A Small Stubborn Town

 

A Small, Stubborn Town / Andrew Harding 
London: Ithaka Press, c2023.
140 p.

I read this one a while back, and have been hesitating to review it. While I thought it was interesting and certainly topical, it also felt a bit lacking in context, being written by a British journalist, and being fairly short. It feels more like it should/could have been a long article rather than a book -- there was room here to add a bit more, to flesh out the story a bit. 

However. I still found it an interesting read, with a lot to say about the town of Voznesensk in southern Ukraine. As the Russians invaded in 2022, their route came through the town - where they were expecting to roll through with no trouble. But the locals didn't think that was a plan they were going to get behind. So they did what they could to stop or slow down the movement through their town. 

There were pensioners, young men, lawyers -- ordinary people -- who stepped up to defend their town and by extension, their region. There were men who had volunteered for the Territorial Defense, but never expected to actually have to defend anything. 

It's written from the viewpoints of many of the residents, but primarily a grandmother, Svetlana, whose lazy husband and son have joined in on the defense as well. She is Russian who had come to Ukraine as a child, and can't quite believe what is happening. But she was now clear on who was "her side" -- the locals. 

It's a fast-moving, tightly written story, and as I mentioned, fairly short. It certainly keeps the reader's attention throughout, and touches on the personal stories and relationships between Russia and Ukraine. I found it a little too sympathetic to the Russian forces in some ways, but after three years of evidence I hope that readers can draw their own conclusions about invaders.

Anyhow, I did like it overall, and thought that the defense of the bridge in Voznesensk was a gripping story. Another angle on what happened in the first few weeks of the invasion. 

Diary of an Invasion

 

Diary of an Invasion / Andrey Kurkov
Dallas, TX: Deep Vellum, 2023, c2022.
282 p. 

Kurkov is probably one of the best known Ukrainian writers today; he speaks to the West very effectively. This is the diary he kept as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February, 2022. It covers all those moments familiar to those following this war; the unexpected bombs, the realization sinking in that this was real, the widespread displacement of Ukrainians to the western part of the country in the first few days and weeks, which Kurkov was part of as well. 

It's a writer's diary, so this is a polished and literary representation of the immediacy of the weeks after the invasion. He describes the people they meet, those they've left behind, their longing for their home and the small things they had to leave without. It has that immediacy of a diary, but also a literary arc of sorts. In that sense it's quite different from the non-literary diaries that I've read by Yeva Skalietska or Katya Tokar, which are quite raw. And different again from the diaries of Olena Stiazhkina, who is another literary voice but had been dealing with the realities of war since 2014, since she lived in the Donbas. 

I thought this book was well balanced, though, and a good one for Western readers as Kurkov communicates well and is known to many readers outside of Ukraine already. He does capture the response of a family who is both fairly well off and who are Russian speakers; this invasion is shocking to them on many levels. 

There is a second diary out now, and a third coming, and I believe it's important to keep hearing lived experiences of this war started by Russia, and not to look away. So I'll be reading those as well, and I'm sure that Kurkov will be able to continue to draw literary parallels and connect history to current events, as he does so well in this volume. 

How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying

 

How Good It Is I Have No Fear of Dying / Lara Marlowe
NY: Melville House, c2025.
312 p.

This is the story of Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko, as told by journalist Lara Marlowe. Mykytenko served in the Ukrainian armed forces, but was no longer serving when the full-scale invasion began. She knew immediately that she had to return, and re-enlisted just days later. 

This is a powerful story of her work in the armed forces, as a commander of a unit. Those who think women are not part of the Ukrainian army are sadly mistaken; this book shows how many ways that women are working with and for the Ukrainian armed forces, for the defense of Ukraine. 

I was interested to read a bit of a different perspective here, from a women who had served both previously and in this current moment. She is a long-time serviceperson and has so much experience that she has comparisons to make and a deep understanding of patterns and decisions. So she doesn't fawn over the current government, she sees that there are things that will need changing within Ukrainian society, but after this current existential threat is over. 

She is no-nonsense as well, she just gets things done and avoids unnecessary drama. Her story is another perspective on what happened starting in February 2022, from a demographic I haven't heard directly from before. I thought that Lara Marlowe, a war journalist from the US and France, did a good job of getting Mykytenko's voice across and finding the right details to fill out this story. Illuminating and engaging, there are no dry reportage bits here. Just a very personal and thoughtful sketch of a woman's experience in wartime. 

All the World's a Mall

All the World's a Mall / Rinny Gremaud
trans. from the French by Luise von Flotow
Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2023, c2018.
152 p.

I picked up this slim book at my library, thinking it was an interesting premise -- the author travels to five cities, Edmonton, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, and Casablanca, to visit five of the largest malls in the world. 

I was intrigued by the inclusion of the West Edmonton Mall, since I have been there myself.  That is mainly why I wanted to read it. The book began in Edmonton & I enjoyed seeing her explore places I recognized. 

The concept is that these malls are almost like cities into themselves, but she finds that they are sterile, centered on commerce & transactional relationships, lacking any real sense of life. I think that is a common response to megamalls.

She pushes herself to rapidly visit these five shopping centres, interviewing shop owners and executives. Interspersed with this, she talks about her own life & family, how tired she is, how much she misses them. 

Even though this is a short book, it felt repetitive by the end. The malls are indeed all very much alike & that sameness means she doesn't have a lot to add by the fifth one. Also, having her conclusion laid out in the first chapter means that there isn't too much discovery going on. It just felt depressing by halfway through, with the reader wondering why she was bothering to complete this project.  

So while there were some good points, especially in the first half, I did feel like the book kind of petered out. Perhaps it would have been more effective as a magazine article in a condensed form. 

Ukraine, War, Love: A Donetsk Diary

 

Ukraine, War, Love: A Donetsk Diary / Olena Stiazhkina
trans. from the Russian by Anne O. Fisher 
Cambridge, MA: HURI, c2024.
296 p.

This is a powerful book, one that anyone unaware of the realities of the ongoing war against Ukraine, happening since 2014, should read. It's written as a diary, addressed to an unnamed "you", a you which feels like the Russian world that she had lived in prior to this invasion. 

Stiazhkina is from Donetsk, and grew up speaking Russian, in the specific milieu of this underserved region. When Russians invaded in 2014, they were able to take advantage of the existing resentments against the Kyiv government, feelings that Donetsk and the region as a whole weren't being given the benefits that other regions were. And of course they took advantage of those who felt a longing for a simple Soviet past. 

But Stiazhkina is not only a diarist, she's a fantastic writer. So this book has strong imagery and descriptions of things as they are happening; the locals who get involved (generally men) and the so-called "locals" who come in to stir things up as their day job, getting on a bus to head back to Russia at the end of the day. She also writes about emotion, the varied responses to what's happening -- disbelief, the expectation that it will blow over, anger, fear, and the growing realization of an occupation. 

This is a vital read for understanding the beginnings of the current conflict, what people felt and experienced in the moment, and how things progressed. It gives readers a way to understand how one step can lead to many more, and how to recognize them when they are happening. It's such an important read, and one in which the style carries the reader as much as the content. Really good. 

Looking at Women Looking at War

 

Looking at Women Looking at War / Victoria Amelina
Ukrainian sections translated by Daisy Gibbons and Uilleam Blakker
NY: St. Martin's, 2025.
320 p.

Starting off Women in Translation month with some serious subject matter. But I felt it was important to focus on some of the books about Ukraine that have been coming out, and stay aware of what is still happening there. 

This book is a collection of writing by Victoria Amelina, some finished pieces and some notes she had been making for her book, before she was killed in a Russian missile attack on a cafe full of writers. Her words and her dedication to pursuing evidence of war crimes are powerful. 

She wrote both in Ukrainian and in English; the Ukrainian prose in this book is translated by Daisy Gibbons, while the poetry is translated by Uilleam Blacker. The first half of the book is more traditional, in that it has some finished or mostly finished essays and topics. The second half is more a collection of notes for further writing, pieces that Amelina never got to write, being murdered by Russians before she could finish them. 

It's a tough read, in the sense that she is giving up her literary activities and home life to focus on going to dangerous places and gathering people's stories, to create evidence of war crimes. And it's tough reading because you know before you begin that she was killed in a missile strike before this could be finished. 

The complete essays are must reads. And the notes are gathered together in a fragmentary collection, but with many footnotes and explanations by the editors and translators. This does help to make sense of them, and place them in the context of what she had been planning to write about. The very fact that you are reading her notes drives home the violence and the very war crimes she was investigating. 

This book recently won the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, awarded posthumously to Amelina. 

Let's Move the Needle!

 

Let's Move the Needle / Shannon Downey
North Adams, MA: Storey, c2024.
254 p.

I haven't been writing many reviews lately - I've been reading but the state of the world is distracting me a lot. However, this book was helpful to read, and I'd recommend it to anyone else looking for practical ideas and steps to help you move forward. 

I bought this recently, as it falls so much into my areas of interest -- craftivism in particular. It's written by a woman who is a stitcher (badasscrossstitch.com) and a long-time activist. It was very inspiring. 

Her area is cross-stitch and embroidery, so that's the examples she uses. But this book isn't just about the craft, it's really focused on the activism part. She encourages all artistic practices - fibre arts, visual arts, dance, music, etc, to get involved, using whatever your practice is in the service of activist ends. 

I really liked this book, it was practical, wide-ranging, and inspiring all in one. She goes over some ways that craft has been used in political settings in the past, then shares some contemporary projects, but the heart of the book is the introspection required to be effective. She has many interactive questions to go through so that you can narrow your focus down on the 1-3 main issues you want to be engaging with. It's an important element, becoming aware of what is important to you and why. And then how you'll pursue that in future. 

Once you have an idea of where you would like to focus, the rest of the book explains how to work with others - how to form groups, keep them running, use the logic model to plan outcomes (ie: know the WHY of any project), evaluate, and maybe even end a project. She incorporates instruction on tactics, planning documents and more, to make this easy for those new to organizing. 

She does mention in her opening that craftivism can sometimes be seen as 'gentle' and non-confrontational, but that's not where's she's at with it. Her craft is a tool to speak loudly about the social justice you want to see. 

With the useful tools, the logical layout, and the points illustrated with some her own hoop art, this is a great book. Very to the point, it has a goal and gives you the wherewithal to join in and, as she says, "Build Community and Make Change". Worthwhile for anyone interested in craftivism, community building and Moving the Needle! 

(first reviewed at FollowingTheThread)

Heart on my Sleeve

It's already a week into December, and so that means that I'll have to speed up and share some of my outstanding reviews for the year! I have a few books that I've read in the last while and have been meaning to talk about. So there's going to be a batch of random reads shared for the next week or two ;) I'll start with this fashion memoir by a beloved Canadian icon, Jeanne Beker -- both an entertaining and thoughtful book that is just the right topic and the right size to make a great holiday gift for any fashionistas you might know. This review was first shared at my sewing blog, and I hope you'll enjoy it here too. 

Heart on my Sleeve / Jeanne Beker
TO: Simon & Schuster, c2024. 
256 p.

This memoir by Canadian fashion icon Jeanne Beker was a delight. Unlike a traditional memoir, this is structured as a walk through memory, tied to specific pieces of clothing. It highlights how something we wear can carry history and family with it, beyond just being a piece of clothing or an accessory. I really liked this concept and the way it was carried out. She shares an item from her closet, then talks about how/where she got it and the resonances of the piece. Each chapter has a line drawing to illustrate the item, drawn by her own artist daughter. And this book sounds just like she's talking to you - the style is intimate and authentic, highlighting both the glamorous parts of her career and her personal challenges. 

I've read her earlier memoirs (such as Finding Myself in Fashion), and some of the stories here are repeated from those earlier books, but still just as enjoyable. The chapters are short, but cover a range of life moments. From the satchel her parents brought with them when they immigrated to Canada as Holocaust survivors, containing the small amount of family items they still had, to a Chanel dress given to her by Karl Lagerfeld, this book moves from touching and serious to funny & fashion-related. The pace is good and the book shares so many elements of her life, from the personal (her parents, partners and children), to the many famous fashion people she met and befriended in her many years of hosting FashionTelevision. 

There are some great moments included, from the unexpected generosity of Karl Lagerfeld (one of my favourite stories from past books too) to her interviews with fashion greats or music luminaries like Paul McCartney, Keith Richards and more (she worked on MuchMusic before fashion). I really enjoyed the way she started with her wardrobe and let each piece draw out recollections - we all have the experience of knowing just when and where we wore something, and what the meaning of it was to us; some pieces that we've kept forever because of those memories, and some that we could never wear again. 

This covers fashion history, Canadian history (a fun story about Pierre Trudeau, for example), family stories, and traces the development of Canadian media in a way, too. I thought it was a great read, and one I'd recommend to anyone interested in fashion or Canadian women's lives - especially if you were a fan of FashionTelevision in the old days like me ;) 

(review first appeared in slightly different form at FollowingTheThread)

Stitching Science

  

Stitching Science / Lauren Wright Vartanian & Keltie Thomas
Richmond Hill, ON: Firefly Books, c2024.
64 p.

I have something very special for you today! This is a book that is a wonderful blend of science and art. It's an alphabet book of scientific topics, all illustrated with hand-stitched images by Lauren Wright Vartanian, an artist who is fairly local to me. 

I watched this book's development on IG, as Vartanian began her stitching during lockdown. These are two of my favourite topics so I was thrilled when it was picked up as a book. The detailed embroideries are photographed very well, with large pages and clear, crisp photos that let you see the elements of each one. There is even a section at the end of closeups of some of the smaller details so you can really appreciate the handwork. 

Topics range from A to Z (haha, it is an alphabet book after all!). Vartanian got creative to find something for each letter, and while X is X-Ray as it often is in alphabet books, in this one it really makes sense to include this scientific discovery. Also, the image for this one is one of my favourites in the book, with the layered organza to represent the see through hand - and it's used on the cover because it is so striking. There are many others that are also stunning and creative and help you see things a little differently. If you want to see many, many of the interior images, check out Vartanian's website with her announcement about the book - so good! 

This is marketed as a children's book but I would say it's a middle grade read at least. Each topic has a one page essay about the scientific principle under discussion. Text was written by Keltie Thomas, and it complements the images well. It's thorough but not overwhelming for a younger reader.

Adults will enjoy this as much as younger readers, and might appreciate the skill in the illustrations a little more as well! I hope that reading this will spur interest among readers in both science and in embroidery. I think it's a gorgeous read that shows how well science and art work together to educate and inspire. 

If you're also in Ontario, you can see the original artwork exhibited at the Idea Exchange in Cambridge, on until March 30,. 2025. 

(this review first appeared at Following the Thread)

Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop

 

Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop / Alba Donati
trans. from the Italian by Elena Pala
New York : Scribner, 2023, ©2022.
194 p.

This charming memoir will appeal to booklovers who might also dream of opening a tiny bookshop in the middle of nowhere -- and having it actually become a success! 

Alba Donati worked in the publishing business in Milan, but decided to move back to the tiny Tuscan village of Lucignana (pop. 180) where she was born. She builds a tiny bookshop on a hill, stocking it only with the books she loves. And plenty of lovely additions, like local jams, calendars and literary stockings, too.

The bookshop becomes a success, drawing people from many nearby regions. This book is structured in diary entries, relating everyday events from small to dramatic, like a fire in the shop. Each entry ends with a list of the daily orders, a great way to find out what her customers are reading (and build your own TBR as well!) 

But even though there is a lot of charm just in the descriptions of the bookshop and its gardens, and of course in Donati's talk of all the books and bookish customers involved, there is also deep reflection on Lucignana itself, and all her family ties in the village. There is history, biography, and self-reflection mixed in to this escapist dream, showing that it's not easy, but returning to her home village and creating positive change was worth it. 

We finish up with her after a year of hard work and exponential success, with Donati still making plans for more bookish delights -- new titles, writer events, and growth. If you're a booklover and want to live vicariously through Donati's journey to create this destination bookshop in the hills of Italy, you won't want to miss this one. 

Twenty Two Letters from Ukraine

 

Twenty-Two Letters from Ukraine / Katya Tokar
trans. from the Ukrainian by D.B. Lewis
Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK: Bryn Stowe Publications, c2023.
258 p.

Another unusual pick from me, this time it's non-fiction. This book is a series of letters written by a young Ukrainian woman over the course of the first few months of the full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine starting on February 24, 2022. 

The book is structured in letter format, written from her immediate experience or related slightly later from her journals. It has an immediacy that makes the mundane and everyday issues of war and internal displacement very real to the reader. Tokar shares the experiences of her family - her husband, mother, little sister, and small dog, who all live together, and leave their home in Eastern Ukraine to drive west, along with many others. The life of an internal refugee, trying to find a place to resettle even briefly, sounds very stressful. She's always on apps to try to locate hostels, shelters, etc. for the family to stay. There are a couple of places that they stay in only for a night or two, and a few more that are a few weeks at a stretch. 

Finally they decide that her mother and sister will cross to Poland, and then on to Ireland where they have a relative. But Katya is going to stay in Ukraine with her husband. 

I found it illuminating, the daily struggles of not having a home, job, or purpose. Trying to find safe places to stay, to feed the family, and worrying about money and their car. Not knowing what the future holds at all, or if she will ever be able to go back to being a preschool teacher, or have a permanent home again. The letters end after a year, when she and her husband move to Kyiv, first to stay with a relative and then finally finding their own apartment. 

She talks about her grief at being separated from her mother and sister, and worry about her husband in this precarious situation. It is an individual story, about one person, and this brings the scale of the war down to a very understandable event -- you can feel it. While the style is quite simple, there are some moments in which she talks about memory and having to leave the past behind where the writing is more powerful. This was a powerful read about real life experience, told by someone who isn't a writer but just wants to share the realities of life under war. 

Absolute Zero

Absolute Zero / Artem Chekh
trans. from the Ukrainian by Oksana Lutsyshyna & Olena Jennings
London: Glagoslav, 2020, c2017.
154 p.

This collection of short reflections on Chekh's time in the Ukrainian armed forces is hard to categorize. It's reportage, personal essays, but he is a writer who can capture images and experiences with beautifully composed language, even talking about war, boredom, nationalism, identity and dislocation. The tone of the book is personal but with a kind of distance as he watches what is going on around him and tries to capture it while it is ongoing - he states directly that he has to write it down before it disappears. 

The book is made up of short chapters, each looking at a specific moment or a specific topic. It's based on his diary that he kept while serving during the war in Donbas. There is no discussion of actual combat or violence, rather he focuses on the little moments of his days -- mice in the trenches, going to buy food at the nearby town when off duty, having volunteers bring unnecessary things to the soldiers, seeing the effects of war of his colleagues, even meeting up with his wife during some time off and how strange it felt. He has an eye for the poignant moment, and somehow creates emotion with calm language. It's reserved writing but all the more memorable for it. He captures the feeling of being a soldier, and the day to day banality of wartime. 

I thought this was compelling reading, interesting for the factual elements but readable because of his style and technique, making each day's entry a complete story. Very interesting book and one I'd recommend. 

Unbound

 

Unbound: Ukrainian Canadians Writing Home 
ed. by Lisa Grekul & Lindy Ledohowski
TO: UofT Press, c2016.
168 p.

This month I'll be sharing many of the Ukrainian themed reads I've been examining over the last little while. I'm starting with some books written by the Ukrainian diaspora. This one is a collection of essays about being Ukrainian, and feeling (or not feeling) the connection with the ancestral past, by Canadian women writers. 

The authors included are: 

• Janice Kulyk Keefer
• Elizabeth Bachinsky
• Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
• Marusya Bociurkiw
• Erín Moure
• Daria Salamon
• Myrna Kostash

Each of these shares their experiences investigating their Ukrainian heritage and identity, in their own ways. And this list of authors is a great way to explore further writing by each, so that you may end up with a good handful of both novels and nonfiction to explore. I've read other work by most of these authors, and so was really interested to see what they'd say in this context. 

I found this collection pretty strong, with a lot of fascinating food for thought. I felt very close to the way Janice Kulyk Keefer wrote about growing up with Ukrainian family members, and the sense of lacking essential "Ukrainian-ness" herself, because she didn't speak the language. I found each of the essays had something to ponder, although I was most caught by Kulyk Keefer, Skrypuch and Bociurkiw's writing. I've read quite a bit by each of these authors so perhaps that's why they resonated with me so much. I've also just finished one of Bociurkiw's memoirs, and found similar passages in this book (I'll be sharing that one shortly). 

This is an academic book, so I was fortunate to find it via my library - it's not widely available. I enjoyed it and wondered while I was reading what these authors might have to say now, after Ukraine has seen so much more world awareness over the past two years of war and invasion. I know it's changed my own sense of relationship to my Ukrainian ancestors and identity.  

Very worth reading this one, I recommend it to anyone interested in the Ukrainian Canadian experience, but also the experience of being third or fourth generation immigrants of any kind. It gave me a lot to think over. 

Ukraine - A Spring for the Thirsty

Ukraine: A Spring for the Thirsty / ed. by Arthur Thompson
Dupond, c2022.
252 p.

Ukraine has been on my mind even more as we head up to the 2 year mark of the Russian invasion. I have been looking for some more Ukrainian reading, and came across this collection of interviews with five publishers and four translators, all talking about the actuality of translating work from Ukrainian (mostly to English). I am interested in having more Ukrainian fiction translated, and I am interested in translation itself, so I thought I might like this. I wasn't prepared for how fascinating I found it! 

It covers a lot of ground, although it was published in 2022, so a lot of it was researched and written prior to the full scale invasion, which has changed a lot -- including how many people are now aware of Ukraine. However, there were a few mentions of it in some of the conversations. 

The book interviews four translators - Uilleam Blacker, Mark Andryczyk, Michael M. Naydan, and one of my favourites, Nina Murray. They each talk about how they got into translating Ukrainian literature, and some of their ideas about future projects. There's also discussion of the details of translating, from the actual work to finding publishers for books they'd like to translate. 

The publishers interviewed start with Osnovy Publishing in Kyiv - a long-time publisher of Ukrainian language books and classics & non-fiction. When the current owner took it over from her parents a decade ago, she found that that formula wasn't working, and has moved to kids books, photo books and mainly English language publishing. It's a fascinating discussion of the way the book scene has changed, and what they do to keep Ukrainian literature flowing. 

Then we meet Lost Horse Press, a Seattle based poetry publisher. They have a Contemporary Ukrainian Poetry Series, in which most collections are published in a dual-language format. Their series editor is an academic specializing in Slavic studies, who also does translations from Ukrainian and Russian. This conversation covers a lot about the independent publishing scene in the US and what it's like to publish poetry as a small press. Also about how bigger houses don't want to take as many risks on 'unknown' literatures like Ukrainian. Really interesting overall, and now I have a list of poetry books to read. 

Next up is Glagoslav Publications, which publishes only in digital format (my library has many of their ebooks, which is a great help to me!) They operate from Ukraine, England and the Netherlands, and publish Ukrainian works as well as Russian, Belorusian, Georgian and the like, books from the wider region. They say they prefer classics as many of those have not been shared with the English speaking world, but at the time of the interview, they noted that there isn't the support for Ukrainian translations (ie: grants and government support) as for others like Polish literature. Hopefully that is now changing! This is a long-standing publisher so it was intriguing to see how they develop and what they focus on. 

Then we have Jantar Press, based in the UK and focused on publishing English translations of Central and Eastern European literature. They have one Ukrainian translation that I'm aware of, Andriy Lyubka's Carbide. It's interesting how the same issues come up in every interview - scarcity of translators from Ukrainian, few grants or governmental push to spread Ukrainian literature. 

And finally there is Deep Vellum, based in Dallas, and much better known already than it was just a few years ago. They've published a few excellent Ukrainian books so far, by big names like Serhiy Zhadan and Andriy Kurkov. The interview goes over some of their titles and the translators they've worked with, and also talks about the mechanics of running a small press interested in translations. 

Anyhow, these are not short interviews -- they are all lengthy and interesting and bring up different perspectives and ideas. I was so enthused by the idea of new translations by the end that I certainly hope the translators that were interviewed are getting more work now! 

And one more unmissable bit of this book is the Bibliography at the end. Absolutely invaluable. As they say, there are so few translations from Ukrainian that it is actually possible to make a list of them all -- they do note that their list can't be guaranteed to be comprehensive, but it's pretty close. It lists all Ukrainian fiction that has been translated into English between 1890-2022. There will be a bunch more to add since 2022 and continuing forward, probably more than the last ten years together. But this is a fantastic resource and a great reading list for anyone aiming to read more Ukrainian literature. They also mention the small excerpts of translations that can be found in journals like Apofenie or World Literature Today, or Ukrainian Literature: a Journal of Translations. Great places to check out. 

So you can see from my very wordy review of this book that I found it so good, so thorough, so intriguing. I hope that people interested in translation in general will find this one as it gives such a good look at publishing translations from a less trendy literature. So much to think about, and also a fabulous reading list included to get you started. Highly recommended. 

Education of a Wandering Man

 

Education of a Wandering Man: a Memoir / Louis L'Amour
NY: Bantam, 1990, c1989.
272 p.

Something you might not know about me is that I love reading Westerns. Mostly the newer, modernized Westerns but I do have an abiding fondness for Louis L'Amour. My dad had many of his books in the house when I was growing up, and I started reading them young, enjoying quite a bit about them. Reading them as an adult does change the perspective a bit, but I still like his writing style and his constant refrain of the importance of reading, books, and education. 

I picked up this memoir of sorts a while back, and found it illuminating. There is so much that L'Amour did in his own life which colours his writing. From boxing to freight train hopping, to ranch sitting, travelling the world as a working sailor, a stint in the US army, and more -- so much going on in his life, alongside his writing. By the time he died, with his own ranch, his personal library was 10,000+ volumes large. This book looks at his life story through the lens of education; what he thinks education really is, and how to obtain it. 

He started his writing career with adventure stories, and then when the public appetite for those was dropping, he switched to Westerns, and hit it big with Hondo. He liked to tell stories of men who had character, were adventurous and usually some kind of loner, with places also important in these stories -- you feel like you got to know the landscape in his books. 

This memoir talks about his growing up -- his family, and why he set out on his own quite young, and the thirst for new things that drove him. He shares stories of his experiences as a sailor or as a cattle wrangler or a boxer, all of which sound like something in one of his novels. And he talks about life once he'd settled down a bit later on, with a wife and family of his own. It was compelling reading. 

The one quibble I had was that it was a little bit repetitive. It could probably have been edited down a bit, as some of the same refrains appear in a few different spots throughout the book. But if you know someone interested in Westerns, in L'Amour himself, or in lives that incorporate the unexpected -- with a side of book love -- then this one is a good choice. It's an older book but quite common to find second hand. I found it really interesting putting together his life stories with some of the elements of his novels, and seeing his own voice and character in this book and how it shows up in his fiction. Fascinating!

Some quotes to end with:

“Books are precious things, but more than that, they are the strong backbone of civilization. They are the thread upon which it all hangs, and they can save us when all else is lost.”

“If I were asked what education should give, I would say it should offer breadth of view, ease of understanding, tolerance for others, and a background from which the mind can explore in any direction....  Education should provide the tools for a widening and deepening of life, for increased appreciation of all one sees or experiences. It should equip a person to live life well, to understand what is happening about him, for to live life well one must live with awareness.”

White Book by Han Kang

 

The White Book / Han Kang
translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith
London: Portobello Books, 2018, c2016.
161 p.

I had to get this book via Interlibrary Loan after I saw someone talking about it on their book blog, but I don't remember who mentioned it, I'm sorry! 

In any case, they were correct - this was a beautiful read, poetic and striking. It's made up of short, reflective pieces, quite lyrical, on a range of topics. It explores the colour White, with a list of white things, and well as having this idea shape many of the other sections, as white objects lead to reflections on things in the narrator's past.

The narrator is living in Warsaw on a writer's residency, and wanders the city, thinking of her sister, a baby who had died at birth in tragic circumstances, but whose death made it possible for the narrator to exist. The short chapters build on one another until we have an idea of the full story. 

These reflections are sharp, involving grief over her family history, and death in a broader sense; she visits WWII memorials as she walks the city. The events are softened and blurred, rather like the whiteness of fog, by the introspective meditations of the author. 

The chapters are interspersed with black and white photos in soft focus, often of domestic themes. The first one is of a woman sewing something on her lap. These images evoke the feeling of memoir and veracity of this fictional story. It also feels like the book has shades of Sebbald in the use of photographs, and walking through cities. 

This one has been nominated for and won many prizes, and I can see why. It's a fragmentary, dreamy read that lingers in the mind. The language is poetic and measured, the concepts are deeply resonant and visually rich. Read this if you are looking for a slower paced, meditative journey through personal history, which sheds light on universal concerns. 

The Fight of Our Lives

The Fight of Our Lives / Iuliaa Mendel
trans. by Madeline G. Levine
NY: Atria/One Signal, c2022
208 p.

This is a fantastic read, one that hits the current moment perfectly. It's an engaging read, a mix of general politics, a closer look at Zelenskyy's character, and the author's own life. She combines them to create an informative and easy-to-read political memoir. 

Her story is pretty fascinating - she worked as Zelenskyy's press secretary for two years, after winning a competition for the role. From her inside vantage point, she talks about how Zelenskyy's election was a turning point, a rejection of the Russian focused oligarchs and a loud call for a European government. And she shares the hard work required to change entrenched corrupt practices, including things like hiring the right people, making processes more transparent, and the huge shift in digital access to government services (right now it's easier to access government services online in Ukraine than in most of North America, for example). 

Her own life was disrupted by the war, as her fiancé went to the front lines in the beginning of the invasion. Her view as a young professional woman who was directly involved in the Ukrainian government is fascinating and thorough. She isn't speaking on anyone else's behalf; she is clear about the positives and the flaws involved in such a huge turnaround effort. But you can also feel the respect she has for Zelenskyy's leadership and the care he puts into every interaction.

It's a great read if you're interested in current events and how Zelenskyy came to power, and where the country wants to go. It's also very useful in getting a feel for the realities of Ukrainian life now and in recent decades. I feel that reading this will enlighten and inform anyone who is trying to understand Ukraine more clearly now. And it's also well written, with a narrative that flows and carries you forward. Recommended!

You Don't Know What War Is

You Don't Know What War Is / Yeva Skalietska
NY: Union Square & Co, c2022
128 p.

This is a story of the experience of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine from the viewpoint of a 12 year old girl. Any story told with the bare facts of daily experience, without benefit of hindsight, with a child's clear voice is compelling; this reminds me of Zlata's Diary or even Anne Frank's in some parts. 

Yeva Skalietka had just turned 12 when the conflict started in February of this year. The story begins on her 12th birthday in early February, in Kharkiv where she had lived with her grandmother since she was a young child. A few weeks after this delightful experience, bombs start falling. 

She reveals their first few weeks sheltering in a basement bomb shelter, and then with a friend of her grandmother's farther away from the centre of the attacks. But the attacks keep growing, and eventually they are able to take a train to Western Ukraine, and from there to a refugee centre in Poland. And then, after some effort, they find a way to get to Ireland. They now live in Dublin, where Yeva is attending school and settling in to a new life - the diary ends there and there is a hopeful note to it. 

Throughout, she talks about her schoolfriends from Ukraine; they have a classroom chat and keep in touch, sharing their experiences of bombings and the dangers they see, as well as joking around and keeping one another's spirits up. Their daily lives have suddenly changed utterly, but they try to keep some sense of normalcy among themselves. She also shares her artistic side - she loves painting and creating, and finds that these practices help her manage the anxiety of bombs and explosions. 

It's a straightforward diary, moving from the beginnings of war through all the logistical issues that led to them getting to Ireland, and her own experiences in a safe country. She describes the fractured awareness of life in a safe place while also knowing her friends are still under attack. It's an illuminating read, and one that will be accessible to younger readers as well as adults. Definitely one to look out for. 

Stalking the Atomic City

Stalking the Atomic City / Markiyan Kamysh
trans. from the Ukrainian by Hanna Leliv and Reilly Costigan-Humes
St Peters, MO: Tantor Audio, 2022, c2015.

I shouldn't have liked this one, really -- it's not my thing, a memoir by a disaffected young man who likes to take illegal trips into the Exclusion Zone around Chornobyl to get drunk and wander through abandoned buildings, while avoiding police patrols. 

But I did like it. Markiyan Kamysh's father was one of the men who cleaned up after the Chornobyl disaster, and perhaps that's why he feels drawn to this space. Also, he takes groups through the spaces he knows, acting as a bit of a tour guide for those foreigners who want to explore abandoned places. It's a certain type of younger man who seems to be drawn to these kind of adventures, whether Ukrainian or not. And a lot of his story covers his drinking binges in Chornobyl, or the hours of struggling through hip deep snow to get to a lodging. Hiding from or being spotted by patrols. Finding new locations to scout, drinking directly from contaminated rivers, or burning random items to keep warm in a 'camp'. And he throws in quite a lot of cursing, and some questionable comparisons of inanimate objects to women's anatomy. 

So I'm not entirely sure why I listened to this almost all in one go, and thought it was really interesting. There is a sense of longing and nostalgia for a frozen past, one in which there are no people to mess it up, and no expectations on the resident/observer. And I can understand the fine edge of seeing abandoned places and feeling the haunting sense of the past through them. I feel like this emotional element is perhaps tied to his father's role in the days following the disaster somehow, but rather than be straightforward about the sadness or the emotional ties to this landscape, he uses tough language and a dismissive attitude toward what is really a compulsion to keep returning to the exclusion zone. 

The combination got to me. And I could feel the strong draw of this sense of time stopping, a slowing down of the frantic pace of life -- and a dare to the dangers of radiation, a young person's bravado that bad things won't happen to them. There was just something about this storytelling that I found mesmerizing, and have thought about some scenes often since I finished it. It's a completely personal story, no wider meaning or references to politics or history or patriotism or anything else of the sort. Just a young man returning and returning to a dangerous and mostly abandoned place for reasons he can't quite articulate. And yet, it resonates somehow. 

 

The Ukrainian Night

The Ukrainian Night / Marci Shore
New Haven, CT: Yale UP, c2018.
350 p.

And now for some history reading. I listened to this one as an audiobook (well read by Callie Beaulieu), and I really liked it. Shore is associate professor of history at Yale University and an award-winning author, and her expertise in this part of the world really shows here. This is a thoughtful and sympathetic overview of people who were involved in the Euromaidan uprising in 2014. She interviews and follows up with many participants to get their views of why it happened, how they got involved, and what the aftereffects were and are. 

Of course it was published in 2018 so misses out on the latest events; however, the people she speaks to -- from across Ukraine, both West and East, do talk frankly about the war in the Donbas which started in 2014 and just got bigger this year. The people range from professors to young students, men and women, who all participated in the revolution in different ways. From a young man who was on the frontlines and experienced violence and fear to a woman in Lviv who worked logistics, each has their own reflections on the events. 

I felt that the pace and development of her storytelling was excellent. It laid out the foundations of the story -- the facts of the events and some background -- and continued to build by weaving in the statements from the Ukrainians living the events. She found a good balance of stories as well, they don't all repeat one another but come from differing backgrounds and have varied reasons for why and when they got involved. 

And she follows up with discussions of how people were now living with the war in the Donbas, started by Russia in 2014 shortly after the Euromaidan revolution occurred. It shows a clear line from the revolution to the war of today. And it gives vital background to help understand the lengthy history of Ukraine and why it will never give in to Russia. I was absorbed in this book and learned so much from it, in such a natural and engrossing way. An excellent read.