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67th out of 2,088 books
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3,732 voters
Sliding On The Snow Stone
by
Andy Szpuk (Goodreads Author)
It is astonishing that anyone lived this story. It is even more astonishing that anyone survived it. Stefan grows up in the grip of a raging famine. Stalin’s Five Year Plan brings genocide to Ukraine – millions of people starve to death. To free themselves from the daily terrors of Soviet rule, Stefan and his friends fight imaginary battles in nearby woods to defend their...more
Kindle Edition, 238 pages
Published
September 21st 2011
by Night Publishing
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Apr 21, 2013
H.s. Clark
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
All
Recommended to H.s. by:
My wife
My new blog is a review of "Sliding on the Snow Stone" by Andy Szpuk and can be found at
http://goo.gl/1F7we
It's the story of the Stalin's forced famine and mass starvation of Ukrainians from 1932-1933 and the events surrounding WW2 as told through the eyes of a child. There is a review of the book by my Ukrainian wife, commentary by the author, and a BBC mini-video documentary. The video materiel is quite graphic, and not good for the timid. You can find this book review and all my other blogs a...more
http://goo.gl/1F7we
It's the story of the Stalin's forced famine and mass starvation of Ukrainians from 1932-1933 and the events surrounding WW2 as told through the eyes of a child. There is a review of the book by my Ukrainian wife, commentary by the author, and a BBC mini-video documentary. The video materiel is quite graphic, and not good for the timid. You can find this book review and all my other blogs a...more
I have a great interest in reading about WW-2 times, the lives that were going on behind the war and the horror. This book is a recounting of a man's life in Ukraine during Stalin's genocide and his subsequent journey from the Ukraine with his father, running from both the Nazis and the Russian army, his life in between and the return to his childhood home when he was much older.
I love to see so many other sides of the story. I have read a lot of Holocaust stories and really have an empathy with the Jewish people and all they suffered at the camps in the Nazi Regime. Though I still have that empathy I am expanding my mind into other territories, other lives and other people. The atrocities the Nazi Regime forced on the Jewish people was horrendous yet now I am seeing more and more sides of this war. WWII did not only affect the Jewish people but people from every walk o...more
A stark and moving biography of a Ukrainian who lived through the Holodomor or Ukrainian Holocaust where millions perished as a result of Stalin’s custom-made famine and firing squads.
With amazing detail, Andy Szpuk transcribed the life of his father, born into a catastrophe he could little comprehend and his journey through unimaginable hardship which in many ways depicted the lives of many other fellow Ukrainians of that time. At times sweet, other times heartbreaking, even shocking, Sliding O...more
With amazing detail, Andy Szpuk transcribed the life of his father, born into a catastrophe he could little comprehend and his journey through unimaginable hardship which in many ways depicted the lives of many other fellow Ukrainians of that time. At times sweet, other times heartbreaking, even shocking, Sliding O...more
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I found the first about 60% of this book gripping and hard to put down. The plight of Ukranians under Soviet rule is something we hear little about - especially what happened in the early 1930s. We, here in the privileged and relatively safe 21st century of the West can only read, aghast; living through something like this is beyond our comprehension. Mr Szpuk's experience of the war kept me reading even when I was too tired to do so. One of my very favourite types of book is the historical even...more
A moving and unique biography.
There are lots of books about terrible childhoods, but this one is written with a rather special insight. This account is of course, one step removed from the author, being the biography of his father’s life but I think it is all the more powerful for that. Real, heartfelt emotion needs time to mature and be considered before it is shared, and maybe before we can learn anything.
We follow the life of Stefan from 1932 through that incomprehensible time endured by the...more
There are lots of books about terrible childhoods, but this one is written with a rather special insight. This account is of course, one step removed from the author, being the biography of his father’s life but I think it is all the more powerful for that. Real, heartfelt emotion needs time to mature and be considered before it is shared, and maybe before we can learn anything.
