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Pack of wolves
Recounts the two-day ordeal of a Russian soldier, Levchuk, who is ordered to lead the most severely injured back to a medical unit during World War II
181 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
1 person is currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Vasil Bykaŭ
82 books47 followersVasiĺ Bykaŭ was born in the village Byčki, not far from Viciebsk in 1924. In 1941 he was in Ukraine when Germany attacked the USSR. At first seventeen-year-old Bykaŭ dug trenches – then he volunteered for the Red Army. For years after the war he continued to serve, returning to the USSR only in the mid-1950s. There he started to work as a journalist for the Hrodna Pravda newspaper. In that same decade his first novellas began to come out, of which the most famous are "Sotnikaŭ", "The Obelisk", "To Go and Not Return", and "To Live Till Sunrise". During and after the Perestroika, he participated in pro-reform movement (e.g. Popular Front of Belarus). In October 1993, he signed the Letter of Forty-Two.
Bykaŭ's literary achievement lies in his sternly realistic, albeit touched by lyricism, depictions of World War II battles, typically with a small number of personages. In the ferociousness of encounter they face moral dilemmas both vis-a-vis their enemies and within their own Soviet world burdened by ideological and political constraints. Bykaŭ's novellas that are available in English translation, such as "The Dead Feel No Pain" (1965), "The Ordeal" (1970), "Wolf Pack" (1975) and "Sign of Misfortune", challenged the official version of the war. This brought upon the writer vicious accusations of "false humanism" from some Red Army generals and the Communist Party press. "Vasil Bykov is a very courageous and uncompromising writer, rather of the Solzhenitsyn stamp," wrote Michael Glenny in Partisan Review in 1972. Bykaŭ was one of the most admired writers in the Soviet Union. In 1980 he was awarded the honorific title of People's Writer of the Belarusian SSR.
Outside of his native country, Vasiĺ Bykaŭ is the most widely read Belarusian writer. During the Soviet period, his works were translated into most major languages of the world. However, most of the translations were done on the basis of Russian rendering. Bykaŭ wrote all of his works in his native Belarusian language, and translated several of them into Russian by himself. Vasiĺ Bykaŭ's stature in the life of his country remains enormous. An opponent of Alexander Lukashenko's regime and a supporter of the Belarusian People's Front, he lived abroad for several years (first in Finland, then in Germany and the Czech Republic), but returned to his homeland just a month before his death. The memory of his turbulent life and uncompromising stance on the war have only enhanced his reputation at home and abroad ever since.
Belarusian: Васіль Быкаў
Russian: Василь Быков
Bykaŭ's literary achievement lies in his sternly realistic, albeit touched by lyricism, depictions of World War II battles, typically with a small number of personages. In the ferociousness of encounter they face moral dilemmas both vis-a-vis their enemies and within their own Soviet world burdened by ideological and political constraints. Bykaŭ's novellas that are available in English translation, such as "The Dead Feel No Pain" (1965), "The Ordeal" (1970), "Wolf Pack" (1975) and "Sign of Misfortune", challenged the official version of the war. This brought upon the writer vicious accusations of "false humanism" from some Red Army generals and the Communist Party press. "Vasil Bykov is a very courageous and uncompromising writer, rather of the Solzhenitsyn stamp," wrote Michael Glenny in Partisan Review in 1972. Bykaŭ was one of the most admired writers in the Soviet Union. In 1980 he was awarded the honorific title of People's Writer of the Belarusian SSR.
Outside of his native country, Vasiĺ Bykaŭ is the most widely read Belarusian writer. During the Soviet period, his works were translated into most major languages of the world. However, most of the translations were done on the basis of Russian rendering. Bykaŭ wrote all of his works in his native Belarusian language, and translated several of them into Russian by himself. Vasiĺ Bykaŭ's stature in the life of his country remains enormous. An opponent of Alexander Lukashenko's regime and a supporter of the Belarusian People's Front, he lived abroad for several years (first in Finland, then in Germany and the Czech Republic), but returned to his homeland just a month before his death. The memory of his turbulent life and uncompromising stance on the war have only enhanced his reputation at home and abroad ever since.
Belarusian: Васіль Быкаў
Russian: Василь Быков
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 28, 2024
I thought the wilderness would've played a bigger role in this. It wasn't the type of book I imagined it to be. For what it is, not letting us meet the child at the end makes sense. But meeting him was the only thing I was looking forward to 😅
February 28, 2022
Belorussian author Bykaŭ volunteered for the Soviet Army at age 17 and served until the end of World War II, experience that he would draw upon for a number of novels set during the war, including this one. Originally written in 1975, it opens some 20 or so years after the end of the war, as a one-armed veteran named Levchuk arrives in an unfamiliar town to look up an old comrade from the war. After eventually finding the right apartment block, he sits down on a bench to wait, and the bulk of the book then flashes back to the war.
