SHOCK. That is the first thing you experience on reading Nadezhda Nelidova's book "The Pit". Two strikingly realistic stories are unveiled before our eyes. Two people related to the author preferred to leave this life voluntarily rather than suffer unbearable pain and loneliness. A girl suffering from cancer, left alone face to face with pain and fear, dreams of euthanasia. The clergy oppose it. "By suffering, we are cleansed." So how are they any better than the inquisitors who "cleansed" witches by burning them at the stake??" The second story, "Crystal World" is about a young boy hounded to death. Throughout the entire book, the author is tortured by doubts. Does she have the right to be so merciless and frank in reproducing every last detail of these tragedies? She comes to this conclusion: "There is no such thing as 'suicide' – it is always homicide of the victim by those around him, it is simply more subtle. cynical and devilishly refined." The author is grateful to the experienced British linguist and translator JACK DOUGHTY for his cooperation.