Roman otrazhaet samyy tragicheskiy moment zhizni kak chelovechestva, tak i kazhdogo, lyubogo, otdel'nogo cheloveka - period Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny, voyny mezhdu narodami, ideologiyami, kul'turami, epokhami. V nem delaetsya popytka doyti do prichin vozniknoveniya voyn, chtoby chelovek smog nazvat' veshchi svoimi imenami: zlo - zlom, lozh' - lozh'yu, dobro -dobrom, chtoby tak i postupat', to est' - ostavat'sya chelovekom