A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian : A Novel
by Marina Lewycka
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| published
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2005
by Penguin Press
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| binding
| Paperback |
| isbn
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0-141-02052-0
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| description
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"Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee..."
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"Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee..."
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| date added
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02-07-07
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Read in June, 2005
We have a family friend who smuggled cameras into Soviet Russia. He was a mathemetician or engineer at MIT at the time, something like that, and he and his teachers heard their colleagues in Russia were being blacklisted under Brezhnev, and that being blacklisted meant not working, and that not working meant being on the street, and that being on the street meant being shipped to a labor camp. So under who knows what excuse, these MIT nerds flew to Moscow—multiple times—with American-made ca...more
We have a family friend who smuggled cameras into Soviet Russia. He was a mathemetician or engineer at MIT at the time, something like that, and he and his teachers heard their colleagues in Russia were being blacklisted under Brezhnev, and that being blacklisted meant not working, and that not working meant being on the street, and that being on the street meant being shipped to a labor camp. So under who knows what excuse, these MIT nerds flew to Moscow—multiple times—with American-made cameras around their necks, gave them to Soviet nerds for them to sell on the black market—each camera could be worth a year’s pay—and thus saved their lives.
This family friend is fairly ordinary. He’s quite smart and has travelled a great deal, but his wikipedia entry wouldn’t be any longer than yours or mine. And that’s what makes the bit above, and the two books under review here, stay with me: good stories always seems to come out of a combination of ordinary characters and huge backgrounds.
David Bezmozgis is a Torontan but from Riga, Latvia. That is, the Soviet Union. He has published the story collection Natasha, a debut doubtless to earn comparisons—well here, I’m doing it—to Aleksandar Hemon, another English-as-a-second-language stunner adopted by New Yorker types as both a curiosity and, like, lover almost. But Bezmozgis, like Hemon, is a pretty ordinary guy by any measure other than circumstance. Same goes for the Bermans, the characters at the center of Natasha. They are Russian Jews. The father is a masseur, the mother a housewife. The son, who narrates each story through his advancing ages, loves a pet in one story, an athlete in another, a teenaged girl in a third. But against the background of flight from a killing-empire, against his parents’ and Jews’ memory and hope, and against acclimation to Canadian/American opportunities and demands, the characters’ stories project much grander shapes.
Bezmozgis tells these sorts of stories successfully by exploiting tricks in structure—positioning the small, personal elements next to the transcendent ones. The story “An Animal to the Memory” works well in this respect. Bezmozgis writes it such that a character’s very personalized rage is confronted, story-wise, by his principal’s teaching on the Holocaust. Watching Bezmozgis fit the elements of person and history together and capping them with a last, cathartic line (”Now, Berman, he said, now maybe you understand what it means to be a Jew.”) is the primary thrill of the collection Natasha.
Another immigrant tale is A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, the new debut novel by erstwhile sociologist Marina Lewycka. Different in setting, style, and tone from Natasha, Lewycka’s novel nevertheless ploughs similar turf, namely, how do the ordinary products of extraordinary circumstance deal with ordinary problems? Lewycka’s characters are, like her, of a Ukrainian family living in England and dealing with the challenge of elder care. Nadia is a professor, her sister Vera a hard-edged divorcee, and their widower father a mess. He has fallen in love with a bosomy youngish Ukrainian mother, whom he imports and supports to his own financial and near-physical ruin. Nadia and Vera see the scam but can hardly do anything about it without destroying their father.
Again, a seemingly inward-facing crisis has its sources in big-h History. Their father loves this woman who ruins him almost simply because he can let her, because he can finally be wasteful and self-centered after a life of scrimping and fear and misdirection in Soviet Ukraine. It’s a poor decision on his part, but we understand it, even if his children don’t:
<blockquote>We arrive well before one o’clock, hoping to catch her, but she has already gone out. The house looks neglected, dispirited. When my mother was here there were always fresh flowers, a clean tablecloth, the smell of good cooking. Now there are no flowers, but used cups, piles of papers, books, things that have not been put away.</blockquote>
Nadia chalks up the mess of her father’s life to depression, but only initially. As she learns more, his sins of necessity, of survival against a regime that hardly wanted him, come to the fore, and the story becomes more compelling, if also sadder. Lewycka’s writing, on its own, isn’t terribly engaging, and her insistence on forcing the story-telling entirely into dialogue is a certain weakness, but her ability to place the structure of the common, important issue of caring for one’s parents within the structure of the immigration tale will win her many doting readers.
