Fiction by Danil Makeev

Abstract

Danil Makeev was the first in Yakut literature to turn to the fate of war prisoners, the most tragic side of the World War II theme. The story “The Traitor” reveals the story of Yakut soldier Tarabukin, who went through a penal company and managed to maintain his honor and dignity. The even more acutely tragic fate of a man who suffered mortal trials and monstrous humiliations of captivity is revealed in the story “The Destiny of Fate.” Compared to the story “The Traitor,” the author deepened in it the psychological side of the state of the individual, who many times found himself on the brink of death. The story has a complex composition and is structured like the memoirs of a World War II veteran who, in his declining years, recalls the episodes of the environment, the joy of liberation and the vicissitudes of post-war life with the stigma of a person who was in German captivity. In another story, “Brothers,” Makeev tells about the military “odyssey” of three siblings who returned safely from the front. As for the writer’s stories, what is striking is the variety of intra-genre types in his short prose, skillful plot construction based on the principle of testing heroes, the use of traditions of foreign and Russian literature in creating characters, and a rich arsenal of visual and expressive means. In general, Makeev’s talentedly written novels and short stories give reason to believe that he can create major epic works on the theme of the Great Patriotic War, which in the light of recent events has gained new relevance