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Kaharlyk
The novel began on Facebook as a series of bulletins from an alternative reality and is written entirely in blocks of 100 words. Andrei Kurkov, author of 'Death and the Penquin' (Penquin Publications), described it as a 'hologrammatic' novel, 'a series of beautifully crafted puzzles'.
The book is set in Ukraine after a war with Russia. A man has lost his memory because the Russian military have used his brain to control military satellites. He regains conciousness in a mysterious hospital-like building and begins a pilgrimage to find his past. He journeys to Kaharlyk, a town where time has stood still following the testing of an experimental weapon.
The book is an Odyssey as magical as Alice's tumble through the looking glass or Guilliver's first footprints on the sands of Lilliput. Kaharlyk has featured in Index on Censorship, The Guardian and many other publications.
The book is set in Ukraine after a war with Russia. A man has lost his memory because the Russian military have used his brain to control military satellites. He regains conciousness in a mysterious hospital-like building and begins a pilgrimage to find his past. He journeys to Kaharlyk, a town where time has stood still following the testing of an experimental weapon.
The book is an Odyssey as magical as Alice's tumble through the looking glass or Guilliver's first footprints on the sands of Lilliput. Kaharlyk has featured in Index on Censorship, The Guardian and many other publications.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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137 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 4, 2017
If you’re searching for experimental literature that paves its own path, you would be hard-pressed to find a piece more original in voice, style, and story than Oleh Shynkarenko’s Kaharlyk. The author has described his book as a hybrid dystopian genre one might call satirical agro-cyberpunk. Originally published on Facebook in 100-word installments in the 2012–2013 lead-up to the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, Kaharlyk has since been published in print both in Ukrainian and in English translation. Translator Stephen Komarnyckyj explains that in the fantasy world Shynkarenko creates in Kaharlyk, “Russia had conquered Ukraine and now controlled military satellites using human minds copied from living individuals. An experimental weapon was also causing time to run at different speeds across the country” (Shynkarenko and Komarnyckyj 111). As a result, the protagonist, Sahaydachy, loses his memory and searches through the time and space of a fragmented Ukraine both for his lost memory and his lost lover (Serbin).
Shynkarenko’s novel is critical both of Ukrainian local government and of Russian involvement in Ukrainian affairs. For example, readers encounter propaganda, “I read in the newspapers that the Russian army in Ukraine is not an occupier. Is it true?” (Shynkarenko Kaharlyk 6600) Military action is criticized, “Sergeant, for example, could mean someone who legally does that which they have no right to do” (7500), and Vladimir Putin himself is satirized. Putin’s consciousness has been downloaded to multiple devices called morphones. An old lady, herself long dead and downloaded to a morphone, purchased a cheap copy of Putin when she was still alive, unable to understand the difference between a cheap copy, which she could afford, and an expensive copy, which she had no access to. She then explains that “Putin woke me every morning and told me what I needed to do each day” (9800).
For those unfamiliar with the Ukrainian Revolution, the translator includes a useful glossary in the back of the book. The original Facebook publication of Kaharlyk functions as a multimedia, interactive experience, where users have the opportunity to interact with the author and hear the soundscapes of the future setting in the novel (such as strange, orthodox cyborg movements and digital wind). For an enhanced reading experience, these files are available in the original Facebook publication in Ukrainian, and you can easily match them to the same sections in the English translation by way of the author’s paragraph numbering system.
Kaharlyk is an experimental trip that is not to be missed.
References:
Serbin, Bret Anne. "'A Very Funny Nightmare:' a Q&a with Oleh Shynkarenko". 2016. Sampsonia Way. Ed. Duarte, Silvia. City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. February 25 2017. .
Shynkarenko, Oleh. Kaharlyk. Trans. Komarnyckyj, Stephen: Kalyna Language Press Limited : [distributor] Kalyna Language Press Limited, 2016. Print.
Shynkarenko, Oleh, and Stephen Komarnyckyj. "Posting into the Future: How Facebook Updates During the Maidan Square Protests in Ukraine Were Turned into a Futuristic Novel." Index on Censorship 45.2 (2016): 111-18. Print.
