“This novel of mine is about them, about that generation who had a ‘strong bone’ in its chest. And the people of this generation and their whole life were so unusual and legendary that although the material of the novel is reality itself and the events described in it have actually happened, it may still seem like a fiction and a fairy tale for many.
This is how this generation was, and it is unlikely for it to ever occur again.
The names and deeds of these people have truly become a legend, a fairy tale, a folk parable, and they are passed down from generation to generation, by the word of mouth.”
Khachik Dashtents
The novel is not only about the participants in the liberation movement of the late 19th – the early 20th century but also about the life of the entire nation, about their thoughts, goals, and the struggle for freedom. The work is filled with legends and epics that adorn it.
The novel’s events are told from the perspective of Makhluto. Arabo, Aghbyur Serob and Sose, Gevorg Chaush, Andranik – his interaction with the characters is presented in this order. Each chapter of the book is a separate story – united, they constitute a novel.
At the end of the novel, Dashtents shows the lives of the heroes scattered around the world after the genocide and their last days when their thoughts were not about death but about the uncompleted mission.
“One night, Makhluto was urgently summoned to the coast. In California, in the resort of Chico, Andranik was dying.
“You came, Makhluto?” said the commander, hugging his mate and pushing his head against his chest, “I have been looking for the Brabion flower all over the world for my entire life. You and I have looked for it. We have been crazy, and our dreams have not come true.
No one has found this flower yet. Some say it does not exist at all. But still, there were people who went along the right road. As for us, we lost in vain, we started from the wrong end.”
After the death of Andranik, Makhluto returned to Soviet Armenia.
“He stood upright and looked backwards – the light came from there. He took a few steps and saw a new world below. And, screaming with delight, he fell unconscious on top of Ararat.
‘These are your lights, Yerevan! So you exist! There is Armenia! She is alive! Strong, bright, big Armenia!’”
Online book in Armenian: Roman Epic “Call of the Plowmen”. Khachik Dashtents
