How Steel is Made

Author: (Soviet Union) Nikos Ostrovsky
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The author used himself as the prototype of the protagonist, but it is not an autobiography. He said, "This long novel is first and foremost an artistic work, in which I have used the right to fabricate." The author's intention was "to create a typical figure in the work, a typical young revolutionary of our time—the era of the proletarian revolution." Pavlo's heroism represents the rational sincerity, personal values, and harmony between individual and collective cause of early Bolsheviks. The novel not only shapes the protagonist through a series of trials but also expresses this sincere sentiment through compelling monologues and thought-provoking maxims.