And the Day Lasts More Than a Century...

Blizzard Yedigey works at 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 dwellers, the funeral... should take place in one day. However, the realities of the new century prevent honoring eternity — where the ashes of ancestors rested, a spaceport is now being built...
Prose by Chinghiz Aitmatov is a call to conscience of eternal truths, to which humanity always reaches out, but does not always follow. A classic of Russian and Kyrgyz literature, whose work has been repeatedly recognized with awards and prizes, Aitmatov gained recognition among his contemporaries even before the release of his first novel—he was beloved for his tales-parables “The White Steamship,” “The Spotted Dog Running Along the Edge of the Sea,” “Farewell, Gulshary!” But the publication of the novel “And the Day Lasts More Than a Century...” (another title — “The Blizzard Halfway Station,” 1980) caused a sensation among the reading public. Stylistically close to magical realism, the novel immerses the reader simultaneously in the difficult times of “building socialism,” in ancient myths, and in a fantastic future that promises a meeting with extraterrestrial intelligence.