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• 1 2020-10-06T09:55:15-04:00 The Day Lasts More Than A Hundred Years 9-32 21 Chingiz Aitmatov plain 2020-12-12T15:55:09-05:00

  Hannah Bartoshesky
  
  pg. 9 — the vixen
  A female fox, the first of many animals we encounter in Aitmatov's novel. The vixen is introduced running along the tracks, scavenging for food, fighting for its survival inspite of its fear of the train. The vixen is initially compared to the deceased Kazangap and again humanized in a later when compared to a railman's feelings about technology. The animals often seem to symbolize a more raw and basic mode of life. 

  pg. 9 — the steppe  (“Sary-Ozeki, the middle lands of the yellow steppes” pg.12)
  The Sary-Ozeki is a fictional desert located in the Eurasian steppe, likely in South-Eastern Kazakhstan (corresponding to the actual town of Sary-Ozeki). The steppe is a vast region of open grassland extending across the country, with a harsh climate with very low precipitation and extreme seasonal temperature changes. In the book, this harsh climate seems to wear people down mentally as well as physically; as a result, very few newcomers live on the steppe for long.

  pg. 9 — the railway
  The trains criss-crossing the Sary-Ozeki are a source of significant imagery throughout the book, often mentioned as moving "from East to West and from West to East", representing the contrast between man and technology, the technological progress of the present and the traditions of the past, and the tensions between the East and West among other interpretations.

  pg. 12 — Burannyi-Yedigei
  The protagonist of the novel. He is a railway worker on the Sarozek who was once a soldier in the second World War and before that, a fisherman on the Aral Sea. He takes on the duty of burying his friend Kazangap, trekking across the steppe to deliver the body to a traditional burial ground. A strong character, seen to be reliable and wise from his years, though now a relic of the traditional mode of Kyrgyz life.

  pg. 12 — Ukubala
  Yedigei’s wife. Described as old and weathered by years on the steppe with greying hair, no teeth, etc., but a woman of strong character. Yedigei  respects her.  

  pg. 13 — Kazangap
  Yedigei's friend and co-worker from the railway; Kazangap was the oldest man in Buranly-Burranyi and originally encouraged Yedigei to move there. Yedigei respects him greatly for his wisdom and mode of living life well and in alignment with Kyrgyz culture. His death and subsequent funeral are the main plot of the novel.

  pg. 14 — Ospan
  The man in charge of the railway junction.

  pg.14 — Shaimerden 
  The duty man at the railway junction; he is younger than Yedigei, and does not appear to "respect" death as much, talking about it bluntly and without sensitivity.

  pg. 15 — Sabitzhan, Kazangap’s son
  He lives in the a city and is well educated, but in reality is a shallow and self-important "office-boy." He returns to the Sary-Ozeki for his father's funeral, but seems to view it as a burden rather than the honorable duty of a son. He additionally rejects the more elaborate traditional funeral that Yedigei has planed. Yedigei questions how a great man's son could turn out this way. 

  pg. 15 — Aizada, Kazangap’s daughter
  She is married to a drunkard and has six children that she struggles to control. She laments this fate and blames her father and her upbringing at the funeral; while she is at least painted as respectful of the funeral process, she is still ungrateful and shames herself with this public display. Yedigei considers her a failure as well.

  pg. 18 — Burannyi-Karanar, Yedigei’s camel
  A bactrian camel gifted to Yedigei from Kazangap. It is a powerful and almost untamed camel stud; it is described as a vital and handsome camel who naturally runs free across the steppe.

  pg. 24 — Kumbel’
  The junction station where Aizada lives; East of the Boranly-Burannyi train junction where Yedigei and other railway workers live.

  pg. 25 — Kzyl-Orda
  Where Yedigei's daughters live; a town to the West of Boranly-Burannyi.

  pg. 26 — The Cosmodrome Sary-Ozek I
  A fictional cosmodrome in the fictional Sary-Ozeki; within sight of the railroad tracks where Yedigei works. Symbolic of the fast pace of technological growth and the Soviet Union's expanding influence.

  pg. 27 — The Parity Space Station and the American-Soviet space programme
  As befits the name, this cooperation between the worlds most powerful nations is intended to be entirely equal -- with equal Soviet and American representation in every role. This fictional cooperation helps Aitmatov to make a larger commentary about the influence of both these powerful nations, rather than just critiquing the Soviet Union where much of the books story takes place. 

  pg. 29 — Ana-Beiit, the Naiman tribe’s cemetery
  A sacred and traditional burial ground. The funeral procession ventures across the Sarozek some sixty kilometers to bury Kazangap here, only to find that their entrance is barred and that the cemetary will be leveled for further development of the cosmodrome. The cemetary thus acts as yet another example of the conflict between modernity's evolving technology and tradition. 

• 1 2020-10-06T09:56:14-04:00 The Day Lasts More Than A Hundred Years 81-105 16 Chingiz Aitmatov plain 2020-11-23T15:07:06-05:00 pg. 83 — "don’t touch the railway workers"
  Being such a vast nation, the Soviet Union was very dependent on railways and, therefore, railway workers. During WWII, the railway system was essential in transporting military equipment and personnel. This explains why Kazangap was sent back without doing service, and why Stalin gave the order, "don't touch the railway workers."
  
  pg. 86 — Bactrian
  The Bactrian camel is a two-humped camel native to Central and East Asia. They are able to withstand many different extremes of weather. The only wild camels left in existence are, actually, Bactrian camels. 
  
  pg. 90 — shock-worker badges of the various Five Year Plans 
  This refers to badges given to "shock workers of Communist Labor," a title given to exceptional workers. Although the term existed starting during the 1930s, during the 1950s it turned into a competition. The goal of the competition was to create the New Man and "erase significant differences between mental and physical labor", according to Pravda.
  
  pg. 92 — Behind him was the Belarus’ tractor
  The Belarus Tractor is a type of tractor that started production in the 1950s. They were a part of the Soviet Union's attempt to revitalize their agricultural infrastructure, and the main processing plant was in Minsk, Belarus, and was built there in an attempt to revitalize the city as well. The fact that this tractor is a part of the funeral procession presents an interesting take on the theme of technology that Aitmatov approaches throughout the novel. It doesn't seem satirical, though it is certainly strange, perhaps another moment of Aitmatov's determined ambivalence.
  
  pg. 94 — the kazanak 
  Referring to the Muslim burial practice of putting the body in the grave so that it faces the Kaaba, in Mecca. The narrator also describes a "niche" dug into the side: this is called a lahd. Coffins were not widely used in the beginning of Islam, so graves were constructed with a niche is dug into the side for the body. Importantly, this is the type of grave the Prophet was said to have been buried in. 
  
  pg. 102 — internal withering
  A problem that the people of Lesnaya Grud' face is that their planet is facing "internal withering". Possibly because they have and use such control over their weather, large parts of their planet turn into unlivable desert. The problem is still far off into the future, for them, but the people of Lesnaya Grud' are beginning to address it now, before it spirals out of control. The state's ability to look this far into the future stems from their hive-mindedness, but so does the problem itself, which reflects the ambivalence with which Aitmatov approaches the question of communism.