Reading chapter 18 of Life and Fate, where a mother writes to her son to bid her farewell as she faces certain death at the hands of the Nazi’s, is an incredible piece of writing. No wonder then that when you tap in Vasily Grossman into Google you get the details of the stage play and the
film that were based on that single chapter. It is testament to his writing ability that just one chapter can inspire such high levels of spin-off creativity.
