The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years

By Chingiz Aitmatov and Cengiz Aytmatov

Book Overview

In an introduction written in 1990, during perestroika, the author wrote that the original title was The Hoop ("Обруч"), which was rejected by censors. The title The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years, taken from the poem "Unique Days" ("единственные дни") by Boris Pasternak, used for the magazine version (Novy Mir, #11, 1980), was also criticized as too complicated, and the first "book-size" version of the novel was printed in Roman-Gazeta in a censored form under the title The Buranny Railway Stop (Буранный полустанок).The novel takes place over the course of a day, which encompasses the railman Burranyi Yedigei's endeavor to bury his late friend Kazangap in the cemetery Ana-Beiit ("Mother's Grave"). Throughout the trek, Yedigei recounts his personal history of living in the Sary-Ozek steppes along with pieces of Kyrgyz folklore. The author explains the term "Saryozeks" as "Middle Lands of Yellow Steppes". Sary-Ozek (or Russified form "Sarozek", used interchangeably in the novel) is also the name of a (fictional) cosmodrome.Additionally, there is a subplot involving two cosmonauts, one American and one Soviet, who make contact with an intelligent extraterrestrial life form and travel to the planet Lesnaya Grud' ("The Bosom of the Forest") while on a space station run co-operatively by the United States and the Soviet Union. The location of the Soviet launch site, Sarozek-1, near Yedigei's railway junction, intertwines the subplot with the main story.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0CKD2KJQC
• ISBN13: 9781090564863
• Release Date: April 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 372 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece

I absolutely loved this novel, although I am not a student of Soviet history and have never been to Kazakhstan. It has a majestic sense of time and place and deals with timeless themes: love and family, tradition and change, and the intrusion of government and history into the life of ordinary folk. Mostly, it is about the heroism of ordinary people, and the great courage it sometimes takes to simply survive. A novel of great scope from a great humanist. One of my favorites.

The Day Lasts More Than A Hundred Years

It came on time in great shape.

Fascinating book

Aitmatov was always my favorite writer. I read almost all of his books in russian. But this is the first one I read in english. I would say, translation was excellent. This book describes ordinary working kazakh people in Sarozek, Kazakhstan. Aitmatov masterfully connects their life with the political situations as well as kazakh traditions. Aitmatov describes humanity and dignity of ordinary people who are unaware of what is going on at the space station. His SF with aliens and discovery of a new planet only enrich the main story, let readers think of humanity, role of human being, meaning of life. I would suggest to read this book everybody. You will discover Aitmatov as one of greatest writers of modern day.

A classic - lyrical and full of life

Rarely have I read a book so rich and wise, that speaks so knowingly of the human condition in this historical moment. A great story, with captivating stories within the main story, memorable characters, and a love for the earth and all its people, despite our follies and tragedies. This book, which somehow manages to combine naturalism, historical realism, legend and folklore, and science fiction, will emerge as a classic of the twentieth century.

Interesting novell - Russia in Stalin's times

"And the day is not over" is a fascinating novell describing the hard life in Russia and Stalin's cruel governing, through the story of a tiny railways workers' camp on a railways crossection in the middle of the Sarozak dessert. Very close to this place there is a missile site which is very busy and important at that time because of some amazing cosmic incident that occured to a station which was co-operation of USA and Russia. Worth reading! Beutiful descriptions of people and nature.