I looked at the first chapter. It is a classic memoir. That is, a
plain recollection of events, starting from the author's childhood and
pre-war years (he was born on the Far East of the USSR to the family
of railroad workers, his father died in the GULAG and both of his
brothers died in WWII, Pyltsyn himself volunteered for the army in
the first days of the war). From the writing style he sounds like a
dyed in the wool Soviet career soldier. The first chapter is full of
little details about the soviet life that I find endearing and I am
sure you'll appreciate. So, I vote we read it.

 A word of
caution - Pyltsyn is a "primary source". He reads like an extended
battlefield report augmented by an impossible number of cliches and a
few personal anecdotes. I guess since he is a career officer, that's
what he writes. I hope that the poetry of his that he includes is not
translated as it is atrocious.

So, he is no Stephen Ambrose. Actually, he is more of a Richard
Winters (of the Easy Company) type. Probably even far more heroic.  He
nonchalantly describes him leading an attack with 80% casualty rate,
another attack over a minefield and an attack over the Oder River
where only 13-some people out of his company survived. His love and
adventures with his wife-to-be are touching (despite the horrible
poetry).

Pyltsyn is a model Soviet citizen and a communist through and
through. He is the resident of the country where sex did not exist.
Actually, his memoirs (except for the incredible heroics and the
interesting composition of his battalion) is fairly typical of Soviet
literature. Back in the days, it felt like this was the only kind of
literature that was allowed to exist (which is why reading was not
much fun). Apparently, Pyltsyn is well known as he cites several
newspaper articles and books about himself. One of his annoying
features is his constant chatter about medals and military
decorations. If feels that it never dawned on him (he was 21 when the
war was over) that it is not a costume party.  I much rather like
Winters' grim determination.

Anyhow, it takes a bit of Ambrose and Spielberg to imagine the events
described by Pyltsyn. It is interesting how the penal soldiers yearned
to get into hand-to-hand combat, something the Germans seldom
withstood. It seems that the fighting was to get to the enemy trenches
and to hack them up there.

The penal battalion as described by Pyltsyn seems like a reasonable if
harsh enterprise: their weapons were modern and in good supply, they
were well-fed and officered. Also, since the penal battalion was
composed of convicted officers, they were motivated to fight.