И дольше века длится день…

Burannyĭ Edigeĭ rabotaet na zheleznodorozhnom razʺezde, zateri͡annom sredi beskonechnykh stepeĭ. Kogda umiraet ego drug Kazangap, odnoselʹchane khoti͡at pokhoronitʹ ego na drevnem kladbishche, ovei͡annom legendami. Soglasno obychai͡am stepni͡akov, pokhorony dolzhny proĭti odnim dnem. Odnako otdatʹ danʹ vechnosti ne pozvoli͡ai͡ut realii novogo veka - tam, gde pokoilsi͡a prakh predkov, teperʹ stroitsi͡a kosmodrom... Proza Chingiza Aĭtmatova - ėto vzyvai͡ushchiĭ k sovesti golos vechnykh istin, k kotorym vsegda ti͡anetsi͡a, no kotorym ne vsegda sleduet chelovechestvo. Klassik russkoĭ i kirgizskoĭ literatury, chʹe tvorchestvo ne raz bylo otmecheno premii͡ami i nagradami, Aĭtmatov obrel priznanie sovremennikov eshche do vykhoda pervogo romana - ego poli͡ubili za povesti-pritchi "Belyĭ parokhod", "Pegiĭ pes, begushchiĭ kraem mori͡a", "Proshchaĭ, Gulʹsary!". No publikat͡sii͡a romana "I dolʹshe veka dlitsi͡a denʹ..." (drugoe nazvanie - "Burannyĭ polustanok", 1980) proizvela furor sredi chitai͡ushcheĭ publiki. Stilisticheski blizkiĭ k magicheskomu realizmu, roman pogruzhaet chitateli͡a odnovremenno i v nelegkie vremena "postroenii͡a sot͡sializma", i v drevnie mify, i v fantasticheskoe budushchee, obeshchai͡ushchee vstrechu s inoplanetnym razumom.

Buranny Edigey works on a railway crossing, lost among the endless steppes. When his friend Kazangap dies, the villagers want to bury him in an ancient cemetery steeped in legends. According to the customs of the steppe people, the funeral should take place in one day. However, the realities of the new century do not allow us to pay tribute to eternity — a cosmodrome is now being built where the ashes of our ancestors rested... The prose of Chingiz Aitmatov is the voice of eternal truths that appeal to conscience, which humanity always longs for, but which humanity does not always follow. A classic of Russian and Kyrgyz literature, whose work has been repeatedly awarded prizes and awards, Aitmatov gained recognition from his contemporaries even before the release of his first novel — he was loved for his parable stories "The White Steamer", "Piebald Dog running along the edge of the sea", "Goodbye, Gyulsary!". But the publication of the novel "And a day lasts longer than a century ..." (another name is "Buranny Whistle Stop", 1980) caused a sensation among the reading public. Stylistically close to magical realism, the novel immerses the reader at the same time in the difficult times of "building socialism", in ancient myths, and in a fantastic future promising an encounter with an alien intelligence.