Yuri Vasilievich Bondarev; Orsk, Orenburg province, USSR; 03/15/1924 –
Yuri Bondarev's books are known far beyond the borders of our country. They have been translated into more than 70 languages of the world. Many of the writer’s works were reflected in cinema, and in the 70s of the last century the writer was one of the most published in our country. Yuri Bondarev has received many prizes and awards. Moreover, not only his early works in the genre of military prose, but also his later works in the genre of modern prose are marked with insignia.
Biography of Yuri Bondarev
Yuri Vasilievich Bondarev was born in 1924 in the city of Orsk, Orenburg province. His father Vasily Vasilyevich was a people's investigator and later worked as a lawyer. In 1931 the whole family moved to Moscow. It was here that Yuri Vasilyevich went to regular secondary school No. 516. From an early age, the mother of the future writer, Klavdia Iosifovna, taught the child to literature. She read to him a lot before bed and instilled in him a love of Russian classics.
The outbreak of the 1941 war found Bondarev still a school student. But he, along with many other Moscow schoolchildren, took part in the construction of defensive structures near Smolensk. Then he was evacuated and after finishing 10th grade he was sent to study in Aktyubinsk. The evacuated Berdichev Military School was based here in 1942. It was the summer of 1942, and already in October the cadet fell under Stalingrad. Here he was appointed commander of the mortar crew of the 98th Infantry Division. But already in December 1942 he was shell-shocked, received frostbite and was slightly wounded in the back. After treatment in the hospital, he was appointed gun commander in the 23rd Kiev-Zhitomir Division. In the battles for the Sumy region he received his first Order of Courage. The accurate fire of his gun not only destroyed three enemy firing points, but also stopped the German advance. In the battles for Zhitomir in November 1943, he was again wounded and ended up in the hospital. In January 1944 he returned to the front again. Participated in the liberation of Poland, Czechoslovakia and the capture of Berlin. After the war, he was sent to the Chkalov Military School, but was later demobilized for health reasons, as being of limited fitness for military service. 
This was the starting point in the literary career of Yuri Bondarev. In 1945 he entered the Literary Institute. Maxim Gorky. And already in 1949, Yuri Bondar’s first story could be read in the Ogonyok magazine. Then there were stories in the magazines “Smena” and “October”. And in 1951 the writer graduated from the institute. A year later his daughter was born, and a year later Bondarev’s first collection of stories, “On the Big River,” was published. In 1956, the writer’s first story, “Youth of Commanders,” was published, and a year later, Yuri Bondarev’s first novel, “Battalions Ask for Fire,” was published. In 1985, a film of the same name was released based on this novel. Then the novels “Silence”, “Hot Snow”, “The Shore” and many others were published. The writer gains popularity and becomes one of the most published writers in the USSR. In addition, Yuri Bondarev works on scripts, thanks to which he was accepted into the council of cinematographers and is active in public work. So in 1973 he was one of the signatories of an open letter from Soviet writers in favor of. He was even elected as a people's deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of the ninth and tenth convocations.
In 1990, Yuri Bondarev was elected chairman of the Writers' Union of Russia. He makes many international trips and pays much attention to the development of domestic literature. At the same time, he does not forget about his own creativity. So the last book by Yuri Bondarev was published in 2004. It's called "Without Mercy".
Books by Yuri Bondarev on the Top books website
Yuri Bondarev's books have been popular to read for decades. Many of them are presented in ours. In addition, Bondarev's books were included in our rating. And given the high interest in the writer’s work, they are not presented here for the last time.
Yuri Bondarev list of books
- Without Mercy
- Bermuda Triangle
- A game
- Temptation
War. When using this word in relation to the Great Patriotic War, the first thing that comes to mind is the magnificent celebrations of victory in this war, which have recently become more and more solemn every year. I also remember computer games like Call of Duty, to which this war, like many others, “gave” its episodes as separate missions.
Reading “Hot Snow,” you realize how little solemnity there is in the readiness to kill the enemy, to stand to the death on one’s line when attacked by an enemy eager to fulfill its task, ready to crush the defense with the tracks of tanks and tear it apart with bombs dropped from airplanes. How far from the beautiful picture on the monitor screen is the everyday life of an army defending itself in the bitter cold, after a multi-kilometer forced march and a day without sleep, as well as in the absence of food.
The events of the book take place over the course of just over two days and describe the battle of Soviet troops with German units trying to break through to the army of General Paulus encircled at Stalingrad. Having gathered an advantage in tanks and aircraft in one direction, the Germans considered a breakthrough to their encircled army a matter of time. But they did not take into account the courage of the Soviet soldiers who stood in their way.
