# Distant Lands

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{{Short description|1932 Soviet novel}}
{{distinguish|Adventure Time: Distant Lands}}
{{Infobox book
| name           = Distant Lands
| image          = 
| caption  = 
| author         = [Arkady Gaidar](/source/Arkady_Gaidar)
| title_orig     = Дальние страны
| translator     = 
| illustrator    = A. Yermolayev
| cover_artist   = 
| country        = [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics](/source/Union_of_Soviet_Socialist_Republics)
| language       = [Russian](/source/Russian_language)
| series         = 
| subject        = 
| genre          = [Children's literature](/source/Children's_literature)
| publisher      = [Molodaya Gvardiya](/source/Molodaya_Gvardiya_(publisher))<br>[Detskaya Literatura](/source/Detskaya_Literatura)
| pub_date       = 1932
| media_type     = Print
| pages          = 
| awards         = 
| isbn           = 978-5-94743-830-7
| oclc           = 
| congress       = 
| preceded_by    = 
| followed_by    = 
| wikisource     = 
}}

'''''Distant Lands''''' (Dalniye Strany, Дальние страны) is a [1932](/source/1932_in_literature) novel by the [Soviet](/source/USSR) [children's author](/source/Children_literature) [Arkady Gaidar](/source/Arkady_Gaidar).<ref name="f_ebin">Ebin, F. Commentaries to Дальние страны. Works by Arkady Gaidar in 4 volumes. Detskaya Literatura Publishers. Moscow, 1964. Vol. 2. Pp 431-432.</ref><ref name="enc">{{cite web | author = | date = 1979| url  = http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Gaidar,+Arkadii|title = Gaidar, Arkadii Petrovich | publisher  = The Great Soviet Encyclopedia| accessdate = 2013-11-01}}</ref>

==Background==
According to Gaidar's diary, he started working upon the novel in the summer of 1931, while staying in the All-Union [Young Pioneer camp](/source/Young_Pioneer_camp) [Artek](/source/Artek_(camp)) with his son Timur. On August 3 the novel was finished. According to the writer's friend [Ruvim Frayerman](/source/Ruvim_Frayerman), "''Distant  Lands'' with its quiet railway station, the mysterious forest and trains passing by, has been undoubtedly prompted by memories of his own childhood when he, a small boy, was standing with sister Natasha on the barn’s roof watching trains running away."<ref>The Life and Works of A.P. Gaidar, Moscow, Detgiz. 1954, Pp.123-126.</ref><ref name="f_ebin"/>

==History==
The novel was first published in [1932](/source/1932_in_literature) by [Molodaya Gvardiya](/source/Molodaya_Gvardiya_(publisher)), illustrated by A.Yermolayev. Also in 1932 it featured in a small Gaidar compilation ''Moi Tovarishchi'' (My Comrades, later repeatedly re-issued). The novel had success with the young readership and was met with favourably in the press, notably in [Alexander Fadeev](/source/Alexander_Alexandrovich_Fadeyev)'s large article "The Books of  Gaidar", published on January 29, 1933, in ''[Literaturnaya Gazeta](/source/Literaturnaya_Gazeta)''.<ref name="f_ebin"/>

==Plot summary==
Life at a small railway station - as seen through the eyes of two 8-year-olds, Vasya and Petya, - is in turmoil. An expedition arrives from a regional center to examine the possibility of building an [aluminum](/source/aluminum) factory nearby. In a parallel development the majority of locals choose to form a [kolkhoz](/source/kolkhoz), [kulak](/source/kulak) Danila and two of his friends being fierce opponents.

Yegor, a local [Selsoviet](/source/Selsoviet) chairman disappears with a large sum of money, collected by people for purchasing some machinery for their future enterprise. The project is on the verge of collapse: people are horrified by the idea that Yegor, a trustworthy man and a [Civil War](/source/Russian_Civil_War) hero, should turn out a thief. Then the reason for one of the boys, Petya's strange behaviour becomes clear. It turns out that he's found Yegor's blood-stained cap in the forest and seems to know who the murderer is.

The three kulak guys get arrested for the crime one of them committed, Yegor's dead body is found in the woods to be buried by the river, the kolkhoz project gets revived as does Vasya and Petya's long-cherished dream of distant lands and happiness for all.<ref>Gaidar, Arkady. Дальние страны. Works by Arkady Gaidar in 4 volumes. [Detskaya Literatura](/source/Detskaya_Literatura). Moscow, 1964. Vol. 2. Pp. 5-103.</ref>

==References==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1932 novels
Category:1932 children's books
Category:Russian children's books
Category:Short stories by Arkady Gaidar
Category:Molodaya Gvardiya (publisher) books
Category:Children's books set in the Soviet Union

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Distant Lands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distant_Lands) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distant_Lands?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.