Description
Two timeless novellas about men in combat, from the Prix Médicis award winner whom Ian McEwan calls “remarkable,” combined in one anniversary volume for the first time
From the late, award-winning author Hubert Mingarelli, two of his most powerful novellas, now collected in one volume, plunge readers into the brutal, frozen landscapes of war and the moral chasms it creates. This masterful collection, including a tenth-anniversary edition of A Meal in Winter and a twenty-anniversary edition of Four Soldiers, explores the quiet moments of suffering, conscience, and fragile humanity that unfold amidst the overwhelming violence of history.
In the Prix Médicis award-winning Four Soldiers, a small unit in the Red Army in WWI waits out a brutal winter near the Romanian front. Amid the mundane struggle for food and warmth, they talk, smoke, and wait—for spring, for orders, for the inevitable return of violence, revealing the profound bonds and anxieties that define a soldier’s life between battles. The novella was also longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.
In A Meal in Winter, short-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and selected by Indies Introduce in the United States, three German soldiers in Poland during WWII are tasked with capturing a Jewish fugitive. What begins as a simple order descends into a tense moral reckoning when a break from the cold in an abandoned house forces each man to confront his own conscience and the humanity of his prisoner.
Mingarelli’s sparse, evocative prose captures the chilling atmosphere of war and the complex inner lives of men pushed to their limits. Two by Mingarelli is a profound and unforgettable exploration of survival, morality, and the search for warmth in the coldest of times.
Author Bio
Hubert Mingarelli (1956–2020) was the author of numerous novels and short story collections, as well as fiction for young adults. His novel A Meal in Winter (The New Press) was shortlisted for the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and was selected by Indies Introduce in the United States.
Praise
Praise for Four Soldiers:Longlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International Prize
"Most movingly, it sketches the poignantly fragile friendships they develop in the shadow of so much death. . . . Its simplicity lends it grandeur. One thinks of Maxim Gorky, or even the early sketches of Tolstoy."
―Wall Street Journal
"Four Soldiers is no hectic and chaotic war novel. It unfolds in short, tightly focused chapters, and in spare, crystalline prose (beautifully translated by Sam Taylor). . . . The last electrifying pages resemble one of the more violent stories from Isaac Babel's Red Cavalry. To say more would be to spoil all. Suffice to say that Mingarelli manages to salvage tenderness from tragedy, leaving us with a poignant twist and a lasting impression―not to mention an acute reminder that these are not valiant, worldly men marching into battle but petrified, inexperienced boys."
―Malcolm Forbes, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Profound and affecting. . . . A captivating study of companionship and loyalty among men in combat."
―The National (Scotland)
"Spare, matter-of-fact and masterfully controlled."
―Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Hubert Mingarelli's A Meal in Winter:
"The book's deceptive directness and simplicity, and its muted undercurrents of horror, will make many think of the stories of Ernest Hemingway. This is painful, unconsoling reading, but also a reminder of the power a short, perfect work of fiction can wield."
―Wall Street Journal
"Stark and profound."
―New York Times
"Fine reading, not just for those interested in the war."
―Library Journal
"The command of tone and voice sustains tension until the very last page of a novel that will long resonate in the reader's conscience."
―Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Haunting. . . . With devastating concision, Mingarelli and his translator, Sam Taylor, carry the moral dilemma to an understated yet stunning conclusion."
―Publishers Weekly (starred)
"It is 138 profound pages of horror and humanity."
―Book of the Year, the Irish Times
"Short, powerful, vivid, and utterly compelling."
―The Jewish Chronicle
"A luminous tale. . . . The most moving book I have read for a long time."
―The Independent on Sunday
"A masterpiece."
―The Independent
"This strong and simple story packs a mighty punch."
―The Times (London)