Our family friend is still ordinary, by the way. He went into business briefly with my stepfather and has started or invested in various companies with varying success. I rather hope the same for Bezmozgis and Lewycka. Unless you’re Joseph Roth or Graham Greene, books of this type are notoriously difficult to follow up, at least not without degrading the endeavour into a pulpy little-man-vs.-the-world formula. I wonder even if we’ll see another book of fiction from the sociologist Lewycka. But Tractors and Bezmozgis’ Natasha, like those cameras, will be gifts that last us long enough....less
Read in June, 2008
When I was in college, I took a fascinating class in sociology. A certain idea I learned really stuck with me, and kept coming back to me as I read this book. The gist of it is this: each child in a family is born into a different family than their siblings were - since the family changes every time someone new joins the family or as circumstances change within the family. This different family that the child is born into will shape and define him/her in a way that is not the same as sibilings b...more
When I was in college, I took a fascinating class in sociology. A certain idea I learned really stuck with me, and kept coming back to me as I read this book. The gist of it is this: each child in a family is born into a different family than their siblings were - since the family changes every time someone new joins the family or as circumstances change within the family. This different family that the child is born into will shape and define him/her in a way that is not the same as sibilings born before or after.
The two sisters Vera and Nadezhda (our narrator) are a classic example of this. Vera was born in war-torn Ukraine, ten years before Nadezhda, while Nedezhda spent most of her early years in stable England. Life was very difficult for their Ukrainian parents - we learn much of their hard history throughout the book as different things come to light for Nadezhda, and she must re-learn what she thinks she knows about her immediate family and why they behave the way they do.
With her mother dead, Nadezhda's family is more than a little dysfunctional - she and her sister aren't on speaking terms, but they have to band together when their elderly father decides to marry a much younger Ukrainian woman, who seems to be marrying for reasons other than love. The story follows the relationship between the father (Nikolai) and Valentina (the younger woman), the sisters' attempts to thwart the marriage as well as their father's process of writing a book on the history of tractors and their relationship with the modern world.
The book grabbed me from the beginning - although parts made me feel in turn sad, mad, and uncomfortable. The things that are humorous in the book often have to do with the limited English and generally foul methods of Valentine or with the parts of men's bodies that fall apart during old age - not something I think about so much. In fact, besides Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, which is of a far more spiritual nature, I think that this may be the first book I've ever read that deals with the issue of aging and caring for the aged and the rights of the elderly.
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is different than any book I've ever read. Nikolai's book about tractors is printed in parts throughout the text and he brings up some very important points about the impact of the tractor in the Ukraine and around the world - and how its misuse and its transformation into war machinery influenced the destiny of the Ukraine. I feel like I have a much greater understanding of the country of Ukraine and its past and current struggles. For those interested in generational issues as well as, especially, those who love world literature and the interactions between cultures, this book is worth reading....less
Read in June, 2008
Alom bejubeld, op de longlist van de prestigieuze Booker Prize, vertaald in minstens 29 talen én de filmrechten zijn reeds de deur uit. Niet verwonderlijk, aangezien het gaat om een aanstekelijke en excentrieke roman die meer te bieden heeft dan de uitzinnig komische toestanden die in de flaptekst opgehemeld worden. Lewycka, zelf van Oekraïnse origine, schreef met A Short History In Ukrainian een immigrantenroman, waarbij de clash tussen het hedendaagse Engeland en het verleden en de gewoontes...more
Alom bejubeld, op de longlist van de prestigieuze Booker Prize, vertaald in minstens 29 talen én de filmrechten zijn reeds de deur uit. Niet verwonderlijk, aangezien het gaat om een aanstekelijke en excentrieke roman die meer te bieden heeft dan de uitzinnig komische toestanden die in de flaptekst opgehemeld worden. Lewycka, zelf van Oekraïnse origine, schreef met A Short History In Ukrainian een immigrantenroman, waarbij de clash tussen het hedendaagse Engeland en het verleden en de gewoontes die de immigranten meedragen, voor de nodige hilariteit en confrontaties zorgen. En eigenlijk is het daardoor ook weer een door en door Britse roman, want wat is er nu meer typisch Engels dan een bord dampende curry? Nadia, een vrouw van in de veertig (en vaag gebaseerd op Lewycka) vertelt hoe haar 84-jarige vader, die na WO2 in Engeland belandde met zijn vrouw en haar oudere zus, niet lang na het overlijden van zijn echtgenote aanpapt met een 36-jarige rondborstige uit het moederland die zich koste wat het kost wil vestigen in een moderne, Westerse maatschappij met all mod cons. De oude vent, voormalig ingenieur en half seniel, wil tegemoet komen aan haar verzuchtigen door een droomhuwelijk en de bijhorende vergunningen, maar natuurlijk blijkt