The Zeitsen
Posted: June 04, 2007, 07:54:44 PM
The “Doomsday weapon.” A ship that was suggested to Khrshchev in the late 50’s and early 60’s, but Khrushchev thought it too terrible a weapon. If memory serves me right it was never constructed. I can’t remember much about it anymore but it was going to be a ship. But I don’t think a battleship.
An interesting story and one that captivated me, since the old days of the Soviet Union are imbedded within me. The Cuban missile crises, Khrshchev slamming his shoe on a table at the U.N. and of course the bomb shelter in the basement of our grammar school. And we had to get under our desks when a siren when off! We even did it a couple of time when an ambulance went past the school.
I thought the story very well written with a smooth flow of words from sentence to sentence. At no time did I have to wonder what was happening, except at the end.
It had most of the elements needed for storytelling, and description and setting were good. I could feel the isolation that Captain Alexi Kavalev felt.
Word choice good and sentence length just right.
On the negative side, Alexi wasn’t described well enough to see. Outside a few nicks and bags under his eyes, I couldn’t get a clear picture of what he looked like.
The same with the Commissar. No indication of his mannerism much nor his appearance. However, both characters kept developing as the story neared its end.
This story held my interest from beginning to end, but at the end a question popped into my head.
Did the ship explode? It appears so. The Commissar lied to Alexi about the test, I think. Since Alexi had already slid the Key in and the process was set in motion.
I don’t know why the commissar called Alexi and lied to him. Was it to kill time until the explosion? He didn’t want to die alone? Or just a fulfillment of a communist’s indoctrinated mind that if communism dies, the world ends and all is well!!!
Good Story!
An interesting story and one that captivated me, since the old days of the Soviet Union are imbedded within me. The Cuban missile crises, Khrshchev slamming his shoe on a table at the U.N. and of course the bomb shelter in the basement of our grammar school. And we had to get under our desks when a siren when off! We even did it a couple of time when an ambulance went past the school.
I thought the story very well written with a smooth flow of words from sentence to sentence. At no time did I have to wonder what was happening, except at the end.
It had most of the elements needed for storytelling, and description and setting were good. I could feel the isolation that Captain Alexi Kavalev felt.
Word choice good and sentence length just right.
On the negative side, Alexi wasn’t described well enough to see. Outside a few nicks and bags under his eyes, I couldn’t get a clear picture of what he looked like.
The same with the Commissar. No indication of his mannerism much nor his appearance. However, both characters kept developing as the story neared its end.
This story held my interest from beginning to end, but at the end a question popped into my head.
Did the ship explode? It appears so. The Commissar lied to Alexi about the test, I think. Since Alexi had already slid the Key in and the process was set in motion.
I don’t know why the commissar called Alexi and lied to him. Was it to kill time until the explosion? He didn’t want to die alone? Or just a fulfillment of a communist’s indoctrinated mind that if communism dies, the world ends and all is well!!!
Good Story!