“Soldier and Soldier Girl”... “A Successful Story about Love”... Two poignant stories written by Makanin twenty years apart. The sacrifice of a woman who pays dearly for love is a theme that easily spans two decades. Truly an eternal theme! “Blue and Red” is childhood and crazy, great love for the grandson of his two grandmothers, a peasant woman and a former noblewoman. Their struggle for his childish soul, mutual hostility, jealousy, almost hatred. Their quiet farewell to him. The good we have done does not necessarily return to us with kindness and is not always supported in return. Vladimir Makanin very subtly delineates the sequence of events. “Fatherlessness” is a sad story that softens our souls.