snel dat de heftig gemaquilleerde del vooral uit is op de rijkdom die enkel het Westers kapitalisme haar kan bieden. Om die te behouden is ze bereid om ver te gaan. Het zorgt voor heel wat grappige situatiehumor, waarbij aanvankelijk vooral de high-energy dialogen de show stelen. Maar het is ook meer dan zomaar een komische roman. Doorheen het boek schrijft de oude man ook een geschiedenis van de traktor. Deze passages zijn echter te lang en vaak overbodig en zeker ondergeschikt aan het werkelijke verhaal dat de ruggengraat van het boek vormt, nl. de familiegeschiedenis, hun voorloorlogse leven in armoede, de manier waarop ze WO2 overleefden en hoe ze erna hun leven verderzetten in een vreemd land. Heel erg geslaagd is daarbij de verhouding tussen de twee zussen, de één een vooroorlogs kind dat alle ontberingen aan den lijve ondervond en later uitgroeide tot een cynische kapitaliste, de ander een naooorlogs product dat enkel relatieve welvaart kende, de kans kreeg om te rebelleren en socialistische ideeën aanhangt. De gapende kloof tussen hun opvattingen, en de manier waarop ze naar elkaar groeien uit noodzaak, is het kloppende hart van het boek. Het is ook dit deel dat ervoor zorgt dat de dip die je na tweederde voelt aankomen toch overwonnen kan worden. Uitzinnige dialogen in verkracht Engels blijven immers geen 300 pagina’s boeien, hoe gortig ze ook zijn. (***)
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bookshelves:
fiction
Read in January, 2007
In spite of the title, the book has three story lines:
1. a typical situation. An old gullible widower falls for a sexy young woman who is only interested in his British passport and non-existent wealth.
2. the title of the book. The widower tries to write a book on the subject to pass his time after the death of his wife. He is a retired engineer.
3. the hardship during communism in Ukraine and their escape to the UK. It starts of as the father's justification for saving the young woman fr...more
In spite of the title, the book has three story lines:
1. a typical situation. An old gullible widower falls for a sexy young woman who is only interested in his British passport and non-existent wealth.
2. the title of the book. The widower tries to write a book on the subject to pass his time after the death of his wife. He is a retired engineer.
3. the hardship during communism in Ukraine and their escape to the UK. It starts of as the father's justification for saving the young woman from the clutch of horror but, in the end, it reveals the dark period suffered by their family.
This book starts off hilariously because the focus is mostly on story line number one. The writing style is rather unique because each comment is given a parentheses reflecting the true intention of the protagonist. However, it soon gets tiresome because the situations are exaggerated and unrealistic and repetitive.
Story line number two is almost irrelevant. Excerpts from the book's manuscript are inserted in between stories and even if they are eliminated, I am sure no flow is impacted but the book will be thinner than it already is.
Story line number three is the true essence of the book. Nadya, the youngest daughter and the protagonist, was born in the UK and she doesn't know the 'old country' like her parents and elder sister do. Like any first generation immigration, she clashes with her parents and elder sister as she cannot understand their ways of thinking. When the painfully buried memories are revealed, she begins to understand why they behave the way they do. I also like the peek into the life of immigrants and it confirm my belief that we are all the same: we are excessively afraid of authorities, we try to follow the local custom (and not necessarily the law) to the dot, we are self-conscious, we face racism, we keep to our own community, etc.
The book is rather disappointing because it starts off so well only to plunge to the abyss of boredom in the middle and picks up feebly at the end. I understand that anecdotes are not fun unless exaggerated but, after a while, I couldn't care anymore. Due to the excessive caricatures, wrapping up the stories becomes complicated as evidenced by the unexpected but implausible ending.
I personally think that a little more weight on the immigration issues and a little less on how to save the dirty old man will balance the story nicely. But I guess that's what make this book different from the rest of immigrant tales such as Amy Tan and the likes.
And yes. I was sold by the three quotes on the cover from The Times, Daily Mail, and Daily Telegraph....less
Read in June, 2008
This book sat on my shelf for months before I finally sat down to read it. There was no good reason for my hesitance – the book has glowing reviews and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize – for some reason it just didn’t appeal to me. You know the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? Well I do this, all the time, and I think that was the reason behind my mental block. My mind could not make the link between the words 'history', 'tractors', 'Ukrainian' and the comedy that the bl...more
This book sat on my shelf for months before I finally sat down to read it. There was no good reason for my hesitance – the book has glowing reviews and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize – for some reason it just didn’t appeal to me. You know the phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? Well I do this, all the time, and I think that was the reason behind my mental block. My mind could not make the link between the words 'history', 'tractors', 'Ukrainian' and the comedy that the blurb on the back promised.
I know now that I was wrong. This is a well-written, very funny story about a sad situation and some serious concepts.
Told by the character of Nadezhda, this is the tale of her father’s second marriage to the much-younger Valentina. In the book’s opening words (so much better than mine): 'Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside.’
The author has an ear for the peculiarity of English as a second language and, in the character of Valentina, has created one of the most amusing villains ever. Into this larger-than-life character are poured all sorts of wonderful insults and bare-faced gold-digging that would put this country’s Wags to shame. Nadezhda’s father is well-developed as a character as well, having the stubbornness familiar to old men everywhere, backed with a horrific personal history. He relates his slant on some of his past with his book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, passages of which intersperse the main story.
Sadly, some of the deeper meaning is inevitably lost, falling victim to the comedy situations and emotional development, so that the conclusion is something of an anti-climax. I also felt that the narrator’s character remained something of a mystery to me, despite her revealing her family’s secrets she didn’t really share too much of her own feelings.
But these are minor quibbles with a very high-quality book, which should be recommended to any chick-lit-lovers who think that funny must automatically mean fluffy. This is a book with a heart, soul and funny bone all firmly in place. Although I still think the cover is terrible.
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bookshelves:
2007,
contemporary-fiction,
favourite,
humour
Read in January, 2007
I was so happy to finally get a copy of this book, after coming across it in little Cosmos bookshop in St. Kilda about 2 years ago, even though I couldn't get an edition with the nicer tractor cover. I just find it tacky to print the first two sentences on the front cover, even though it is a catchy beginning.
It was certainly not quite what I was expecting - because it was nominated for the Man Booker Prize last year, I guess I was expecting something a bit heavier, more depressing. But this...more
I was so happy to finally get a copy of this book, after coming across it in little Cosmos bookshop in St. Kilda about 2 years ago, even though I couldn't get an edition with the nicer tractor cover. I just find it tacky to print the first two sentences on the front cover, even though it is a catchy beginning.
It was certainly not quite what I was expecting - because it was nominated for the Man Booker Prize last year, I guess I was expecting something a bit heavier, more depressing. But this book is hilarious. It's heavily ironic, surprisingly dialogue-based, yet so much is revealed in subtle ways.
Nadezhda (Nadia for short) and her Big Sis, Vera, lost their mother two years ago and have been fighting ever since over the will. Now they are brought together by a common goal: to prevent their 84 year old father, Nikolai, from marrying a Ukrainian gold digger with big boobs. Their words, not mine. Nadia's story is interspersed with excerpts from her father's work on tractors (he was an engineer), and the tale of her grandparents, parents, the war and how they came to be in England.
This story is so neatly balanced between the humour and farce of the present "situation" and the scary, desperate past. The past sections are not told in a morbid fashion, though. It's hard to put my finger on what it is exactly, but the narrative has that almost stale taste you acquire when telling a story not your own: Nadia was the Peace baby, Vera the War baby, and Big Sis is very tight-lipped. Nadia has to piece together the past, and Vera's account doesn't always match their father's.
Another thing I loved was the familiarity of the English world: although I have never been, I found great heart in the fact that the text had not been altered for a North American readership. Words like "capsicum" are still there, little golden nuggets to stumble across in the story. (For anyone who doesn't know, capsicum is the "real" word for "pepper", as in, bell pepper. The capsicum family, it is. It's the word we use in Australia, too.)
I loved this book, but I'm having trouble getting past my positive reaction to really understand it. I'm sure there's more to it than what's on the surface....less
Read in November, 2007
I enjoyed reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Marina Lewycka created interesting characters, all part of a uniquely extended family. The family members relate to each other because of circumstances created by an aging parent. There is something for everyone in this charming, well-told story which weaves various themes throughout.
These themes include:
* Accounts of life in Russia and Ukraine from before WWI up to, and including the post WWII era. Of all the themes, I f...more
I enjoyed reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. Marina Lewycka created interesting characters, all part of a uniquely extended family. The family members relate to each other because of circumstances created by an aging parent. There is something for everyone in this charming, well-told story which weaves various themes throughout.
These themes include:
* Accounts of life in Russia and Ukraine from before WWI up to, and including the post WWII era. Of all the themes, I found this the most fascinating.
* Coping with an aging father who can no longer look after himself after his wife passes away. Many of us have been through similar situations, or might have to some day address this situation.
* Sibling rivalry between two sisters who are as different as night and day, but must work together to address the crisis created by their father. How the sisters resolve their differences is a major theme of this work. I can't imagine a family that cannot relate to the differences highlighted in this theme.
* East vs West. The discrepancies between life in England and the emerging, post Cold War Ukraine make possible the plot that drives this novel.
