The novel sets out in chronological order the complex life story, the history of the formation of the character and ideological and political worldview of the main character Stanislaus Büdner, whose image has an expressive autobiographical sound. In the first volume, the events of which unfold in the period from 1909 to 1943, the author introduces the reader to the main character, the son of a landless peasant Stanislaus Büdner, whom his fellow countrymen called a miracle worker for his amazing gift of observation. Stanislaus's biography is typical of an ordinary German of those years. In search of the meaning of life, he changes many professions, takes part in the war, but the social and political slogans of Nazi Germany lead him to disappointment in the values that the state is trying to impose on him. In 1943, he deserts from the Nazi army and hides in one of the Greek monasteries. In the second volume of the novel, the hero’s life is traced from 1946 to 1949, when Stanislaus tries to find his place in the world of the social, economic and political changes that Germany was experiencing in the first post-war years. Gradually, the hero leans towards the values of socialist ideology, draws closer to the working class, and at the same time tests his strength in literature. In the third volume, the events of which cover the first half of the 50s, Stanislaus is depicted as a mature writer, enriched by the difficult experience of life and recognized in his homeland.

The translation of the first volume given here was published in parts in the collections of E. Vilmont from the series “The Past and Fools.”