A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka

It was the title, I’ll admit it. Well, the title coupled with the ‘extremely funny’ verdict from The Times. (It’s even ‘mad and hilarious’, according to the Daily Telegraph, which was actually slightly off-putting since critics never normally use ‘hilarious’ unless they mean ‘fart jokes’.) How could a novel involving a history of tractors in Ukrainian be even mildly entertaining? I’ll admit to having been a little bit intrigued. However, I suspect that this book would have lingered, hopelessly forgotten, somewhere near the bottom of my mental ‘to be read’ list if it hadn’t been for my book ... more

I bet not many of you know Ukrainians living in GB, I do, though, I’ve even been to a Ukrainian-Orthodox wedding in the chapel of a college in Oxford; a friend of ours whose father is Ukrainian got married according to that rite. Among the guests were many elderly people, I remember them singing wonderfully. This memory has lingered in my mind for many years, it surfaced when I read about the book in question which would have attracted my attention anyway, though, because of the odd title - I like odd. It’s not improbable that the author’s parents were at the wedding, first generation ... more

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka. I began reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian following my enjoyment of Two Caravans, by the same author, Marina Lewycka. Two Caravans was Lewycka's second novel, so I probably should have started with the Tractors which she published in 2005 as her first novel, following a writing career whereby she normally wrote non-fiction books regarding care of the elderly. She has several of these published for the charity Age Concern. To recap from my previous review, Marina is descended from the Ukraine, but due to hostilities at ... more

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian doesn't sound like a book that's worth reading, does it? But it's deceptive. It's not written in Ukrainian, it's not a translation from a book written in Ukrainian and it's not really about tractors. The title actually comes from the title of the book one of the characters is writing. Confusing, huh? So, why did I decide to read it? There were several reasons. I remember seeing an interview with the author Marina Lewycka on TV a while ago and she impressed me. The word 'Ukrainian' attracted me as I have been interested in all things Soviet since 1980 ... more

Has the world gone mad? People are actually reading a book entitled "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian". A book about farming machinery in a little known Slavonic language does not sound like a best seller to me. In fact it sounds like something that should be in a specialist university collection. In fact the title is somewhat misleading. The book is the debut novel by Marina Lewycka and is about culture clashes and the eccentricities of family life. Nikolai Mayeevska is a Ukrainian born octogenarian living in Peterborough in the east of England. His warring middle-aged daughters Vera ... more