Vadim Kozhevnikov

[Edward M Dumanis]

On Sun, 22 Oct 1995, George Fowler wrote:

> Greetings, all!
>      Can anybody authoritative tell me in just a few words if Vadim
> Kozhevnikov's large novel Shchit i mech has any literary merit?
> Entertainment value? Historical importance?
>      Thanks!
>      George Fowler
>

I cannot be authoritative but I read this novel 20-30 years ago.  I
cannot remember if it has any literary merits (at least exceeding its
size) but it was entertaining and somewhat educational.  I remember from
this novel that when one of the Russian spies was swimming using crawl
stroke, he was warned by the main hero of the novel that it was not
customary in Germany, so he had to change to breast stroke.  Maybe,
there are some other interesting details, like the reason for the
Germans' failure to forge Soviet documents.  Yes, it is funny.
Historical importance? I doubt it. Unless we have to take into account
how it influenced some other spy novels in the USSR.

Edward Dumanis
<dumanis at acsu.buffalo.edu>