The most popular book in Vladimir Voynovich's trilogy about the soldier Ivan Chonkin. This novel is often called a joke novel, which is entirely appropriate. The action takes place at the beginning of the war with Nazi Germany, but that's not what the novel is about. After all, Chonkin, on orders from his superiors, is guarding a flightless plane that has made an emergency landing in a Russian village. The soldier standing guard has been conveniently forgotten, and he, on guard, is still getting his life back on track.

'The book you've opened has had a happy fate. It survived the harsh years of prohibition, but it also withstood the test of freedom, as evidenced by this reprint, I don't remember which one... Keep in mind that the entire life story and adventures of its hero, soldier Ivan Chonkin, from his youth to old age, are told in three books, and this is only the first of them. I hope, after reading it, you'll want to know what happened to the hero next.'
Vladimir Voynovich