There, we find Levcuk serving as a machine-gunner in a partisan unit that is in a sector that's been overrun by German troops. (The geography of the book seems to be deliberately vague, most or all of the locations mentioned in the text appear to be made up.) When he is wounded, he is sent back to the first aid area and told to lead a small group, including an older man, a nearly comatose wounded paratrooper, and a pregnant radio operator, to safety. Their cat-and-mouse game with the collaborator paramilitary "polezei" troops and regular German troops amidst pine forests, swamps, potato fields, and deserted burned out villages is engaging enough and gives a sense of the desperation that is felt during war. However, the characters are mere sketches, so it's hard to get that invested in them.
About halfway through the book, it becomes obvious who Levcuk must be going to meet in the post-war framing section. And indeed, the story confirms this rather sentimental development in the final pages. There's a certain straightforward simplicity in both plot and writing that makes it quite a quick read. When I tracked this US edition down, I was a little confused as to why it had been published by a company specializing in children's books, but now that I've read it, it makes a certain amount of sense. I'm definitely interested in checking out other of Bykaŭ's books, but this one is probably mainly of interest to readers with an interest in a glimpse at World War II Soviet partisans. The book was adapted into a fairly unmemorable film named "Volchya Staya" (Wolf Pack) the same year, and it can be found online.
There, we find Levcuk serving as a machine-gunner in a partisan unit that is in a sector that's been overrun by German troops. (The geography of the book seems to be deliberately vague, most or all of the locations mentioned in the text appear to be made up.) When he is wounded, he is sent back to the first aid area and told to lead a small group, including an older man, a nearly comatose wounded paratrooper, and a pregnant radio operator, to safety. Their cat-and-mouse game with the collaborator paramilitary "polezei" troops and regular German troops amidst pine forests, swamps, potato fields, and deserted burned out villages is engaging enough and gives a sense of the desperation that is felt during war. However, the characters are mere sketches, so it's hard to get that invested in them.
About halfway through the book, it becomes obvious who Levcuk must be going to meet in the post-war framing section. And indeed, the story confirms this rather sentimental development in the final pages. There's a certain straightforward simplicity in both plot and writing that makes it quite a quick read. When I tracked this US edition down, I was a little confused as to why it had been published by a company specializing in children's books, but now that I've read it, it makes a certain amount of sense. I'm definitely interested in checking out other of Bykaŭ's books, but this one is probably mainly of interest to readers with an interest in a glimpse at World War II Soviet partisans. The book was adapted into a fairly unmemorable film named "Volchya Staya" (Wolf Pack) the same year, and it can be found online.
June 14, 2020
30-odd years after the War, one-armed veteran, Levchuk, arrives in a city to meet an unknowing Victor, whom he last saw in 1943 in the forests of Belarus. Levchuk was a young partisan, wounded and, with 3 others, Tikhonov a dying soldier, Griboyed, a local guide and Klava, a heavily pregnant radio-operator, sent to an aid station. The Germans and local collaborators attack as the group flees through a swamp before shoot-outs and a birth. A brief, vivid, moving and tense survival story; very powerful in its impact
February 7, 2014
I just noticed that I read this book ('Pack of Wolves') not too long after finishing the 'The Grey.' Coincidence? Subliminal influence? There are no wolves in this book, though, just Germans (diffence?).
On the whole, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and readable book. In hindsight, I find the brief framing action (an elderly Levchuk pondering his life and seeking out the unknown Victor) to be more powerful than the main plot, which was a little trite with the "save-the-baby" motif. However, Bykau's straight-forward writing style and I've-been-there-so-I-know-what-I'm-talking-about treatment of events and emotions make up for the unimaginative plot. More character development would have helped. Without this development, the story felt a little rushed and unfinished.
In comparison, Bykau's "His Battalion" and "Live Until Dawn" are incredible stories, some of the most poignant and most memorable that I have ever read (especially "Live Until Dawn"). Since I know what Bykau is capable of, I am more tolerant of the short-comings of 'Pack of Wolves.' I see glimmers of Bykau's greatness in 'Pack of Wolves,' enough for me to recommend it and want to read more of Bykau's work (if I can ever find it).
On the whole, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and readable book. In hindsight, I find the brief framing action (an elderly Levchuk pondering his life and seeking out the unknown Victor) to be more powerful than the main plot, which was a little trite with the "save-the-baby" motif. However, Bykau's straight-forward writing style and I've-been-there-so-I-know-what-I'm-talking-about treatment of events and emotions make up for the unimaginative plot. More character development would have helped. Without this development, the story felt a little rushed and unfinished.
In comparison, Bykau's "His Battalion" and "Live Until Dawn" are incredible stories, some of the most poignant and most memorable that I have ever read (especially "Live Until Dawn"). Since I know what Bykau is capable of, I am more tolerant of the short-comings of 'Pack of Wolves.' I see glimmers of Bykau's greatness in 'Pack of Wolves,' enough for me to recommend it and want to read more of Bykau's work (if I can ever find it).
October 13, 2012
This was the best book!!! An older man has come to the town to find someone. He remembers his adventures during the war and eventually you discover who he is looking for. It's a cliff-hanger though. I turned the page and it was over just like that! Delicious!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews