I knew so little about - until now. Exceptional credit is extended to Sam Taylor who did a fabulous job of translating this novel from French into English. I can't begin to imagine the effort that that took. Well done Sam.

The morose, panic-stricken scenes were an actual testament to the slow decay of the mind when subjected to the endless pitfalls of combat troops in war. Life as they had known it slowly dragged on one impossible day at a time.

Four soldiers met up and became best of friends while they were attached to the Red Army and fought on the Romanian front. Times were beyond difficult; they were unbearable. In order to survive, they were forced to eat their horses and scavenge whatever food and provisions they could gather from local homes they passed along the way. The days were bitter cold, the night's intolerably freezing. That was cause enough for the war to take a break and wait it out till spring. It would not go away.

With the rest of their company, the four comrades built a hut for themselves and made camp hidden away in the middle of a forest. They did whatever they could to occupy the endless days and nights. Mindless hours of shooting dice for cigarettes helped ease their troubled minds. Clear days were spent sitting by a pond concealed from the rest of their company within the reeds. They knew their time was running out. War would not let go.

As always, time had a way of marching on, and in their case, too fast. Spring had finally arrived and it was time for them to pull out, time for some to sacrifice their lives for a cause they could not begin to comprehend. All that waited ahead for them down the dirt road were bullets and bombs. If lucky, their demise would come quickly.

I extend my gratitude to NetGalley and The New Press for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Wow, this is a fantastic short work, and I honestly couldn't put it down. It is a very minimalist work, basic and to the point but capable of conveying a great deal of feeling and "soul." The story is very basic. The titular four soldiers are the smartass but haunted Pavel, the mighty but childish Kyabine, the quiet and sensitive Sifra, and insecure narrator Benia, as well as the Evdokim kid, the shy new volunteer. No great battles or glorious charges are to be found here, nor any pretentious politicizing. Just a handful of comrades enjoying a series of "good memories" as they wait to be sent back to the war where there are no "good memories." It is all simple, matter of fact statements by characters with no grand eloquent ideals, although that does not mean that they are incapable of introspection and intense moments of feeling.

This work reminded me of that short section of All Quiet on the Western Front where the soldiers are all behind the lines and away from the war, just laying in the sun, in "Four Soldiers' " case next to their pond, not thinking of death and destruction. Of course the war and it's themes are always lingering over the story and pick away at the edges of their happiness.

Honestly, I really don't know what else to say. The book is superb and I am excited to see what other works Mr. Mingarelli has crafted.

I received an copy of this book from Netgalley.

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