Stone — A Historical Novel about Soviet Ukraine and the USSR (1920s–1940s)

Stories live only as long as someone remembers them. — Author’s Note Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Author’s Preface by Volodymyr Shablia Three generations of the Shablia family I grew up a diligent and obedient boy. At home I was the firstborn, surrounded by love and care; in kindergarten, an easygoing but quick-witted child; at school a straight-A student with exemplary behavior. Quite naturally and almost imperceptibly, the notions of good and evil entered my young mind. Equally self-evident was the belief that good deeds are rewarded and wrongdoing is punished. These principles became the fundamental, unshakable rules of my life. And I genuinely liked living according to the rules taught to me by my elders. Of course, I loved my father and mother, my grandfather and grandmother, believing them to be the best people in the world. They loved and cared for me, and I loved them in return; this certainty came just as naturally. My relatives lived strictly...

  Volodymyr Shablia. Stone. Biographical novel.   Dedicated to the memory of my father ,  Petro Danylovych Shablia.   Photo from the archive investigation file of Peter Shablia Epigraph: “I am a people, forged in Truth’s own might, Still unconquered by the hand of war. Though plague and grief have struck me time and again, My strength renews and blooms as oft before.” — Pavlo Tychyna, “I Affirm Myself” Continue Exploring  Stone: Read  Stone  in English Explore the novel, quotations, and the author's biography on Goodreads Stone  by Volodymyr Shablia  on Facebook Read or download the complete books in Ukrainian: Stone  —  Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back Stone  —  Book Two:  Difficult Roads to Hell Stone  —  Book  Three :  Unrealized  E xpectations Stone  —  Book  Four :  The T urning Point

  Stalin: The Merciless Whip Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back  — Chapter 4 by Volodymyr Shablia June 1941. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Moscow. On June 23, 1941, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, woke shortly before noon feeling utterly shattered. The lingering effects of an exceptionally severe psychological crisis, brought on by the realization that his strategic plans had collapsed, seemed to press his body deep into the mattress. When he tried to lift his head from the pillow, a dull pain throbbed somewhere deep inside the back of his skull, as though his brain itself were resisting any movement of the cranium. Despite this, Stalin forced himself out of bed at once and walked over to the washbasin. The cold water had a refreshing effect. Wanting to intensify it, he undressed and stood beneath an icy shower for several minutes. A large purple terry towel with an abstract pattern brushed pl...

  The Chairman of the Poor Peasants’ Committee Visits the School Stone — Book  Three :  Unrealized expectations   — Chapter 10 by Volodymyr Shablia February 1933. The village of Tomakivka. The final lesson of the day — the fifth — was drawing to a close. It was called “Political Education.” The subject was compulsory for all students and was meant to instill political awareness and ideological consciousness in the younger generation. To be honest, it was one of the few classes Peter found unbearably dull. Still, expressing one’s opinion about a subject was not encouraged, so the boy endured it in silence. Rules existed to be followed, after all. “The Communist Party, the government, and our beloved leader Comrade Stalin personally care for your well-being and ours!” proclaimed their homeroom teacher, Svetlana Afanasyevna, with solemn emphasis. “Following the precepts of the great Lenin, they are leading us toward a radiant future, waging an uncompromising struggle a...

The Offensive Is Called Off Stone — Book  two. Difficult roads to hell   — Chapter 2 by Volodymyr Shablia September 22, 1941, morning. The battlefield near Melitopol. As they waited for the briefing to begin, the regiment's officers took their seats around the large table in the middle of the room. The soldiers spoke quietly to those sitting beside them, occasionally tossing a word or two to someone farther down the table. "Well, are we ready to give the Germans and Romanians a taste of their own medicine?" asked the dark-eyed major sitting to the right of the head of the table, barely smiling as he glanced around at those present. His faint accent and characteristic swarthy features marked him as a native of the Caucasus. "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff," replied the captain sitting opposite him with a sly grin. "We've got plenty of fire to spare!" A ripple of laughter ran along the table and ended in a hearty roar from the far end. At exactly 6:15, ...

The Poem Stone — Book One: First Steps Toward the Light and Back — Chapter 12   by Volodymyr Shablia October 1925. The village of Tomakivka.   In 1925, Danylo Shablia and his family were getting by reasonably well. Danylo had secured a government position that provided him with a regular salary and food rations. His mother-in-law still worked as a cook in the hospital canteen, while his wife, Mariia, looked after the household and earned a little extra by sewing. Their only son, Peter, had recently turned five. A sturdy, healthy boy, he spent most of his days outdoors, left to his own devices, running wild with a gang of equally mischievous children. Danylo's younger brother had not been so fortunate. His family had three children, yet neither parent had steady work, and they lived on the edge of hunger. To make matters worse, their eldest son, eight-year-old Kolya, was constantly ill. Hoping to ease his brother's burden, Danylo had taken the boy into his own home. Pete...