Language Russian Originally published 1955 Country Soviet Union | Publication date 1955 | |
Similar Nikita's childhood, La Freccia Azzurra, Old Khottabych, Chuk and Gek, The Two Captains | ||
Seryozha (Russian: Серёжа, published 1955) is a short novel by Soviet writer Vera Panova. Seryozha has also been translated as Time Walked and A Summer to Remember. Seryozha is a diminutive form of the name Sergey.
Contents
Plot
Seryozha is the story of a young boy living in the rural Soviet Union in the mid-1950s. The novel describes Seryozha's experiences, and those of his family, friends and neighbors over the course of a summer. The most important event of the story is the marriage of Seryozha's mother to a Red Army veteran named Dmitry Korostelyev. Korostelyev becomes the new manager of the local collective farm and a strong role model for Seryozha. Throughout the novel Panova gives a relatively grim picture of life in the rural Soviet Union where both money and opportunity are scarce. The novel ends with Korostelyev being reassigned to a new collective farm in the remote Arkhangelsky District, and taking the family with him.
Quote
Panova said of the genesis of Seryozha:
"The soul of a child was revealed to me, the revelation engendered reflection, my reflections became clothed in images- and there appeared Seryozha."
English translations
Screen version
The story was brought to the screen in the 1960 film Seryozha by Georgi Daneliya and Igor Talankin.