There is a good deal of vivid action writing ... Grossman humanises his tale with occasional comic touches ... The book contains a lot of dialogue alternately boosterish...as well as sentimental filler ... Sometimes Grossman doesn’t even bother to put the propaganda into the mouths of characters, but delivers it directly ... This new translation restores many of his lines that the Soviet authorities removed from The People Immortal. Mostly the cuts make sense...but it’s surprising to see some of the lines Grossman was allowed to keep ... Indeed, this might be appropriate for a book that at times – depending on your appetite for discussions on military tactics and Soviet cheerleading – is more interesting to read about than to read.

Grossman’s descriptions are unsparing ... This is Grossman’s genius. In a few lines he can evoke a whole life ... The People Immortal is shorter than Grossman’s more famous novels and not as dark and complex ... His account of the German invasion of a Soviet village is extraordinary, the best chapter in the novel ... It is an indispensable companion piece to his other works, casting a new light on the complexities of Grossman’s career. But, above all, it reminds us of the horrors of war and why Grossman was one of the greatest chroniclers of the Second World War in all its inhumanity.

This was Grossman’s first novel and the style he chose was the acceptable realism of the time ... Grossman never forgets the uplifting importance of 'the people’s land' and the hardship of war is frequently contrasted with lyrical descriptions of the natural world ... Allowing for the overstated nobility of the characters and their implicit allegiance to the political system for which they were fighting, this is an absorbing book, without the scope and critiques of Grossman’s Life and Fate but with all of its humanity and discernment.

The People Immortal was intended primarily as propaganda ... The Soviet people are depicted as defending their motherland in prose that swells like a patriotic chorus by Prokofiev ... The Chandlers and the Russian editor, Julia Volhova, have reinstated many passages excised from the original by other editors, censors and Grossman himself, making for a richer, more complex novel. Its greatest strength lies in its authenticity, with several characters modelled on real-life figures and much of the description drawn from personal testimony. Grossman combines a journalist’s eye with a novelist’s empathy, his portrayal of men under fire matching that of Erich Remarque and Stephen Crane.

The People Immortal is both an excellent work of fiction and an important contribution to Soviet history ... Grossman’s descriptions of a wartime landscape are both vivid and unexpected, as are his characters ... This book certainly packs a punch and to execute such a masterpiece, in the two months Vasily Grossman was given to write The People Immortal, is an incredible feat in itself ... The politics can become overwhelming and there is ultimately more pleasure to be had from the gorgeous writing ... Another addition that piques interest is his inclusion of humour ... With an accessible and simple writing style, Grossman’s book is for a large readership, with beautifully vivid descriptions that just seem to radiate from the pages, a linguistic genius shown so much throughout this book ... The captivating characters will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last pages ... The book is an excellent example of what amazing art can arise out of such darkness ... It is masterful literary fiction, with wonderful communal storytelling of empathic soldiers in awful circumstances, and is highly recommended, and, beyond doubt the best war-related piece of writing, this reviewer has read to date.

Grossman’s great and enduring asset as a novelist is — paradoxically — that he doesn’t have to rely on his imagination. He was there ... The result is something of a mixed success, it has to be said. There is a fair amount of boilerplate propaganda that has to be waded through in the midst of energetic accounts of combat and military life ... Grossman is essentially a journalist, a recorder of what he sees, and the best parts of The People Immortal are those that ring with the vividness of lived experience ... It’s the detail that’s so compelling ... The precise epiphanies that Grossman creates shine like nuggets of gold in indifferent ore. His journalist’s eye is more resonant than his novelist’s imagination ... The People Immortal is a significant, valuable addition to Grossman’s small but powerful body of work.

The novel is more than a historical document ... As a reporter, Grossman traveled with the Red Army all the way to Berlin: he had access, saw things. As a novelist, he knew how to create believable characters ... The plot is conventional ... Marred by the occasional obligatory instances of propagandistic puffery, the images, swift metaphors, and patient scene-setting are unforgettable ... A meal to savor.

Grossman exhibits keen powers of observation, analysis and humor--and an immense, stubborn affection for the human spirit, even amidst its worst manifestations. This makes the novel a riveting drama that is still boldly critical of dysfunctional military bureaucracy and Soviet magical thinking (its excessive optimism and despair) ... In its evocative depictions of the characters' past lives, The People Immortal relates the history of a people, a community and a nation, all set in the present tense against (in a dark irony) the beauties of late spring bursting into summer.

Colorful depiction ... [Grossman's] knowledge is reflected in the novel’s details of military life, the cruelty of firebombing, the impact of an order forbidding surrender or retreat ... It’s clear that the journalist in Grossman cannot drift far from the plain truth, including criticism of the high command ... This hastily drawn picture laid the groundwork for the author’s sprawling wartime canvases.

Insightful ... Hums with fine details ... Though straightforward and unmistakably propagandistic, it’s elevated by Grossman’s clarity of thought and vision. The result is a worthy look into Russian wartime psychology.