We follow the life of Stefan from 1932 through that incomprehensible time endured by the...more
REVIEW: SLIDING ON THE SNOW STONE
Stefan dreams of the day when Ukraine will be free. His childhood was a difficult one: suffering from extreme hunger at the Soviet imposed famine and then fleeing the Soviets and the Nazis throughout WWII. Before receiving entry into the UK at the end of the war, he had taken a 750 mile trek through harsh geography, in all kinds of weather, foraging for food, and constantly fearing for his safety. He dreams of reuniting with his dear mother of whom he only has me...more
Stefan dreams of the day when Ukraine will be free. His childhood was a difficult one: suffering from extreme hunger at the Soviet imposed famine and then fleeing the Soviets and the Nazis throughout WWII. Before receiving entry into the UK at the end of the war, he had taken a 750 mile trek through harsh geography, in all kinds of weather, foraging for food, and constantly fearing for his safety. He dreams of reuniting with his dear mother of whom he only has me...more
This memoir that begins with the author' father as a 5 year old growing up in the Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union certainly had it's peaks and troughs. At times it was immensely moving as the young boy experienced first the famines and pogroms that had to be endured under extreme Stalinist policy, and then as a teenager, the brutality of Nazi rule as Hitler's armies invaded. However, on other occasions it stretched credulity beyond breaking. A lot of the views expressed by the very young...more
Wow. The horror, the unthinkable images, the anger and exasperation I feel that people have suffered for millennia--and still are--such unutterable persecution at the hands of fellow men fills me with such sorrow. "Vengeance is mine," saith The Lord, "I will repay." That day, Lord, cannot come to soon.
While the sorrow of this testimony makes it difficult to read, we must read it to know...to remember. And not just to remember, but to read to our children and teach them, so that we can do all we...more
While the sorrow of this testimony makes it difficult to read, we must read it to know...to remember. And not just to remember, but to read to our children and teach them, so that we can do all we...more
I knew nothing about the history of the Ukraine before reading this book even though I have a Ukrainian friend (but she's very young) so had no idea if I would like it or not. I did, I found it fascinating and interesting. A frustration but may have been due to reading the kindle version was that there were Ukrainian words used that I didn't know what they meant and couldn't find a glossary although there were tips on how to pronounce at the end. Would heartily recommend and am happy to receive...more
A story about Stefan, told in first person.,
Growing up in a small village in the Ukraine during Soviet occupation and then living under the harsh rule of the Nazi occupation he had never not known both hunger and fear. At 15he and his father escaped to avoid being either forced to join the Army or be shot. This is the story of their their 2000 miles quest looking for freedom. We also see him as an old man with a wife, children, and grandchildren.
Another bit if history during WWII and about some...more
Growing up in a small village in the Ukraine during Soviet occupation and then living under the harsh rule of the Nazi occupation he had never not known both hunger and fear. At 15he and his father escaped to avoid being either forced to join the Army or be shot. This is the story of their their 2000 miles quest looking for freedom. We also see him as an old man with a wife, children, and grandchildren.
Another bit if history during WWII and about some...more
A mesmerizing, heart-wrenching memoir, Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk (@AndySzpuk) tells the story of Stefan Szpuk — the author’s father. Told by Stefan in prose that is simple yet wonderfully descriptive, it is an amazing tale of survival, familial love, courage and perseverance. I’m not ashamed to admit I choked up several times reading Stefan’s tale.
The story begins during Stefan’s childhood in Ukraine during the Holodomor — the horrifying famine created by Stalin’s Soviet Union — wi...more
The story begins during Stefan’s childhood in Ukraine during the Holodomor — the horrifying famine created by Stalin’s Soviet Union — wi...more
This is an interesting book about growing up in the Ukraine during the 30"s and 40"s. Mistreatment by the Soviets, fleeing the Nazis, spending several years after the war in a Displaced Persons camp and finally making his way to England where eventually he finds a wife, a good job and has a family. The author's father returns to the Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union and finds nieces and nephews and discovers the fate of his brother an mother. It is a view of Soviet Life that we don't se...more
[Full disclosure: Andy Szpuk sent me an ebook copy of his book in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m not a person that cries easily anymore, but this book had me in tears verging on hysterical sobs. The only reason I didn’t break down completely at some parts was because there was someone in the room. Had I been reading this while staying up alone in the evening, I would have been a complete mess.
Andy Szpuk wrote his father, Stefan’s, memoirs and I imagine that it was a hard story both to tell a...more
I’m not a person that cries easily anymore, but this book had me in tears verging on hysterical sobs. The only reason I didn’t break down completely at some parts was because there was someone in the room. Had I been reading this while staying up alone in the evening, I would have been a complete mess.
Andy Szpuk wrote his father, Stefan’s, memoirs and I imagine that it was a hard story both to tell a...more
"Sliding on the Snow Stone" is the story Of Mr. Szpuk's father, Stefan. Written mostly in his father's voice, this story takes the reader through the horrors of living in the Ukraine in the 1930's. Stalin's plan to consolidate all of the outlying countries into a unified U.S.S.R. left millions without food or shelter, and in many cases, without their lives . Stefan, recounts many stories growing up in this era. Fighting to survive, strength - resisting the Soviets, and the unbelievable terror o...more
I was left with much to ponder after reading this, a harrowing but beautiful triumph of the human soul. Stefan’s love for Ukraine and family is his steady heart, as brutal forces attempt to wear down his body. At many times chilling, Sliding on the Snow Stone rings with the warm of familial love, and of love for one’s country. I am so glad I read this book, albeit slowly due to the disturbing but honest scenes set during the 1930s-1940s. Highly recommended.
Beautiful book! This author is a born writer. The story was extremely readable and at times was heartbreaking, but also enlightening. I love these types of stories like The Kite Runner which give you an insight into the lives and the cultures of other countries, and the turmoil they often have to go through. Stefan's story is one of tragedy, but the end of chapter 13 gave me chills. Finally some happiness. Will definitely be looking out for more books by Mr Szpuk :)
This is a brilliant story. The author is retelling his father's story with all of us. Born in the Ukraine under Solviet rule, and over coming what what we find unimaginable today. Stefan shows us through his eyes what it was like growing up hungry through the Ukrainian holocaust. And then again the horror of Nazi rule. This is not a regular genera of mine so I found it a little slower of read for me, I had to put it down reflect a bit and take a break, but it was interesting to me non the least....more
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The history is interesting, but I found myself feeling a large generational and cultural gap with the author. He describes things often in poetic prose, which is not a style of writing I enjoy. It's a finish-able book, but just barely.
This book takes you into a sad and unbelievable story of survival. The author is forced to leave his homeland as a young boy with his father during a war they have no desire to be a part of. I enjoyed the descriptive language of the Ukraine, his love for his country, and felt his pain in this well told story.
A very interesting and moving biography about the life of a Ukranian who lived through the horrors of the holodomor where millions perished under Stalin's forced famine and then the cruel reality of the Nazi occupation.
This book was very well written with amazing detail and taught me a lot about about the history of the Ukraine. I would highly recommend this book.
This book was very well written with amazing detail and taught me a lot about about the history of the Ukraine. I would highly recommend this book.
True stories are often the best, and this is one of them. I bought a paperback copy as well, to share with my Ukrainian friend. The book was fascinating reading and helped me to appreciate my friend's heritage.
Here, a son honours his father. In these memoirs of an old man we go on a journey to freedom with one Ukrainian, from the evil of Stalin's terror through the cold brutality of the Nazis. We are taken across the steppes and into the wild Carpathians by a boy who carries two things: his grief, and his longing for a free homeland. It is a story that enters a reader's heart and stays there.
Pretty good, yet a little more lengthy than necessary . Memoir of a Ukrainian boy who's family was persecuted by Stalin and the Soviets then the Nazi's, forced to leave his mother behind, his brother was taken away and he watched his father die. He survived to tell the story at 86 years old.
Enjoyed it, but it seemed off in some ways. I can't put my finger on it. I gave it 3 stars cuz I love this time period and the history of WWII in eastern europe
I loved this book. It's an amazing story simply told but with warmth and humanity. Wonderful. (Thank you for the recommendation Harry Nicholson)
Although not brilliantly written, the story is striking and stays with you. As the true story of one man's rather incredible it is a striking read.
This is a very morose, gloomy book about the dismal state of Ukrainians under Stalin and Hitler during WW 2.
While on one hand this is a real story about the hardships, page after page of misery and disaster becomes intolerable after some time and the reader turns numb.
Not a good book to be read if you want some entertaining read. I don't discredit the author or the writing or the facts narrated in this book but pick it up only if you have an appetite for such a plot.
While on one hand this is a real story about the hardships, page after page of misery and disaster becomes intolerable after some time and the reader turns numb.
Not a good book to be read if you want some entertaining read. I don't discredit the author or the writing or the facts narrated in this book but pick it up only if you have an appetite for such a plot.
An interesting and sometimes moving account of the Ukranian side of the second world war. Really well written.
Very good for non-fiction.
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Novelist and short story writer, based in Nottingham UK.
Recently (2011), Andy's historical memoir, 'Sliding on the Snow Stone' has been published by Night Publishing.
Examples and links to more of Andy's work, and other literature-related activities, can be found at http://andyszpuk.wordpress.com/.
More about Andy Szpuk...
Recently (2011), Andy's historical memoir, 'Sliding on the Snow Stone' has been published by Night Publishing.
Examples and links to more of Andy's work, and other literature-related activities, can be found at http://andyszpuk.wordpress.com/.
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