Literary
![Serhiy Zhadan - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B00J3CMOSM.jpg)
The Orphanage: A Novel (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)
A devastating story of the struggle of civilians caught up in the conflict in eastern Ukraine
Chosen as one of "Six Books to Read for Context on Ukraine" by the New York Times
Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the "20 Best Books of 2021"
"A nightmarish, raw vision of contemporary eastern Ukraine under siege. . . . With a poet's sense of lyricism . . . [Zhadan] unblinkingly reveals a country's devastation and its people's passionate determination to survive."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
If every war needs its master chronicler, Ukraine has Serhiy Zhadan, one of Europe's most promising novelists. Recalling the brutal landscape of The Road and the wartime storytelling of A Farewell to Arms,The Orphanage is a searing novel that excavates the human collateral damage wrought by the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. When hostile soldiers invade a neighboring city, Pasha, a thirty-five-year-old Ukrainian language teacher, sets out for the orphanage where his nephew Sasha lives, now in occupied territory. Venturing into combat zones, traversing shifting borders, and forging uneasy alliances along the way, Pasha realizes where his true loyalties lie in an increasingly desperate fight to rescue Sasha and bring him home.
Written with a raw intensity, this is a deeply personal account of violence that will be remembered as the definitive novel of the war in Ukraine.
Chosen as one of "Six Books to Read for Context on Ukraine" by the New York Times
Selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the "20 Best Books of 2021"
"A nightmarish, raw vision of contemporary eastern Ukraine under siege. . . . With a poet's sense of lyricism . . . [Zhadan] unblinkingly reveals a country's devastation and its people's passionate determination to survive."-Publishers Weekly, starred review
If every war needs its master chronicler, Ukraine has Serhiy Zhadan, one of Europe's most promising novelists. Recalling the brutal landscape of The Road and the wartime storytelling of A Farewell to Arms,The Orphanage is a searing novel that excavates the human collateral damage wrought by the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. When hostile soldiers invade a neighboring city, Pasha, a thirty-five-year-old Ukrainian language teacher, sets out for the orphanage where his nephew Sasha lives, now in occupied territory. Venturing into combat zones, traversing shifting borders, and forging uneasy alliances along the way, Pasha realizes where his true loyalties lie in an increasingly desperate fight to rescue Sasha and bring him home.
Written with a raw intensity, this is a deeply personal account of violence that will be remembered as the definitive novel of the war in Ukraine.
Editorial Reviews
"Brilliantly rendered into English by Reilly Costigan‑Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler, draws on Dante to offer a vivid glimpse of the current inferno in Eastern Ukraine . . . Costigan‑Humes and Stackhouse Wheeler do a masterly job."-Amelia Glaser, Times Literary Supplement
"Zhadan presents a nightmarish, raw vision of contemporary eastern Ukraine under siege from Russian-backed separatists. . . . With a poet's sense of lyricism . . . [Zhadan] unblinkingly reveals a country's devastation and its people's passionate determination to survive."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Zhadan captures the grim war-torn city experience very well . . . In its basis in real-life conditions that are so close to us, in time and place, [The Orphanage] serves well as a solid, all-too-close-for-comfort picture of how quickly societal collapse can ripple through even safe-seeming harbors, a reminder of how near such situations might be, to all of us."-M.A.Orthofer, Complete Review
"Compelling. . . . Zhadan refuses to speak the language of a propagandist: above all, he is interested in how the war has transformed the lives of everyday people-that is, the most innocent and vulnerable in Ukrainian society."-Kate Tsurkan, Asymptote
"[Ukraine] has been embroiled in bloody conflict since 2014. . . . With The Orphanage, this war finds its bard in Serhiy Zhadan, one of Ukraine's most interesting and talented writers."-Michael Idov, Book Post
"Masterfully written, The Orphanage is a powerful testimony to the horrors of war in the everyday life of adults and children alike."-Paula Erizanu, Calvert Journal
"Zhadan presents a nightmarish, raw vision of contemporary eastern Ukraine under siege from Russian-backed separatists. . . . With a poet's sense of lyricism . . . [Zhadan] unblinkingly reveals a country's devastation and its people's passionate determination to survive."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Zhadan captures the grim war-torn city experience very well . . . In its basis in real-life conditions that are so close to us, in time and place, [The Orphanage] serves well as a solid, all-too-close-for-comfort picture of how quickly societal collapse can ripple through even safe-seeming harbors, a reminder of how near such situations might be, to all of us."-M.A.Orthofer, Complete Review
"Compelling. . . . Zhadan refuses to speak the language of a propagandist: above all, he is interested in how the war has transformed the lives of everyday people-that is, the most innocent and vulnerable in Ukrainian society."-Kate Tsurkan, Asymptote
"[Ukraine] has been embroiled in bloody conflict since 2014. . . . With The Orphanage, this war finds its bard in Serhiy Zhadan, one of Ukraine's most interesting and talented writers."-Michael Idov, Book Post
"Masterfully written, The Orphanage is a powerful testimony to the horrors of war in the everyday life of adults and children alike."-Paula Erizanu, Calvert Journal
Readers Top Reviews
Debbie
A wonderful, thought provoking story. It was hard to believe it was translated from Ukrainian! A very smooth translation.