The book is written from the perspective of two main characters: a young artillery platoon commander and a seasoned army commander. Taken together, these two stories show a picture of the battle both from the trenches, where forward artillery hits the tanks with direct fire, trying to fulfill the task set by the commander to disable the maximum amount of enemy equipment, and from the observation post, where the tasks of directing the battle in in general.
Each of the characters has their own tasks, each looks into the face of death and, looking into its eyes, seeing how their comrades die, they try to fulfill their tasks. But even in such conditions, they remain human, and their thoughts, during breaks that appear in the battle, constantly return to other things. A young lieutenant is trying to understand his attitude towards a girl medical instructor and his immediate commander, who are having an affair. The general thinks about his son, who went missing in the summer of 1942 as part of the army units led by General Vlasov, and also suffers from pain in his leg, which was wounded some time before the start of the events described.
They survived this battle and came out of it changed, not like themselves a day before the start of the battle. Everyone has lost people who were with them 24 hours ago. Both completed their tasks - the lieutenant receives the reward for completing his from the hands of the general on the last pages of the book. The next fight will await both of them. And after that there will be another one, if they survive the previous one. They will not retreat or surrender, for them there is only victory or death. And after these battles, the earth or the snow lying on it will again be hot from the blood of the fallen and the shed tears of the survivors.
The question one cannot help but think about after finishing the book is whether it should be taken as propaganda, especially since it is recommended for high school students. I personally want to leave this issue aside and simply admire the courage of the people who won the Great Patriotic War. And do not forget that the war is more reliably shown not on a monitor, but in a book, the author of which was himself a participant in this war.
Having barely finished school, the boys became men, defenders of their homeland during the Great Patriotic War. They had to shoulder the heavy burden of war. One of the representatives of this generation is Yuri Bondarev, whose biography is presented in this article. He was born in the Orenburg region, in the city of Orsk, on March 15, 1924. His father subsequently received a law degree and began working as an investigator.
Bondarev's childhood years
Yuri's family first lived in the Southern Urals, and then, due to duty, lived at one time in Central Asia. Yuri Vasilievich Bondarev spent his early childhood here. The biography of his subsequent years is marked by his arrival in Moscow, where his family moved in 1931. In the capital, Yuri went to first grade. He studied almost until he graduated from school. And then the war began. The Bondarevs were evacuated to Kazakhstan. Yuri decided to go from there with other guys to fight. However, first of all, yesterday’s schoolchildren had to be trained in military affairs in a short time.
Training and first battles
Yuri Bondarev graduated from the Berdichev Infantry School. And then, becoming the commander of a mortar crew, he went to the front line. This happened in 1942. The “universities” of Bondarev and other young men of this generation took place during the war. It was she who became a stern and intelligent life teacher for Yuri. He immediately found himself in Stalingrad, at the epicenter of events. Heavy fighting took place here. It lasted for more than six months and its victory turned the tide of the entire war.
Hospital treatment and further battles
Bondarev took part in the battles for Stalingrad as part of the 98th division. In winter, he received frostbite and concussion and ended up in the hospital. The young strength of the body, as well as the treatment provided, quickly put Yuri back on track. He was sent to the Zhitomir 23rd Division. As part of it, Yuri crossed the Dnieper and liberated Kyiv in fierce battles. Later, in 1944, having already transferred to the 191st division, Yuri Bondarev took part in the battles for Poland and reached Czechoslovakia with his division. And then he was sent to study at the Chkalov Artillery School, and Yuri did not have the chance to meet victory in Berlin.
Bondarev's creativity
After the war, Yuri Bondarev wrote many works. Today Yuri Vasilyevich is 91 years old. Yuri Bondarev received many awards and prizes. His works are very famous.
The time spent in the war became for Yuri Vasilyevich a measure of human values. He became famous for his war stories “The Last Salvos” and “The Battalions Ask for Fire.” And the growing talent of this writer confirmed the novel “Hot Snow” and other works.
"Hot Snow"
This novel was created between 1965 and 1969. Its hero is a young lieutenant named Kuznetsov. He is a decent, patriotic, honest person. In one day he acquired a great deal of life experience, which would have taken him whole years under normal conditions. This man learned to take responsibility, manage the battle, overcome fear, and be a wise and decisive commander. At first, the soldiers considered him a yellow-throated chick, but then they fell in love with their lieutenant and survived the battle, believing him. It was very important for Yuri Bondarev to show how a young character grows and changes in overcoming difficulties, how a personality is formed.
"Shore"
This novel was written in 1975. End of the war. Young lieutenants who matured and matured during the war years, having gained authority and experience from their comrades in arms, have already passed a section of their life’s path that made them real creators of history. They are all different, but all these people are united by a common destiny and humanism. Knyazhko Andrey is a professor's son, a book lover and philologist, a romantic and a dreamer who was raised on classical literature. However, by the end of the war, he also acquires inflexibility and determination, strength of character. At first, Andrei portrayed himself as a stern, self-confident commander in order to hide his own insecurity under this mask. However, unnoticed by others and himself, these qualities became part of his nature. No one doubted his courage and inflexibility.
Lieutenant Nikitin is a more “earthly” person, a pragmatist. He easily knew how to distribute guns, organize firing positions, calculate the timing of salvos and sights. The soldiers obeyed him, since he knew very well everything that related to the life of his platoon. All this strengthened Nikitin’s authority among fighters of different ages, as if he was more competent and experienced in matters of war. Nikitin still reproaches himself for his “unsteadiness” and pliability, “dangerous softness” in his relations with his subordinates. For example, he cannot resist Mezhenin, a 30-year-old sergeant, and his “unashy”, “bulging” strength. Nikitin confidently and skillfully commanded people, but in some situations he showed unexpectedly funny helplessness: he did not know how to light a fire in the snow, cook soup or light a stove in the hut.
Bondarev's heroes, having overcome their hatred of the Germans who killed Knyazhko, respond with concern for teenagers from Germany whom the Socialist-Revolutionaries zombified. Rising above cruelty and bloodthirstiness, they stand the test of history with great dignity.
Several films of the same name were based on works written by Yuri Bondarev: “Hot Snow”, “Battalions Ask for Fire”, “Silence”.
Yuri Vasilievich Bondarev. Born March 15, 1924. Russian Soviet writer and screenwriter. Hero of Socialist Labor (1984), laureate of Lenin (1972) and two USSR State Prizes (1977, 1983).
Yuri Bondarev was born on March 15, 1924 in the city of Orsk, Orenburg province (now Orenburg region).
Father - Bondarev Vasily Vasilyevich (1896-1988), worked as an investigator.
Mother - Bondareva Klavdiya Iosifovna (1900-1978).
In 1931 they moved to Moscow.
Participant of the Great Patriotic War (since August 1942), junior lieutenant.
In 1941, Komsomol member Bondarev, together with thousands of young Muscovites, participated in the construction of defensive fortifications near Smolensk.
In the summer of 1942, after graduating from the 10th grade of high school, he was sent to study at the 2nd Berdichev Infantry School, which was evacuated to the city of Aktyubinsk.
In October 1942, the cadets were sent to Stalingrad. Bondarev was enlisted as commander of the mortar crew of the 308th regiment of the 98th Infantry Division. In the battles near Kotelnikovsky (now Kotelnikovo) he was shell-shocked, received frostbite and was slightly wounded in the back. After treatment in the hospital, he served as a gun commander in the 89th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Infantry Division of the Voronezh Front.
Participated in the crossing of the Dnieper and the liberation of Kyiv. In the battles for Zhitomir he was wounded and again ended up in a field hospital.
For the destruction of three firing points, a vehicle, an anti-tank gun and 20 enemy soldiers and officers from infantry combat formations in the area of the village of Boromlya, Sumy region, he was awarded the medal “For Courage”.
For knocking out a tank and repelling an attack by German infantry in the area of the city of Kamenets-Podolsky, he was awarded the second medal “For Courage”.
Since January 1944, Yu. Bondarev fought in the ranks of the 121st Red Banner Rylsko-Kyiv Rifle Division in Poland and on the border with Czechoslovakia.
Member of the CPSU(b) since 1944.
In October he was sent to the Chkalov Artillery School and after graduating in December 1945, he was declared partially fit for service and demobilized due to injuries.
Graduated from the Literary Institute named after. A. M. Gorky (1945 - 1951).
He made his debut in print in 1949. The first collection of stories, “On the Big River,” was published in 1953. Author of short stories (collection “Late in the Evening”, 1962), stories “Youth of Commanders” (1956), “Battalions Ask for Fire” (1957; 4-part film “Battalions Ask for Fire” based on the story, 1985), “Last Salvos” ( 1959; film of the same name, 1961), “Relatives” (1969), novels “Hot Snow” (1969; film of the same name, 1972), “Silence” (1962; film of the same name, 1964), “Two” (sequel to the novel “Silence” ; 1964), “The Shore” (1975; film of the same name, 1984).
Author of the script for the film based on the novel “Hot Snow” (1972). One of the authors of the script for the epic film “Liberation” (1970) and the film “Battalions Ask for Fire.” These novels are based on the story of the Red Army soldier Vasily Afanasyevich Svinin, who served in the NKVD artillery regiment. Of all the personnel, he was the only one left alive; he was seriously wounded. The newspaper "Red Star" wrote about Pork's feat in 1944.
In his novels of the 70s of the twentieth century and later, the writer intensely reflects on the fate of the Soviet Union and Russia, largely foresees the causes of the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent degradation of Soviet society, reflects on the meaning of life, death, the dangers of conformity, explores the subtlest feelings and experiences a person at turning points and fateful moments in personal and social history.
Signed the Letter of a group of Soviet writers to the editors of the newspaper Pravda on August 31, 1973 about Solzhenitsyn and Sakharov.
Deputy of the Council of Nationalities of the USSR Armed Forces of the 11th convocation (1984-1989) from the Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Region.
Delegate to the XIX All-Union Conference of the CPSU (1988).
At the XIX All-Union Party Conference on June 29, 1988, Yuri Bondarev from the podium compared Gorbachev's perestroika to an airplane that was lifted into the air, not knowing whether there was a landing site at its destination. There he sharply condemned the denigration of the Soviet past and Soviet reality, which was then unfolding in the press and television.
Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the RSFSR (1990-1991).
In 1991 he signed the “Word to the People” appeal.
In January 1992, at the head of a group of Soviet writers, he burned an effigy of Yevgeny Yevtushenko as a sign of protest against the transformation of the USSR Writers' Union into the Commonwealth of Writers' Unions.
In 1994, he publicly refused to accept the Order of Friendship of Peoples on the occasion of his 70th birthday. He expressed his position in a telegram addressed to the first president of Russia, in which he indicated: “Today this will no longer help the good harmony and friendship of the peoples of our great country.”
Chairman of the Board of the Writers' Union of Russia in 1991-2013.
He was a member of the editorial board of the Roman-Gazeta magazine.
Since 2001, member of the editorial board of the magazine “World of Education - Education in the World.”
Honorary member of the St. Petersburg public organization of the Academy of Russian Literature and Fine Arts named after G. R. Derzhavin.
Personal life of Yuri Bondarev:
Wife - Bondareva Valentina Nikitichna (born 1927). Daughters: Elena (born 1952) and Ekaterina (born 1960).
Hobbies: painting - as a researcher and collector.
Novels by Yuri Bondarev:
Battalions ask for fire M., Soviet writer, 1957
Silence (1962)
Two (1964)
Hot Snow (1970)
Shore (1975)
Choice (1981)
The Game (1985)
Temptation (1992)
Non-resistance (1996)
Bermuda Triangle (1999)
Without Mercy (2004)
Stories by Yuri Bondarev:
Youth of Commanders (1956)
Last Salvos (1959)
Relatives (1969)
Bondarev Yuri Vasilievich (born in 1924), writer.
Born on March 15, 1924 in the city of Orsk, Orenburg region. In 1931 he moved to Moscow with his parents. From school he was drafted into the army and ended the war as an artillery commander.
Having been demobilized after his second wound (1945), Bondarev in 1946 became a student at the Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow, where he studied in the seminar of K. G. Paustovsky.
Since 1949, Bondarev's first stories began to appear in magazines.
Soon after graduating from the institute in 1951, he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR. In 1956, Bondarev’s first story, “Youth of Commanders,” was published, telling about the everyday life of artillery school cadets at the end of the war and in days of peace.
The following two stories brought wide fame to the writer - “The Battalions Ask for Fire” (1957) and “The Last Salvos” (1959); they were examples of the genre of lyrical front-line stories.
Bondarev’s first novel, “Silence” (1962-1964), was also an event - one of the first addresses in Soviet literature to the topic of Stalin’s repressions. In “Silence,” as in the story “Relatives” (1969), the author’s focus is on problems of morality in their connection with the past and present. The novel “Hot Snow” (1970) was a great success, in which Bondarev came close to creating an epic canvas, although the action of the work is limited to one day and one event - the battles on the outskirts of Stalingrad.
In the following novels - “The Shore” (1975), “Choice” (1980), “The Game” (1985), “Temptation” (1991), “Non-resistance” (1994-1995) - Bondarev turned to the destinies of the Russian intelligentsia of the second half of the 20th century (his heroes are a writer, artist, film director, scientist). Bondarev actively acted as a publicist (collection of articles “Search for Truth”, 1976; “Man Carries the World within Himself”, 1980, etc.); in the 80-90s. he increasingly revealed his commitment to the position of the so-called patriotic camp.
A significant place in Bondarev’s creative biography is occupied by his work in cinema - he created film scripts based on many of his own works, the script for the epic film “Liberation” (1970-1972). Since the late 60s. Bondarev held leading positions in the Writers' Union, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and a delegate to several congresses of the CPSU. Awarded the Lenin Prize (1972) and twice the USSR State Prize (1977, 1983).