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• 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.