From Publishers Weekly
Halfway through this tome, Pavlychko, along with the reader, wearies of her tediously detailed reports of debates in the Ukrainian Rada over the momentous issue of whether to ratify union with the U.S.S.R. Only when she turns her attention to the apathetic Kievans amidst the chaos of political polarization does this collection of her correspondence with Krawchenko, whom she met while in Canada as a visiting professor, gain interest for general readers and Pavlychko's character emerge. The period covered extends between May 12, 1990, and March 25, 1991, when future governance was still undecided. (Ukraine declared independence in November 1991.) About Pavlychko, who is a research associate at the Ukrainian Academy of Science, we learn that she has recently resigned from the Communist Party, that she no longer receives the "generous" honoraria for literary translations that provided her with income to shop in the private sector, that her father is an opposition member of Rada, that she is a budding feminist and has a toddler daughter--of her husband there is no mention, just that his mother is a harpy. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The author, who works as a literary translator at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, witnessed the collapse of Soviet power in Ukraine and the events leading up to the republic's declaration of independence in 1990. These letters, written to a colleague in Canada, cover the period from May 12, 1990, to March 25, 1991. As the daughter of an MP, Pavlychko had access to the sessions of Parliament and to the behind-the-scenes events there. She also participated in street demonstrations, all the while trying to work and at night composing these frequent letters to the outside. Their vivid style captures the drama of a world turning upside down. Requiring too much detailed knowledge about the region to be appropriate for the general reader, this volume will be of interest to Ukrainian collections.
- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