Shynkarenko’s novel is critical both of Ukrainian local government and of Russian involvement in Ukrainian affairs. For example, readers encounter propaganda, “I read in the newspapers that the Russian army in Ukraine is not an occupier. Is it true?” (Shynkarenko Kaharlyk 6600) Military action is criticized, “Sergeant, for example, could mean someone who legally does that which they have no right to do” (7500), and Vladimir Putin himself is satirized. Putin’s consciousness has been downloaded to multiple devices called morphones. An old lady, herself long dead and downloaded to a morphone, purchased a cheap copy of Putin when she was still alive, unable to understand the difference between a cheap copy, which she could afford, and an expensive copy, which she had no access to. She then explains that “Putin woke me every morning and told me what I needed to do each day” (9800).
For those unfamiliar with the Ukrainian Revolution, the translator includes a useful glossary in the back of the book. The original Facebook publication of Kaharlyk functions as a multimedia, interactive experience, where users have the opportunity to interact with the author and hear the soundscapes of the future setting in the novel (such as strange, orthodox cyborg movements and digital wind). For an enhanced reading experience, these files are available in the original Facebook publication in Ukrainian, and you can easily match them to the same sections in the English translation by way of the author’s paragraph numbering system.
Kaharlyk is an experimental trip that is not to be missed.
References:
Serbin, Bret Anne. "'A Very Funny Nightmare:' a Q&a with Oleh Shynkarenko". 2016. Sampsonia Way. Ed. Duarte, Silvia. City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. February 25 2017. .
Shynkarenko, Oleh. Kaharlyk. Trans. Komarnyckyj, Stephen: Kalyna Language Press Limited : [distributor] Kalyna Language Press Limited, 2016. Print.
Shynkarenko, Oleh, and Stephen Komarnyckyj. "Posting into the Future: How Facebook Updates During the Maidan Square Protests in Ukraine Were Turned into a Futuristic Novel." Index on Censorship 45.2 (2016): 111-18. Print.
April 25, 2022
Given everything going on in the Ukraine, I wanted my sci-fi/fantasy book club to read something by a Ukrainian author. And bonus, there had already been an interest in reading a book in translation. After scouring Book Riot and Google for some Ukrainian sci-fi/fantasy books in translation, which turned up about a half a dozen books translated into English, most of which were written within the last 20 years, Kaharlyk quickly became my front-runner option to suggest to book club. It was maybe a little less well known than Vita Nostra, but it was not only written by a Ukrainian, it was also written in Ukrainian originally (oftentimes, the books I found were originally written in Russian). By a coin-toss, Kaharlyk became our April book.
First off, if you’re going to read this, know that there is a very helpful glossary at the very end of the book. Secondly, do read the introductions, especially if you have very little understanding of Russo-Ukrainian politics and cultures (as I admit to). Without the introductions at least, I would have been even more lost throughout the book. While it is clear which characters are speaking in each 100-word snippet – making this practically a prose-style extended poem – trying to capture the experimental nature of the text results in doing some mental acrobatics. This is by no means a reprobation, rather, it is an observation of how this text really kept my mind in it. It all but required I find a certain mindset to have while reading, and it was very much one of those books where I only “understood” it while I was reading it. The moment I put it down, the understanding I had pieced together while reading frayed and slipped out of my grasp until next I picked it up. We’ll see if book club helps enlighten anything more about this book.
I do wish there to be a fully annotated scholarly edition of this with explanations of the cultural and political references (and more) so I could have a chance at better understanding this on the level it deserves to be understood. It is quite a trip, with a fluidity to the “reality” it portrays, with doubts as to the reliability of the different, yet similar, narrators. I can see revisiting this in the future. It also makes me wish we had more niche literature in translation available. (Not just general fiction or thrillers, as seem to be the most popular genres to get translated.)