* A hidden (or maybe not so hidden) theme is the hold a voluptuous woman can have over men, making them act as if they were still 14 year-olds. This was an amusing part of the storyline, but I thought a little over-played.
* And of course, the history of tractors thesis authored by the father. This account highlighted the accounts of Russia and Ukraine, and also the East vs. West theme.
Although I enjoyed this book, there was something about the characters that bothered me. I feel that some of the characters could have been more well-rounded, specifically Valentina and the father. I expected to eventually see a side of each of these characters that would win me over. I also felt the sisters, with the characters personified in the novel, would have handled better the situation with their father
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
people who like Eastern European stuff...?
A librarian co-worker recommended this book to me, describing it as funny and quirky. She knows I come from a Polish family and frequently recommends Russian, Polish, and other Eastern European literature. I find it interesting to read as I was not brought up with any sense of E. European culture, and this book made me wonder what I would be like if I had experienced more Polish-ness. The story revolves around two sisters in their fifties who must sit back while their recently-widowed father ...more
A librarian co-worker recommended this book to me, describing it as funny and quirky. She knows I come from a Polish family and frequently recommends Russian, Polish, and other Eastern European literature. I find it interesting to read as I was not brought up with any sense of E. European culture, and this book made me wonder what I would be like if I had experienced more Polish-ness. The story revolves around two sisters in their fifties who must sit back while their recently-widowed father marries a 35-year-old Ukranian gold-digger. Although the sisters are Ukranian as well, they come from a different generation--one inundated with war experiences, rationing, and poverty. This younger woman simply wants to own everything Western and "civilized." Their father had intended to save this woman from Ukranian poverty and communism, but ends up cowering before her demands (she wants money, a Range Rover, and a "civilized" Hoover). He only feels brave and happy while writing his history of tractors. This history, along with one of the sister's memories, provide a brief look into the Ukraine during WWII. It gives the book a sober air, contrasting sharply with the pettiness and humor of the current situation.
My co-worker also described this book as "infelicitous," mostly because it is the author's first novel. While I also found it slightly awkward in places, I thought it was incredibly impressive for a first work. I describe myself as a sci-fi/fantasy geek and rarely read realistic fiction, but I enjoyed A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian....less
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
I found this book very surprising--maybe because I picked it up hoping to indulge my passion for things Russian/Soviet. What I found instead was an interesting study of the battle between the mind and the body as we age. The story centers on the narrator's father, a widower in his eighties, who takes a thirtysomething Ukranian woman for a wife much to the dismay of his daughters. Though this scenario has become something of a cliche in our culture (especially the Russian wife), it takes a sur...more
I found this book very surprising--maybe because I picked it up hoping to indulge my passion for things Russian/Soviet. What I found instead was an interesting study of the battle between the mind and the body as we age. The story centers on the narrator's father, a widower in his eighties, who takes a thirtysomething Ukranian woman for a wife much to the dismay of his daughters. Though this scenario has become something of a cliche in our culture (especially the Russian wife), it takes a surprising turn in the book because it creates empathy for the man whose body has lost its youth and vitality but whose mind is youthful and sharp and desires the same adventure and excitement that any twenty-year-old does. Hence, his desire to take a (relatively) young wife and write the history of tractors at his age. It also seems to contradict the myth that our zest for life diminishes as we get older. Another interesting aspect is the conflict between first generation immigrants and the second generation--one that is never resolved in the book, perhaps because such conflicts are never resolved. One problem I did have was with the dialogue that is supposedly taking place in Russian. I would have preferred that the author simply write it in Russian and use the context to translate for the reader. Instead, all of the dialogue that takes place in Russian, which is a significant amount, sounds like a conversation between English-speaking three-year-olds. At times, the pacing was also too slow though overall the writing is good and the character development is excellent. I especially liked the way the story of the tractors was woven into the story of the family and their suffering in the old country. ...less
Read in January, 2007
This book had so much going for it. First, a quirky title. Second: crazy Ukrainian immigrants. Third: love story involving horny old people. And it managed to fail miserably on all three counts.
Quick summary: Two sisters are estranged because of a mysterious event that happened 40 years ago in the Old Country. But their mother is dead and their father has taken up with a Ukrainian hussy. Also, he is writing a book about tractors. In Ukrainian. Hussy terrorizes father, sisters must get over t...more
This book had so much going for it. First, a quirky title. Second: crazy Ukrainian immigrants. Third: love story involving horny old people. And it managed to fail miserably on all three counts.
Quick summary: Two sisters are estranged because of a mysterious event that happened 40 years ago in the Old Country. But their mother is dead and their father has taken up with a Ukrainian hussy. Also, he is writing a book about tractors. In Ukrainian. Hussy terrorizes father, sisters must get over their past to drive her out of the country. Lessons are learned. The end. Still doesn't sound so bad?
