Want books about Ukraine in English? Here’s some options
July 09 at 17:53 | Kateryna GrushenkoA handful of insiders, however, have discovered free Ukraine to be fertile land – not only for agriculture, but also as a bubbling source for captivating stories. They include experienced Western writers, journalists and simply those who wanted to share their experiences about Ukraine. More and more of their novels are finding their readers.
After a momentous 2004 – in which the democratic Orange Revolution, Vitaly Klitschko world boxing's championship and Eurovision – all put Kyiv in the spotlight, interest in Ukraine picked up.
“Ukraine appeared on the world map,” said Oleksandr Krasovitsky, director-general of Folio, one of the leading Ukrainian publishing houses. “Before that, even professional publishers were confusing Ukrainian Kharkiv with Polish Krakow.” Despite the greater attention, the supply of English-language books about Ukraine is still not large – especially compared to the wealth of translated Russian literature and other books.
But there are books worth carrying with you to the beach this summer, thanks to some enterprising writers whose ideas went from their heads to bookshelves. Some did it for fun. Others are actually earning money and winning acclamation. Others paid for the ventures themselves in hopes of making a small difference in the world.
Below, the Kyiv Post highlights some of the better-known books published in English, with their writers telling why and how they wrote their stories. More books are listed online at www.kyivpost.com.
Roman Mac ‘The Winding Path to Freedom’
The history of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, known as UPA, is controversial. Some Ukrainians and many Russians consider them to be traitors. Many Ukrainians, especially in the western part of the nation, regard the Ukrainians as liberators who put the nation on a path to independence.
Roman Mac, in his book “The Winding Path to Freedom,” gives an insider’s account of the fighters.
Mac joined the movement when he was 12 and served there for four years. He did not write his memoirs until after the Orange Revolution. “In 2004, my son called me from Maidan and said: ‘Dad, listen, they are singing your songs,’ and that’s when I decided to put my memoirs down on paper,” Mac said.
Alongside with history, the book includes unique military tactics that “have not been taught in any university or military academy.” The book was initially written in Ukrainian and published in Ukraine. The third edition was translated into Russian. Later on, Mac wrote an English version of the story and published it himself.
“I have almost repaid my initial investment,” Mac said. Around 1,000 copies have been sold, he said.
Alex Frishberg ‘Steel Barons’
Aimed to entertain the reader and be the “verbal photograph” of Ukrainian society during the turbulent 90s, the semi-autobiographical novel by Alex Frishberg “Steel Barons” tells the story of exotic life of an obscenely wealthy Kyiv nouveau riche on the background of a poverty-stricken majority of the population.
Frishberg’s family emigrated to the United States from Ukraine when he was 11. He came back to Kyiv 17 years later, holding degrees in English and law, and looking for fortune and adventure. His novel is based on the notes he was taking during the 1990s, when he was working as a lawyer in Ukraine.
“Much of the book is true,” Frishberg said. But he had to change the names “so I could live a little longer.”
Frishberg financed the publishing and translation of the book into Russian himself. Around 4,000 copies are sold “thanks largely to the Boryspil Airport’s duty-free shop.” The Russian version seems to sell better. “Considering all the effort, it’s not a big money-maker,” concludes Frishberg.
Marina Lewycka ‘A Short History of Tractors In Ukrainian’
The book is a work of fiction, and tells of the exploits of two feuding sisters trying to save their elderly father from a Ukrainian divorcee, Valentina. It won the Saga Award for Wit, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. It has been translated into 32 languages and sold over a millions copies so far, according to publisher Waterstone’s website.
Lewycka’s first book was rejected 36 times before she finally found a publisher at the age of 58. This is what she said in a 2007 interview with The Guardian newspaper: “It had always been my dream to be a writer, and obviously having your dream come true is fantastic. But there is something a bit terrible about it as well, because once your dream has come true, what else is there? It was your dream and it becomes your job, and then it’s not a dream any more.”
She has written two more books since then, none set in Ukraine.
Mary Mycio ‘Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl’
The 1986 Chornobyl (Ukrainian spelling) nuclear plant disaster, the worst the world has ever seen, received a different angle in the story by Mary Mycio in her book about Chornobyl called “Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl.”
As she travels to the Zone of Alienation that stretches 30 kilometers from where the explosion of the reactor took place 20 years ago, she is amazed to discover the Chornobyl wilderness – radioactive, yet blooming.
“Chornobyl has become Europe’s largest wildlife sanctuary, teeming with large animals and a variety of birds, many of them members of rare and endangered species,” Mycio said. A number of defiant people came back to the zone to survive, some living with highly radioactive elements in their bones and muscles. The book came out several months before Chornobyl’s 20th anniversary, which received a lot of coverage in the Western media. Mycio had the opportunity to share her observations on Chornobyl in numerous interviews.
Mycio paid for her own research and travel expenses, but the book seems to sell well (some 8,000 of copies have been sold in English). It was translated to Ukrainian, Polish and Japanese.
James Watson ‘Fair Game: The Steps of Odesa’
This political thriller, set in challenging and often dangerous Odesa, is aimed at young adults. The story is about Ukraine’s struggle to free itself from Russian hegemony, as well as the personal struggle of a 17-year-old talented soccer player, Natasha Kaltsov, whose career is jeopardized by her father’s revealing journalistic investigations. Watson’s books include childrens’ stories and the number of works of fiction based on real facts, set in Chile and Czechoslovakia.
“Fair Game” is drawn from personal journey and exploration of James Watson. It features Kyiv under snow, the ancient beauty of Lviv and inspiring vistas of the Black Sea. Watson doesn’t yield profits out of his works: “I’ve rarely made money from my books – young adults are not a burgeoning market.”
Askold Krushelnycky ‘An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukrainian History’
“To have a book published was a dream of mine and you can’t place a price tag on a dream,” said Askold Krushelnycky, a British journalist and author of the book, “An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukrainian History.” The book was inspired by the Orange Revolution, seen by many as Ukraine’s 21st century breakthrough to democracy.
Krushelnycky is deeply disappointed by the fact that “the Orange Revolution and its ideals have been left in tatters,” but his story goes deeper than just describing the events of 2004.
“I felt there was an appetite for more information about Ukraine and I wrote my book in an easily-digestible, non-academic fashion to tell the story not only of the Orange Revolution, but provide a history of a nation that most Europeans were surprised to discover was the continent’s largest country.”
Krushelnycky’s book was funded by a publisher and his advance is estimated in “the tens of thousands of dollars.”
“I was a first time author and nobody expected a book about Ukraine to make a lot of money. Therefore, my advance was not huge, but in fact it was pretty good,” said Krushelnycky.
Simon Geissbuhler ‘Jewish Cemeteries of Bucovina’
The dramatic memories of the Jewish Holocaust, history and heritage have found their reflection in Simon Geissbuhler’s book “Jewish Cemeteries of Bucovina.” The inspiration came to Geissbuhler during his journey through Bukovyna in autumn 2008, when he was amazed by the synagogue in Radauti and the unique Jewish cemeteries in Syrets.
“My travel guide contained not one single reference to a synagogue or a Jewish cemetery, so I decided to write my own book,” said Geissbuhler. The author sponsored the book’s translation from German into Romanian, English, French and Ukrainian.
“Many in the West know almost nothing about Ukraine. But, as I have a personal relation to Ukraine – my wife is Ukrainian – and as I have already published a book in German about Ukrainian history, I see it as my goal to “educate” the Western audience about the fascinating country of Ukraine,” said Geissbuhler. He does not plan to make any money from doing so.
Andrew Wilson ‘The Ukrainians: The Unexpected Nation,’ ‘Ukraine’s Orange Revolution,’ ‘Virtual Politics’
Andrew Wilson is not new to writing books about Ukraine. Since his college years, he studied closely the history of Soviet Union and, later on, the ambiguous development of the newly emerged Eastern European countries, particularly Ukraine. “A book about Ukraine was my Ph.D. work,” said Wilson.
His book, “The Ukrainians: The Unexpected Nation,” comes in the third edition of this year and it is one of the most popular books about Ukraine in the West. The book is an outstanding guide to modern identity, politics and history in Ukraine, precious for an understanding of the region’s geopolitics and, especially, uneasy relations with Russia. “I was quoted by Yushchenko when he gave his first speech in Great Britain,” said Wilson proudly.
Wilson wrote a book about the development of the revolution of 2004 (“Ukraine’s Orange Revolution”) and also “Virtual Politics” about the “black art” of organizing electoral success through a number of sophisticated manipulative techniques. His books are written in a lively but academic style, targeting the audience interested in political science and history.
List of English-language books about Ukraine:
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Jonathan Safran Foer. Everything Is Illuminated —Available in Dinternal for Hr102
Marina Lewycka. A Short History of Tractors In Ukrainian —Available in Dinternal for Hr 92
Andrey Kurkov. Penguin Lost—Available in Dinternal for Hr 92
Andrey Kurkov. The President's Last Love—Available in Dinternal for Hr 92
Lily Hyde. Dream Land —Available in Dinternal for Hr 69
Bulgakov, M. White Guard —Available in Dinternal for Hr 92
Nabokov, V. Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited—Available in Bukva for Hr 99.90
V. A. Stuart. Victory at Sebastopol
V. A. Stuart. Hazard of Huntress
David S DuVal. Ukrainian Soul: The Story of the Family Volkoff from Borzna
Sandra Birdsell. Katya
Eve Tal. Double Crossing
Irene Zabytko. The Sky Unwashed
Martin Cruz Smith. Wolves Eat Dogs
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. Hope's War.
Andrey Kurkov. Death and the Penguin
Yuri Andrukhovych. Perverzion
SUSPENSE,CRIME & THRILLER
Boris Starling Vodka—Available in Bukva bookstore for Hr 106,45
Alex Frishberg. The Steel Barons—Available in Bukva and Dinternal bookstores Hr 37, Hr 43.90
James Watson. Fair Game:The Steps of Odessa
Michael Beres. Chernobyl Murders
HISTORY AND POLITOLOGY: UKRAINE
Askold Krushelnycky. An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journey Through Ukrainian History Available in Dinternal for Hr 114
Anna Reid. Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine —Available in Dinternal for Hr 102
Andrew Wilson. Virtual Politics
Andrew Wilson. Ukraine's Orange Revolution
Andrew Wilson. The Ukrainians: The Unexpected Nation
Mary Mycio. Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chornobyl
Roman Mac. The Winding Path to Freedom
Serhy Yekelchyk. Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation
Orest Subtelny. Ukraine: A History
Paul Robert Magocsi. Ukraine: An Illustrated History
Anders Aslund. Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine’s Democratic Breakthrough
Anders Aslund. How Ukraine Became a Market Economy and Democracy
Paul Kubicek. The History of Ukraine (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations)
Leonard Friesen. Rural Revolutions in Southern Ukraine: Peasants, Nobles, and Colonists
Patricia Kennedy Grimsted. Trophies of War and Empire: The Archival Heritage of Ukraine, World War II, and the International Politics of Restitution
Ihor Burakovsky. Ukraine's WTO Accession: Challenge for Domestic Economic Reforms
Serhii Plokhy. Ukraine and Russia: Representations of the Past
Serhii Plokhy. The Cossacks and Religion in Early Modern Ukraine
Tim Smith, Rob Perks , Graham Smith. Ukraine's Forbidden History
Victor Kamenir. The Bloody Triangle: The Defeat of Soviet Armor in the Ukraine, June 1941
JEWISH HERITAGE
Conquest, R. Harvest of Sorrow —Available in Dinternal for Hr 168
Ray Brandon. The Shoah in Ukraine: History, Testimony, Memorialization
Simon Geissbuhler. Jewish Cemeteries of Bucovina
Omer Bartov. Erased: Vanishing Traces of Jewish Galicia in Present-Day Ukraine
Wendy Lower. Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine
COOKING BOOKS
Artyukh, L. Ukrainian Traditional Cuisine Big —Available in Dinternal for Hr 500
Joanne Asala. Ukrainian Recipes
CHILDREN'S FICTION
Maryna, Serhiy Diachenko. Balloon Fish—Available in Ababahalamaha publishing house
Lily Hyde. Riding Icarus —Available in Dinternal for Hr 58
Sophia Us, Ivan Malkovych. A Small Bunny in the Big City or HONEY for MOMMY—Available in Ababahalamaha publishing house for Hr 50
Sirko and Little Straw Bull —Available in Dinternal for Hr 32
Alvin Tresselt. The Mitten
POETRY
Various. In a Different Light—Available in Dinternal for Hr 143
Mark Yakich. The Importance of Peeling Potatoes in Ukraine—Shevchenko, T. Poems
CULTURE, TRAVEL
Vechersky, V. Ukrainian Wooden Architecture —Available in Dinternal for Hr 75
Various. Ukraine Nature, Traditions, Culture —Available in Dinternal for Hr 215
Various. Traditional Ukrainian Clothing —Available in Dinternal for Hr 225
Various. Touring the Crimea —Available in Dinternal for Hr 92
Various. Touring Odessa —Available in Dinternal for Hr 100
Various. Touring Kyiv —Available in Dinternal for Hr 100
Various. Parks of Ukraine —Available in Dinternal for Hr 400
Various. Musical Instruments of Ukrainian People —Available in Dinternal for Hr 75
Various. Motor-car Trip Through Ukraine —Available in Dinternal for Hr 250
Various. Castles and Fortresses of Ukraine —Available in Dinternal for Hr 288
Udovik, S. Kyiv (Cities of Ukraine) hardback —Available in Dinternal for Hr 105
Udovik, S. Ukraine 100 Top Sights —Available in Dinternal for Hr 120
Savchuk, G. Streets of Kiev—Available in Dinternal for Hr 59
Savchuk, G. Ukraine Travel Guide —Available in Dinternal for Hr 120
Lagunova, T. Charming Ukraine —Available in Dinternal for Hr 180
Pryimachenko, M. Maria Pryimachenko. Art album —Available in Dinternal for Hr 255
Various. Churches of Ukraine —Available in Dinternal for Hr 415
Manko, V. Ukrainian Folk Pysanka—Available in Dinternal for Hr 108
Various. Ukraine and Ukrainians: Left-Bank Kyiv Region (—Available in Dinternal for Hr 240
Various. Ukraine on Old Maps —Available in Dinternal for Hr 144
Various. Ukrainian Antiquities in Private Collections —Available in Dinternal for Hr 300
Various. Ukrainian Icon —Available in Dinternal for Hr 420
Various. Cossack Mamay —Available in Dinternal for Hr 340
Various. Kiev Architecture & History —Available in Dinternal for Hr 158—.
Book shops:
Dinternal: 1 Besarabskaia square, shopping mall Metrograd, Global bookstore. Tel: (044) 247-55-18
Bukva: 1 Slavy square, shopping mall Kvadrat. Tel: (044) 531-99-70; 4 Mishugi St., shopping mall Piramida. Tel: (044) 594-91-92
Ababahalamaga: ½ Baseina St, Tel: (044) 234 11 31