Soviet writer Valentin Pikul worked mainly in the prose genre, and he was an extremely talented writer. At least, this is indicated by the fact that his works are still very popular. Is this not the highest reward for a man who has dedicated his life to literature? Let him himself long ago left this world, but the memory of him lives in the hearts of readers, and will always live.
The father of the future writer died during the battle of Stalingrad. Valentin himself, along with his mother, barely survived the winter in besieged Leningrad, from which they were later evacuated. During the war, Pikul studied at Jung, and later entered the naval school. However, a year after the end of the war he was expelled, explaining that he had “not enough knowledge”. Valentin Pikul wrote his works sitting at the wooden table that his father had made with his own hands. The writer never had a certificate or diploma, which did not prevent him from being a very educated person. At school, Valentin Pikul graduated from all five classes.
During the course of his life, he was married three times. Pikul’s first publication was educational in nature and was devoted to the ginseng root. She saw the light in 1947. The novel “Unclean Power” caused a heated discussion, and once a writer because of him was even beaten on the street. Valentin Pikul’s supporters also had enough. During his lifetime, he received many parcels with gifts from all over the USSR.
He was repeatedly invited to different countries, but the Soviet authorities did not give him permission to travel abroad. For the novel “Cruisers”, the writer received a state cash prize, but he transferred it entirely to Armenia, which suffered from a strong earthquake. Shortly before his death, Valentin Pikul conceived the novel Barbarossa, but he died before he finished the first volume. A heart attack dumped him in Riga a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
After the death of the writer, many publishers, including foreign ones, wanted to buy back Pikul’s manuscripts for big money, but his widow refused. His works were translated into many languages, and she re-published almost every year. The total circulation of all copies has already exceeded 20 million books. Valentin Pikul was an “owl” – he preferred to work at night, and during the day he slept. The famous novel “To each his own” writer dedicated to his third wife, with whom he lived until the end of life. From the pen of Pikul came out 23 novels and many smaller works. Five more novels remained unfinished.