The reason I hated this book (and, in fact, completely forgot about it until recently) is because these are some of the worst characters to ever be described. Both sisters are self-absorbed and vicious, but not even in a humorous way. The father is worthless and completely incapable of helping himself out of situations he got himself into in the first place. The hussy is over the top and obnoxious. So instead of sympathizing with all the characters, you feel like they all deserved what they got, and should just go on being miserable. Only, without you reading about them.
In sum: Horrible, horrible book. Hopefully I can go back to forgetting about it now....less
Read in July, 2008
Not bad for a summer beach or pool read, this book is quirky and funny, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It's about a Ukrainian family that immigrated to England following WWII. Taking place mostly in the present, the elderly patriarch re-marries a much younger Ukrainian girl from the old country who nearly tears his life apart. The author's writing style feels self conscious, especially as she heavily relies on simile and cliche. Several passages are quite awkward to read. This is re...more
Not bad for a summer beach or pool read, this book is quirky and funny, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It's about a Ukrainian family that immigrated to England following WWII. Taking place mostly in the present, the elderly patriarch re-marries a much younger Ukrainian girl from the old country who nearly tears his life apart. The author's writing style feels self conscious, especially as she heavily relies on simile and cliche. Several passages are quite awkward to read. This is really 3 stories in one: the main story of the family, the story of their past and immigration to England via a German work camp, and the history of Ukraine, which doesn't quite fit in. Between the history and geography, it feels somewhat like a lesson or that the author is taking great lengths to teach her readers about her home country, or to just show what she knows in brief passages about the famine, Cossacks and Babi Yar, none of which are relevant to the story. It's too bad she uses inconsistent spellings, sometimes Ukrainian transliterations and sometimes Russian. She also applies Russian stereotypes to the villain, a "New Russian" from Western Ukraine....which seems unlikely. Someone familiar with Ukraine would read it differently from someone to whom these minor details are irrelevant. Overall the book is somewhat fun, if predictable as the old man's daughters work ceaselessly to rid their lives of their new, young stepmonster....less
Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in July, 2008
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka is the story of two sisters, their elderly, recently widowed father, and a Ukrainian emigre woman named Valentina. Historical details about war-torn Ukraine and the development of the tractor are interwoven through the story of how these people come together and eventually separate.
I enjoyed the sparse details explaining the history of post-war Ukraine and wished this part of the book developed further. I did not enjoy the parts of t...more
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka is the story of two sisters, their elderly, recently widowed father, and a Ukrainian emigre woman named Valentina. Historical details about war-torn Ukraine and the development of the tractor are interwoven through the story of how these people come together and eventually separate.
I enjoyed the sparse details explaining the history of post-war Ukraine and wished this part of the book developed further. I did not enjoy the parts of the story describing the abuses Pappa received from many of the other characters in the story.
I enjoyed the growing relationship between sisters Nadezhda and Vera, and the development of a kind of understanding between them. When they are united together against a common purpose, they are able to forge some understanding of each other: first the older sister understands her sister's livelihood as a sociologist, not a social worker, and the younger sister begins to understand the traumas her family had survived. And not only does her family survive, but they go on to raise a family, garden, and go to work every day.
And I enjoyed the truth of a man who had suffered many indignities throughout his life and still had the desire to salute the sun.
In sum, this is the story of a family, each alone with their own lives who, despite it all, come together to toast "the triumph of the human spirit." ...less
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
People who like tractors
I picked up this book because it had rave reviews printed all over the back and inside covers about how hillarious it was. I don't know if i'm missing something but I didn't find this book funny at all. I think it dealt with alot of serious issues, and was quite educational about the history of Ukraine and the perceptions of the west. Maybe there was some black comedy element I was missing, but to me I just didn't find an old man being abused, war and people mispronouncing English words amusing....more
I picked up this book because it had rave reviews printed all over the back and inside covers about how hillarious it was. I don't know if i'm missing something but I didn't find this book funny at all. I think it dealt with alot of serious issues, and was quite educational about the history of Ukraine and the perceptions of the west. Maybe there was some black comedy element I was missing, but to me I just didn't find an old man being abused, war and people mispronouncing English words amusing.
It had an okay pace and style and a collection of interesting themes, but the themes were not developed and the characters were a little two dimensional. I found the nicknames annoying: Big Sis, Bogeynose, Mrs Divorce Expert, Mrs Flog 'em and send 'em home. Okay maybe once this might be funny but constantly using them was just annoying. Names would have been more than sufficient.
Also I think the whole tractor section was irrelevant. I have to admit I skimmed some of the latter ones because the earlier ones had been so boring
I'm not sure if I would read another book by this author. Considering this was a first attempt it was pretty good, but i'd expect a big improvement in a second novel....less
Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
those interested in the Soviet Union and its economics
Part of this is very funny. Part of it is very sad. Another dysfunctional family. But, I learned some things about Russia and the Ukraine.
An eighty year-old man marries a young 30 something woman from the Ukraine. She needs the marriage to stay in England, he needs someone to look after him and he likes her bosoms. His two fifty-something daughters highly object. Conflict. Broken English conversations.
I actually liked this. I remembered the workers on my old house and perhaps gained a be...more
Part of this is very funny. Part of it is very sad. Another dysfunctional family. But, I learned some things about Russia and the Ukraine.
An eighty year-old man marries a young 30 something woman from the Ukraine. She needs the marriage to stay in England, he needs someone to look after him and he likes her bosoms. His two fifty-something daughters highly object. Conflict. Broken English conversations.
I actually liked this. I remembered the workers on my old house and perhaps gained a better understanding of their take on the West and Capitalism. Through the old man's memory of Ukraine's history and agriculture, the horrors of Stalin and the corrupt communist government is told. That's some of the sad stuff.
But a plump, platinum blond 30ish Ukrainian woman calling her 80 year old meal-ticket a "meanie husband with squishy-squashy-flippy-floppy" when he won't buy her a Rolls-Royce on his pension is pretty funny.
Not really, but some of the conversations and parenthetical comments are. What I'm taking away from it? A lot of who we are is a product of the times we are raised in. In this story, know-it-all socialist younger sister learns a lot about her fur coat sporting sister who experienced starvation and Stalin's collectivization. I think we'd all be nicer to each other when we understand the circumstances that shaped us....less
Read in April, 2008
It took me a little while to warm up to this book (even though it's really short). Once I did I started to really enjoy it. The narrator takes you through her complex family dynamics, the aftermath of her mother's death, her family history and immigration from Ukraine to England, pulling themselves out of generations of extreme government induced starvation, and finally to her current relationship with her sister Vera (which means truth) and herself, Nadia (hope), as well as her relationship wit...more
It took me a little while to warm up to this book (even though it's really short). Once I did I started to really enjoy it. The narrator takes you through her complex family dynamics, the aftermath of her mother's death, her family history and immigration from Ukraine to England, pulling themselves out of generations of extreme government induced starvation, and finally to her current relationship with her sister Vera (which means truth) and herself, Nadia (hope), as well as her relationship with her father as he marries a woman less then half his age and takes on the financial responsibility of caring for her and her son. Vera and Nadia are opposites, Vera having been born in the Ukraine and having endured concentration camps and other early childhood struggles, is the tough, anti-nostalgic, upper mobility focused of the two, and Nadia is the UK-born liberal, bleeding heart idealist. They clash, battle over their mother's memories and things. It's complex. Then there's the father's relationship with the gold-digger.. who ends up being very abusive. At times I felt sympathy with her, trying to pull herself out of the rough situation she came from. Most often I hated her and he awful abusive, manipulative ways. The book was filled with powerful images that stayed with me for days. It made me think. I liked it. ...less
Read in March, 2007
recommends it for:
Engineers and those interested in Russian history
This is a book that can be read on a plane ride, short. The story is about the partnership between two estranged sisters who try and prevent the marriage of their 84 year old Ukranian immigrant father from marrying a 36 year old gold digger. The older sister was born in the Ukraine during war time in Russia. The younger is peace time baby born in England. They have a view about life influenced by their respective early years and the socio-political times of their birth. The father was an en...more
This is a book that can be read on a plane ride, short. The story is about the partnership between two estranged sisters who try and prevent the marriage of their 84 year old Ukranian immigrant father from marrying a 36 year old gold digger. The older sister was born in the Ukraine during war time in Russia. The younger is peace time baby born in England. They have a view about life influenced by their respective early years and the socio-political times of their birth. The father was an engineer in the Ukraine and is attempting to write about the influence of tractors as he views life from the concrete perspective of machines and their evolution and not by human emotions.
I found the juxtaposition of the father's concrete writings, past reference to Russian history and the present drama of the gold digger to be an interesting writing technique. It keeps you entertained and yet you have the bigger idea of what war does to human development and relationships to ponder. There's also a male female stereotype operating as the men ignore all relational issues as they work on the task of refurbishing to running condition a dilapidated Rolls Royce....less
bookshelves:
2007,
fiction-literature
Ultimately, a rather disturbing and tragic novel that is superficially about elder abuse, and more abstractly about the legacy of culture-wide trauma. Themes include reconciliation/redemption (of the kind that makes it a contender for Oprah's Book Club), connection and disconnection, stinginess and generosity, optimism and fear, and innocence and cynicism. It nicely illustrates how position in a family influences one's perspective on the family, as well as the oblique ways that family history is...more
Ultimately, a rather disturbing and tragic novel that is superficially about elder abuse, and more abstractly about the legacy of culture-wide trauma. Themes include reconciliation/redemption (of the kind that makes it a contender for Oprah's Book Club), connection and disconnection, stinginess and generosity, optimism and fear, and innocence and cynicism. It nicely illustrates how position in a family influences one's perspective on the family, as well as the oblique ways that family history is conveyed.
At times the narration is too self-conscious and at those points the book reads too much like a horrible Borat/Everything is Illuminated pastiche of goofy fractured English utterances from those wacky foreigners. It's certainly a fine first novel, however, and many sections are very enjoyable to read. The ending is particularly moving.
If I were in high school, I'd go on and on about who or what the tractor of the title represents. Lucky for you, I'm not....less
Read in March, 2008
I picked this book up becuase I heard a review on NPR and thought it sounded funny and I haven't read a funny book for quite a while. It is about a Ukranian immigrant family in London; the daughters are now in their 40s and struggling to care for their aging father, a former professor and Ukrainian war refugee. The father (Nikolai) decides early in the novel to marry a young, big-breasted blonde from the Ukraine and much of the novel centers around the daughers' struggle to save him from being r...more
I picked this book up becuase I heard a review on NPR and thought it sounded funny and I haven't read a funny book for quite a while. It is about a Ukranian immigrant family in London; the daughters are now in their 40s and struggling to care for their aging father, a former professor and Ukrainian war refugee. The father (Nikolai) decides early in the novel to marry a young, big-breasted blonde from the Ukraine and much of the novel centers around the daughers' struggle to save him from being ripped-off and abused by his new wife. The is writing a novel about the history of tractors in the Ukraine, which is really more about the dark history of the Ukraine. The problem I had was the book started out fairly entertaining and funny, but the humor became repetitive and the tractor references, while somewhat interesting, really interrupt and slow the flow of the story. Some of the character's frustrated me, especially Nikolai, who is so blinded by his young wife's breasts he can't see that she is taking advantage of him.
...less
Read in May, 2008
A found this on the library shelf while browsing. I remember having read a review at some point. The author is a Ukranian who's family lives in England. It is a fictional account of a Ukranian family, two sisters and their 84 year old recently widowed eccentric father who decides to remarry a 36 year old Ukranian so she can remain in England. Oh, and she has had breast enlargement which he is guite delited with. This is a humorous narrative that examines the relationships between the two sisters...more
A found this on the library shelf while browsing. I remember having read a review at some point. The author is a Ukranian who's family lives in England. It is a fictional account of a Ukranian family, two sisters and their 84 year old recently widowed eccentric father who decides to remarry a 36 year old Ukranian so she can remain in England. Oh, and she has had breast enlargement which he is guite delited with. This is a humorous narrative that examines the relationships between the two sisters, who are ten years apart and their relationship with their father. One sister was born at the start of world war two and the other was born at the end. They have very different perceptions of their childhood. The family history is discovered over the course of the story as the father writes his "Short History of Tractors" and various family histories are revealed. If you read this book, please let me know if the ending scene was as delightful for you as it was for me!...less
Read in June, 2007
This story covers a lot of family drama, but doesn't get deep enough for me. Everyone has their family troubles, and everyone feels the exhaustion from it all. This book was full of that, but it felt like someone spitting out the whole story (like someone needing to vent) more so than a storyteller trying to give her audience more than just the story. In the end the situation works itself out, but of course there will always be something.
The author does a significant amount of research ...more
This story covers a lot of family drama, but doesn't get deep enough for me. Everyone has their family troubles, and everyone feels the exhaustion from it all. This book was full of that, but it felt like someone spitting out the whole story (like someone needing to vent) more so than a storyteller trying to give her audience more than just the story. In the end the situation works itself out, but of course there will always be something.
The author does a significant amount of research about tractors which she incorporates into the novel; however, those segments didn't do much for me. I felt like I could skim right by them...
On a more positive note, growing up with my Eastern European - American grandmother, etc. I could appreciate the -ski ending to random words as well as the different foods (meat pies, special breads), talking of the old country, and so on that was tied into the story.
An ok read, but nothing phenomenal....less
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating
(all editions):
3.37 (1344 ratings)
avg rating
(this edition): 3.38
(939 ratings)
number of reviews: 331
other editions
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
isbn: 0143036742
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Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, A (Paperback)
isbn: 0141020520
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A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian
isbn:
