Quotessence
Home / Books / Камень. Биографический роман: Часть первая. Первые шаги к свету и обратно

Камень. Биографический роман: Часть первая. Первые шаги к свету и обратно

Book by Володимир Шабля · 2 quotes · Historical Fiction, Gulag, Human Spirit

Filter quotes by topic

AllHistorical FictionGulagHuman SpiritPolitical RepressionSoviet UnionStalin EraAuthoritarianismAutobiographical FictionBirthChildhoodChildhood MemoriesDestinyDictatorshipEmotional FictionExecutionExistential CrisisFamilyFamily HistoryFateFear

Камень. Биографический роман: Часть первая. Первые шаги к свету и обратно Quotes

“A volley thundered — and the prisoner kneeling beside Peter collapsed lifelessly into the dirt. Three more men fell elsewhere along the line. “Reload!” the State Security lieutenant kept commanding. “Aim!” Peter turned his gaze toward the NKVD squad. A rifle was pointed straight at his chest, the bayonet gleaming. He looked into the barrel. “Can a crude piece of lead really destroy my unique soul forever? No — that is absurd!” In a state of shock, he felt himself tearing away from reality, rising above the turmoil into a silvery, radiant height. Below, his body knelt on the ground. But his essence — his soul — watched what was happening with bitter irony from above. His gaze turned toward the beautiful light descending from the heavens. Peter shuddered. The rifle was still aimed at his chest. Yet he felt no fear. Now he knew: his soul could not die — it was impossible. His essence, his spirit — and therefore he himself — were immortal. “Stand down!” the NKVD lieutenant said with relief. “This time you are spared. But if there is any further sabotage, there will be no mercy.” — Volodymyr Shablia, Stone. Book One Context note: During a prisoner transport in Stalin’s USSR, Peter witnesses an execution and is moments away from being shot himself. Facing death, fear gives way to a profound inner realization about the immortality of the human spirit.”

FearInner StrengthExecutionHuman SpiritNear DeathExistential CrisisNear Death ExperienceGulagMoral StrengthStalin Era
Book:Камень. Биографический роман: Часть первая. Первые шаги к свету и обратно
Create image

“My blissful childhood was shattered without warning when I was about ten years old. One day, my father told me that he had spent seventeen years of his life in prisons, Gulag labor camps, and internal exile. At that moment, his confession became the greatest shock I had ever experienced. “My father — the kindest and wisest man on earth — and suddenly this?” I refused to believe my own ears. But my dad did not stop at the bare fact. He spoke of hunger, of cruelty, of utter powerlessness — and of his own horrific existence within a totalitarian, inhuman system. — Volodymyr Shablia, Stone. Book One. Author's Preface Context note: This passage comes from the author’s preface and reflects a real childhood revelation that became the moral and emotional foundation of the novel. Learning that his father had survived years of prisons, labor camps, and exile under the Soviet totalitarian system, the author transformed personal memory into a literary quest to understand repression, trauma, and human endurance.”

MemoirSoviet UnionChildhood MemoriesFamily HistoryGenerational TraumaGulagPolitical RepressionAutobiographical FictionHistorical TraumaMoralawakening
Book:Камень. Биографический роман: Часть первая. Первые шаги к свету и обратно
Create image