Vladimir Nikolaevich Voinovich has become one of the most significant writers of comic fiction in Russia in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. Born in Dushanbe in 1932 and doing military service in the Red Army (1951-5), he witnessed army life only in peacetime. Yet, with a typical touch of idiosyncrasy, he came to produce a

magnum opus

that was set in the Second World War.

The Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin

(

Zhizn' i neobychainye prikliucheniia soldata Ivana Chonkina

) - its sequels notwithstanding - remains unfinished in terms of simple plotline, but its depiction of the Russian war effort and the general absurdity of the whole Soviet experiment is conclusively irreverent and subversive.

Born of white-collar workers (mother a teacher, father a

2089 words

Citation: Porter, Robert. "Vladimir Voinovich". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 August 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5476, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5476 Vladimir Voinovich 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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