How Steel Was Tempered (World Literature Library)

Author: Nikolai Ostrovsky
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: "How the Steel Was Tempered" has numerous readers both in the Soviet Union and abroad, and has been translated into twenty languages and published in twenty-six countries. In 1989, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China included "How the Steel Was Tempered" in the list of ten must-read books for young people to set "life's milestones." Many schools and organizations have chosen this book as a preferred selection when compiling reading lists for adolescents. Therefore, in cultivating the life ideals of young people, "How the Steel Was Tempered" is truly an artistic masterpiece worth recommending and reading. Through the description of Pavlo Korchagin's growth journey, "How the Steel Was Tempered" reflects the battle flames, construction scenes, and social life of a specific era, possessing unique cognitive and educational value. Pavlo was born into a poor railway worker family, and from a young age, he was innocent, mischievous, and had a strong sense of resistance. With the help of the underground activist Zhukhrai, Pavlo gradually joined the revolutionary path. He bravely rescued Zhukhrai from bandits but was arrested himself and subjected to severe torture, yet he revealed nothing. After going to the front lines, Pavlo fought bravely, earned several merits, and was wounded multiple times, eventually having to leave the front lines due to the loss of his right eye. On the home front, Pavlo continued to work tirelessly on the construction front, ignoring his injuries and working day and night. On the freezing construction site, Pavlo and the League members fought against the cold, hunger, typhoid, and bandit raids. Even with his feet frozen and suffering from high fever, he did not leave the front lines until he collapsed on the construction site, nearly dying from typhoid. After suffering the heavy blows of losing his sight and being paralyzed in bed, Pavlo did not think about the length of his life but about how to return to the battlefront as soon as possible. He finally found a way to fight with a smile instead of a knife, realizing his long-held dream of rejoining the ranks.