Personal Library -- How Steel Is Made

Author: (Russian) Ostrovsky
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: "How the Steel Was Tempered" reflects the battle fires, construction scenes, and social life of a specific era through the description of Pavlo Korchagin's growth journey, possessing unique cognitive and educational value. Pavlo was born into a poor railway worker family, being naive and mischievous from a young age, with 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, only to be arrested himself and severely tortured, but he refused to reveal any information. After joining the front lines, Pavlo fought bravely, earning several medals and being wounded multiple times, eventually having to leave the front due to losing 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, along with the League members, fought against the cold, hunger, illness, 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 site, nearly dying from typhoid. After enduring the heavy blows of losing his sight and being paralyzed, Pavlo did not think about the length of his life but how to return to the battlefront as soon as possible. He finally found a way to fight with a smile instead of a sword, realizing his long-held dream of rejoining the ranks.