No Ordinary Summer

In his early novels, Konstantin Fedin expressed a certain nostalgia for the passing of the prerevolutionary way of life. Cities and Years (1924) handles this theme by means of deft manipulation of the flow of time. In later works, trying to comply with the dictates of socialist realism, Fedin became more optimistic. Early Joys (1946) and No Ordinary Summer (1948) falsify history and mythologize Stalin; not surprisingly, their author was awarded the Stalin Prize.

During the 1960s, as head of the Union of Soviet Writers and a committed champion of political orthodoxy, Fedin helped to prevent the publication of Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn, an act condemned by liberal writers and intellectuals.

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