Time, Forward!

Valentine Kataev's Time, Forward! is a classic of Soviet Realism. Written in 1932, the novel captures the enthusiasm and the optimism of the First Five-Year Plan in its portrayal of the construction of Magnitogorsk, an enormous metallurgical plant considered one of the finest industrial achievements of the period. Time, Forward! embodies the beliefs of the era--that the collective (here a multinational brigade) through its determination and the application of technology can accomplish the impossible, conquer nature, even overcome time. Utilizing cinematic technique, Kataev focuses on a single twenty-four hour period when one of the Magnitogorsk shock-brigades breaks a world record for pouring cement; the result is galvanizing and remarkably affecting.