Quotes:
'The individual is the sum of chance memories and typical reactions.' - 7400
The lack of truthful knowledge is significantly preferable to possessing false knowledge. It compels one towards independent research and deciding for oneself whether to refrain from acquiring uncomfortable knowledge or arrogantly simulating its possession before the uninformed. - 8900
'Language always corrupts our goals, so we reiterate, explaining one and the same thing in different words, often not sending that others don't understand us. But words are a necessary obstacle.' - 13 400
First off, if you’re going to read this, know that there is a very helpful glossary at the very end of the book. Secondly, do read the introductions, especially if you have very little understanding of Russo-Ukrainian politics and cultures (as I admit to). Without the introductions at least, I would have been even more lost throughout the book. While it is clear which characters are speaking in each 100-word snippet – making this practically a prose-style extended poem – trying to capture the experimental nature of the text results in doing some mental acrobatics. This is by no means a reprobation, rather, it is an observation of how this text really kept my mind in it. It all but required I find a certain mindset to have while reading, and it was very much one of those books where I only “understood” it while I was reading it. The moment I put it down, the understanding I had pieced together while reading frayed and slipped out of my grasp until next I picked it up. We’ll see if book club helps enlighten anything more about this book.
I do wish there to be a fully annotated scholarly edition of this with explanations of the cultural and political references (and more) so I could have a chance at better understanding this on the level it deserves to be understood. It is quite a trip, with a fluidity to the “reality” it portrays, with doubts as to the reliability of the different, yet similar, narrators. I can see revisiting this in the future. It also makes me wish we had more niche literature in translation available. (Not just general fiction or thrillers, as seem to be the most popular genres to get translated.)
Quotes:
'The individual is the sum of chance memories and typical reactions.' - 7400
The lack of truthful knowledge is significantly preferable to possessing false knowledge. It compels one towards independent research and deciding for oneself whether to refrain from acquiring uncomfortable knowledge or arrogantly simulating its possession before the uninformed. - 8900
'Language always corrupts our goals, so we reiterate, explaining one and the same thing in different words, often not sending that others don't understand us. But words are a necessary obstacle.' - 13 400
April 17, 2022
A satirical experimental science fiction novel. 🇺🇦
"Truth doesn't exist. There are only versions which help with acquiring an approximate conception. I understand that it's hard for you to accept this, but trust me, there are less congenial ways of understanding things."
Oleksander wakes with a fragmented memory. He sets out to find his wife, journeying acros war-torn Ukraine to Kaharlyk, a place where time itself is fractured. On his journey he discovers his mind has been copied and he is both himself, and the guidance computer of Russian military satellites. He befriends a digitized Russian jihadist, a priest (who believes God is hiding on Earth and refuses to guide man any longer), and a man who helped terrafirm Mars. He also speaks with the dead, and encounters a giant mole created by Russian experimentation.
The narrative is written in 100 word chunks and fragmented as Oleksander's memory, or it seems, anyone's memory in this devastated place. It is a story of lost identity (or sense of unique self), continuous war, distrust if reality, and the futiliy and meaninglessness of actions/beliefs.
Originally the story was published as a facebook page during the Maidan square protests in order to avoid censorship. It was created in 100 word posts, accompanied by multimedia such as sounds, music, and visuals. It is meant to explore a world in which Russia conquered Ukraine.
"Truth doesn't exist. There are only versions which help with acquiring an approximate conception. I understand that it's hard for you to accept this, but trust me, there are less congenial ways of understanding things."
Oleksander wakes with a fragmented memory. He sets out to find his wife, journeying acros war-torn Ukraine to Kaharlyk, a place where time itself is fractured. On his journey he discovers his mind has been copied and he is both himself, and the guidance computer of Russian military satellites. He befriends a digitized Russian jihadist, a priest (who believes God is hiding on Earth and refuses to guide man any longer), and a man who helped terrafirm Mars. He also speaks with the dead, and encounters a giant mole created by Russian experimentation.
The narrative is written in 100 word chunks and fragmented as Oleksander's memory, or it seems, anyone's memory in this devastated place. It is a story of lost identity (or sense of unique self), continuous war, distrust if reality, and the futiliy and meaninglessness of actions/beliefs.
Originally the story was published as a facebook page during the Maidan square protests in order to avoid censorship. It was created in 100 word posts, accompanied by multimedia such as sounds, music, and visuals. It is meant to explore a world in which Russia conquered Ukraine.
January 18, 2020
I really enjoyed this. I had only the vaguest idea of what was actually going on, but sometimes those books end up being the most interesting. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews