This post, covering Part 1, Chapter 51, is part of The Slavic Literature Pod’s chapter a day read along of Vasily Grossman’s Life and Fate. Learn more about our project here.

How complex is just one human life?

Grossman meditates on this question, paying particular attention to the increasingly complex tasks that machines are able to perform. He wonders “Is there a limit to its perfection? Can it be compared to man? Will it surpass him?” (p. 217). In our current era where new AI developments lurk around every app update and hysteria over new tech developments envelop seemingly every news story, Life and Fate seems as relevant as ever.