I need to check what 'gratuitous' means, sometimes your style is a bit too lofty and/complex for me to understand. ))
I know Kurkov's family well,- has worked with his British wife Liz for over 20 years. Yes, he is the best known Ukr.writer abroad, his books sold well in Germany, Austria, UK etc.
Tried to read his books, but could never get past the first few pages. ((. To me they didn't appear interesting or talented, and I was curious what the West sees in them.
Then one day I saw the English translation of one of the books ,and understood. His publishers abroad find really great translators who make his book into more vivid and captivating reading than it actually is.. Plus his style (post-Soviet postmodern) appeals to a western reader.
Books aside, his articles on Ukraine are often good, and he is the only Ukrainian writer who tells a foreign reader about Ukraine , tours many countries with lectures .
gratuitous means overly negative for no good reason. i asked myself why and recalled "ukraine diaries: dispatches from kiev," in which he shared (invented?) observations i had no knowledge of. snipers shooting at nurses comes to mind. for what it's worth, i'm not a big fan of the work of belarusian journalist alexievich, either, even though she's a lovely person with interesting insights. it could just be that i'm not fond of polyphonic writings, monuments to suffering in our time. if i were to bump into andrey walking around kyiv i would definitely say hello and ask about the nurses. as for bulgakov and zabuzhko, i give up, without a fight. everyone is entitled to their own opinion. maybe it's just a matter of taste?
hi, masha. it's indeed gratuitous of me to lump kurkov in to the sweet, volker, gessen, aslund, nahaylo, etc category. it's probably because i'm just not a fan -- and he's ukraine's most favvy writer, according to luke and the bbc. dunno. maybe i would be less critical if his columns about draft dodging appeared in the ukrainian press, maybe not. i still remember perusing his ukraine diaries nine years ago and feeling sick
I like Kurkov's article that he wrote amidst recent vilification of Bulgakov. Link here:
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/mikhail-bulgakov-friend-or-foe-andrey-kurkov/
I need to check what 'gratuitous' means, sometimes your style is a bit too lofty and/complex for me to understand. ))
I know Kurkov's family well,- has worked with his British wife Liz for over 20 years. Yes, he is the best known Ukr.writer abroad, his books sold well in Germany, Austria, UK etc.
Tried to read his books, but could never get past the first few pages. ((. To me they didn't appear interesting or talented, and I was curious what the West sees in them.
Then one day I saw the English translation of one of the books ,and understood. His publishers abroad find really great translators who make his book into more vivid and captivating reading than it actually is.. Plus his style (post-Soviet postmodern) appeals to a western reader.
Books aside, his articles on Ukraine are often good, and he is the only Ukrainian writer who tells a foreign reader about Ukraine , tours many countries with lectures .
And what was that Maidan diary? Very one-sided?
hi, mariyka,
gratuitous means overly negative for no good reason. i asked myself why and recalled "ukraine diaries: dispatches from kiev," in which he shared (invented?) observations i had no knowledge of. snipers shooting at nurses comes to mind. for what it's worth, i'm not a big fan of the work of belarusian journalist alexievich, either, even though she's a lovely person with interesting insights. it could just be that i'm not fond of polyphonic writings, monuments to suffering in our time. if i were to bump into andrey walking around kyiv i would definitely say hello and ask about the nurses. as for bulgakov and zabuzhko, i give up, without a fight. everyone is entitled to their own opinion. maybe it's just a matter of taste?
Hi Peter, could you pls explain why you think Kurkov writes 'a self-serving crap.'?
Masha.
hi, masha. it's indeed gratuitous of me to lump kurkov in to the sweet, volker, gessen, aslund, nahaylo, etc category. it's probably because i'm just not a fan -- and he's ukraine's most favvy writer, according to luke and the bbc. dunno. maybe i would be less critical if his columns about draft dodging appeared in the ukrainian press, maybe not. i still remember perusing his ukraine diaries nine years ago and feeling sick
i just checked. yeah, it was andrey's chronicle of events in early 2014 that put me off. i didn't dwell on it at the time. it's a good story, but fictionalized https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/06/ukraine-crisis-russia-andrey-kurkov