Katayev described it as a 'historical chronicle', driven by the idea of "mobilizing the contemporary readership," but also making a panoramic report on the extraordinary events of the Soviet industrial revolution he'd been witness to, using structures and rhythm experiments to enhance the live, cinematic effect.
[1] The whole book takes place over a 24-hour period on a construction site in the Ural Mountains during the early 1930s, the heyday of Stalin's Five-Year Plans.
In the morning, Margulies, chief of the construction's sixth sector, wakes up and hears that Kharkov beat the concrete-pouring record.
In order to ascertain whether beating the record is feasible, he decides to call his sister in Moscow to obtain a recent report on the limits of concrete pouring.
Margulies soon examines the day-to-day operations of the site to figure out how he can optimize production, but he initially forbids Ishchenko, a leader of one shock brigade, from trying to beat Kharkov's record.
Nalbandov, chief engineer of the construction, frets about the attempt to break the record; he thinks the effort is not worth the risk.
Around noon, Katya, having successfully found Professor Smolensky, transcribes the report, which demonstrates that it is theoretically possible to beat Kharkov's record.
Additionally, Semechkin shuts off the water supply as the crew approaches the record again citing the need to “maintain cost accounting” with a meter.
Ishchenko is immediately accepted into the party and his fellow workers all receive entry into the Komsomol, the Youth Communist League.