Does anyone know of any Ukrainian literature available in English translation? Or of any other good books (other than travel guides) to read in preparation for a visit to Ukraine?
Taras Bulba by N. Gogol, historical drama.
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1197
that's to trivial. dont like this book since we study it at school
OK, what do you recommend, Andrew?
Defining "Ukrainian literature" isn't simple, since what today is Ukraine for centuries belonged to Russia and the Soviet Union, and many Ukrianian-born writers moved to St Petersburg or Moscow and wrote most of their works in Russian. Gogol is perhaps the most famous of them and Taras Bulba, with its Cossack theme, is clearly influenced by his Ukrainian roots. Most famous of his works, however, is "Dead Souls" - considered one of the great Russian classics.
Another great Ukrainian-born Russian writer is Mikhail Bulgakov, whose most famous work is "Master and Margarita".
Another "Ukrainian" book I've recently read and can recommend (apart from the above mentioned) is "Red Cavalry" by Isaac Babel, based on the author's own experiences from the Soviet-Polish war.
If you want something really Ukrainian, you should turn to Taras Shevchenko, considered the father of Ukrainian literature (and the modern Ukrainian language), but he mainly wrote poetry.
Finally, I must recommend visiting Kiev (which I visited for the first time a couple of months ago) - a very beautiful city!
Bravo Mattias, here some names but I would not know if they were translated into English - Ivan Franko, Olga Kobylyankaya, Ivan Kotlyarevskiy, just from the top of my and Stefan's heads
Mattias, are your titles in English translation?
My travel guide says that English translations are hard to find.
Meanwhile I will start with Taras Bulba.
They must be (in English) as I've read a few of them - and highly recommend Master and Margarita and Dead Souls as straight up good literature.
The Master and Margarita has nothing to do with the Ukraine (except that the author was born there) but is certainly worth reading. As a bit of trivia; it was a major inspiration for Salman Rushdie to write Satanic Verses. Bulgakov 's earlier book The White Guard is set in Kiev during the civil war.
Terry, it might be better to stick with Russian depending on where you're going. In many places, even rural, people speak Russian or Russian/Ukrainian mix.
Yes, all what I mentioned can be find in English translations (se e.g. Amazon.com), even some poetry by Taras Shevchenko or Ivan Franko (as Greg mentioned).
As Dmitriy stated, large parts of today's Ukraine is still culturally Russian (especially the eastern parts and the Crimea). Also in Kiev, you hear more Russian than Ukrainian, although most signs are in Ukrainian. Thus, it definitely won't hurt to read some great Russian literature (including the works by Gogol and Bulgakov mentioned above) before going there, either, ;-)
If you are going to try Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" I highly recommend translation by Mirra Ginzburg. Other three translated versions does not deliver the full flavor.
I've just ordered the following from the public library:
Bulgakov, "Master and Margarita", Ginzburg translation
Blugakov, "The White Guard"
Gogol, "Taras Bulba"
Gogol, "Dead Souls"
The Complete Works of Isaac Babel
They don't seem to have anything by Shevchenko.
'A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian' by Marina Lewycka is set in the UK but about a Ukrainian emigree family - very funny.
Even better is 'Death and the Penguin' by Andrey Kurkov - it's set in post Soviet Kiev and captures the spirit of the place pretty well. It's the first in a series of Ukrainian mafiosi black comedies by the same author.
I recently read "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" and did not like it very much. Wouldn't recommend that one although some parts were funny, but we all have different taste...
The only movie by a "Ukrainian" director I can remember that I have seen is the Soviet classic "Ballad of a soldier" by Grigori Chukhrai (love story taking place during WW2, shot in the late 50s), which I can recommend. But again, you can say it's more "Soviet" than "Ukrainian", although it lacks the usual propaganda of most Soviet movies of that time.
By the way, there is a recent TV version of Master and Margarita (480 minutes), which I can highly recommend watching (after reading the book).
Films? I stand ready to be corrected but post-Soviet Ukrainian cinema doesn't seem to have made much of a splash internationally. There's quite a lot from the Soviet period but how helpful it would be for someone planning on visiting the Ukraine in the present is debatable. Some possibilities:
- Earth by Alexander Dovzhenko - chronicles the introduction of the tractor to a rural community and the supposed conflict between richer peasants and the mass of the peasantry. Also the rest of the Dovzhenko oeuvre, much of which is set in the Ukraine.
- Waiting for Gavrilov - a charming film set in Odessa as a woman waits most of a day for her tardy fiance to show up for their wedding.
- various films set in the Ukraine during or shortly before WWII - Ivan's Childhood, Come and See, Goodbye Boys.
