A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
by Marina Lewycka

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
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Book Summary Information

Author: Marina Lewycka
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-28
ISBN: 0143036742
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Book Reviews of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

Book Review: Both comic and tragic but a delectable slice of life !
Summary: 5 Stars

Marina Lewycka appears to have scored a surprise hit with her debut novel with the unlikely title of "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" (SHOTU). Looking on the surface like some lightweight bit of fluff and not the most obvious choice of titles for the critics' list, SHOTU nevertheless made the Booker longlist last year and is still selling enough copies to remain on Britain's Top 10 bestsellers list. So what's the magic behind this sleeper's staying power ? You've got to read it to get it.

SHOTU proves that award winning books don't have to make heavy reading. A good book makes compelling reading if it succeeds in making an instant connection with the reader and SHOTU does exactly that ! It is comic and at the same time tragic, seemingly contradictory qualities that best describe the complexities of life and the unknowable mysteries of the human condition. Two sisters, Vera and Nadia, opposite in many ways and hostile to one another for reasons anyone growing up in families will be able to understand, put aside their differences to save their foolish ageing father - and their own inheritance - from the grasping hands of a voluptuous gold digger from Ukraine. Can anyone ask for a more realistic premise for a big time domestic shoot-out ?

But what saves SHOTU from the melodrama of your average chick lit is that straightforward as the designs and motives of the grasping Valentina are with regard to her marriage to Nikolai the old professor, it is the moral ambuiguity of the entire situation, including the old man's right to a last stab at feeling alive (however foolish it may seem), the sisters' psychological and material self interests in their united show of loyalty to their deceased mother's memory, not to mention the defence of their own inheritance, etc etc, that continues to intrigue and wrestle with our conscience as we follow the unrelenting attempts of the sisters to inflict the mortal blow on the sham marriage of Valentina to their father.

Issues relating to immigration, the plight of new settlers in a foreign country, the debasement of values and standards of those who have escaped the horrors of tyranny, etc are given a light handed treatment by Lewycka, whose clear and easy writing style is as deceptively simple as it is relevant and true. The history of tractors figures in the story only in so far as it demonstrates man's ability to choose to use technology for either good or evil. Good or bad, life is a bit like that.

Marina Lewycka's prose has a lovely style that makes SHOTU a thoroughly delightful read. It'll make you laugh and cry and set you thinking. Even Valentina - the official villain of the piece - demands a little sympathy. Would we choose or act any differently in her situation ? One of the best reads from the critics' selection last year. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Summary of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

With this wise, tender, and deeply funny novel, Marina Lewycka takes her place alongside Zadie Smith and Monica Ali as a writer who can capture the unchanging verities of family. When an elderly and newly widowed Ukrainian immigrant announces his intention to remarry, his daughters must set aside their longtime feud to thwart him. For their father?s intended is a voluptuous old-country gold digger with a proclivity for green satin underwear and an appetite for the good life of the West. As the hostilities mount and family secrets spill out, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian combines sex, bitchiness, wit, and genuine warmth in its celebration of the pleasure of growing old disgracefully.

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