- Andrei Rublev - thinking of Ivan's Childhood reminds me that much of this Tarkovsky film was also set in the Ukraine (or at least featured a great many Cossacks, who would have ranged through much of the Ukraine though the core of their historic territory, IIRC, was in present day southern Russia).
- Man with a Movie Camera - the composite city in this montage classic mixes quite a lot of Kyiv and Odessa in with Moscow.
- Ukrainian Rhapsody - a rather over-the-top account of the early career, including WWII, of a fictitious classical singer from a Ukrainian peasant background.
- Intervention by Gennady Poloka - a truly over-the-top, stylized (I attended a screening where the director spoke, accusing Fellini of copying him) account of the foreign intervention in the Crimea after the revolution.
- Larisa Shepitko, definitely born in the Ukraine and with a last name I believe suggests Ukrainian ethnicity, might bear looking up but I only know her by Heat, which is set in Kazakhstan.
- massively irrelevant in every other way, the final scenes of House of Flying Daggers were filmed in a national Park in the Ukraine.
- I can't suggest any titles from memory, not having watched any such worthy documentary fare, but there have been some well regarded documentaries since the Soviet Union broke up about the aftermath of Chernobyl. Perhaps something in that vein would be your best chance at getting some idea of what to expect in present-day Ukraine.
The 2005 film "Everything is Illuminated" deals with an Jewish-American who travels to Ukraine to track down relatives.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404030/
It's directed by Liev Schrieber and stars Elijah Wood as the American and famous Ukrainian roma-rock (am I allowed to called it gypsy-rock?) musician Eugene Hutz of the band Gogol Bordello as his hip-hop obsessed tour guide.
I haven't seen it, but from what I've heard, the film does a great job presenting the image of what happens when Westerners who have a historical idea about Ukraine from reading Gogol travel there, and the reality they face.
I saw "Everything is Illuminated". Not a bad movie - definitely worth watching Yep, Ukraine differ a lot not only from Gogol's one, but also from what it was 15-20 years ago. BTW, I've spent almost all my life in Odessa, but never saw a car like one in the movie. It look like an old American car was brought to Odessa to shoot the movie. However, I saw Hammers with NJ license plates on Primorskiy blvd in Odessa two years ago. I'll see this September if stretch Hammers got there too. Terry, forget about books and movies - they will not help you survive in Ukraine. You should know by now that salty pig's fat with onions and vodka is one of Ukrainian favorites. You should start training right now or you will never make Ukrainian friends. You should be able to read any books on any language later on...
I think Everything is Illuminated was mostly filmed in Czech Republic, and the music is Balkan, not post-Soviet, but apart from the car and some other goofs, it's pretty authentic. Especially in the interplay of cultures/behaviors, the way the oversize Hutz character hovers over the diminutive Mr. Wood, who looks thoroughly uncomfortable with that whole world so exuberantly stomping on the bubble of his personal space. The balloon seems about ready to pop, but never does, and Wood's character carries through the experience with poise and comes back—illuminated.
The way language is used in the movie, the interplay of English/Russian/Ukrainian, is bordering on genius; in particular the Russian vs. Ukraninian subtleties, which of course go without any mention in the subtitles.
I can confirm, Odessa was authentic and language of "Russian' main characters is very close to one used in Odessa these days. I doubt, you will hear this mix in other cities of Ukraine. BTW, there is no way to capture the 'richness' of this language in subtitles...
"..historical idea about Ukraine from reading Gogol travel there, and the reality they face..." - same as try to build modern America image based on Mark Twain novels.
I am ready to eat salty pig's fat with onions and vodka.
I am reading Taras Bulba.
than don't forget about "salo in chocolate"- another Ukrainian treat (salo means salty pig's fat).
also try to watch "Andrei Rublev" by Tarkovski- could get in the local library.
I read 2/3 of Taras Bulba, then went to Wikipedia to get the rest of the story. I didn't find the writing engaging. But I did get the idea that there was this group of people called the Cossacks whose men identified primarily as warriors for Orthodox Christianity, and for whom fighting was the most important activity of life, with drinking vodka a close second. Kind of reminds me of the Muslim extremists of today. For the Cossacks in Taras Bulba, to lose one's life in fighting was not to be avoided. And loyalty to the cause trumped family ties, as seen in how easily Taras killed his own traitorous son.
Now I am reading Master and Margarita. Wonderful writing!
A Friend of the Deceased (1998)
is filmed in modern Kiev.
A good movie. Recommend.
A story
from a british orienteer about his recent visit to kiev
www.britishorienteering.org.uk/Documents/WC_07%20p...
The book "Everything is Illuminated " is _very_ good. I have not watched the movie, but cannot imagine that they would have been able to convey the full interplay of language, culture and surrealism on screen.
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