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    A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
    Unavailable
    A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
    Unavailable
    A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
    Ebook177 pages1 hour

    A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

    By Marina Lewycka

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A LOVESICK GRANDFATHER. TWO DAUGHTERS AT WAR. A MUST-SEE MODERN FAMILY DRAMA.

    Nikolai, an 86 year old retired Ukrainian engineer and tractor historian, has fallen in love with 36 year old Valentina and he’s determined to marry her and become a father again!

    His daughters, Vera and Nadezhda, who haven’t spoken since the death of their mother, are totally unprepared for the grenade that’s about to explode into their lives. The sisters unite in horror to defend their father and what remains of his pension.

    But is Valentina a refugee searching for better opportunities, or a bogus visa seeker trying to cheat a vulnerable old man?

    As Valentina’s dreams of Western prosperity begin to shatter, things take a darker turn. Nadezhda and her shaken family must face the ghosts of their past, confront their heritage and rediscover relationships.

    Marina Lewycka’s million-copy bestselling novel won The Bollinger Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction and the Waverton Good Read Award, and was shortlisted for The Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOberon Books
    Release dateSep 28, 2017
    ISBN9781786823373
    Unavailable
    A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
    Author

    Marina Lewycka

    Marina Lewycka was born of Ukrainian parents in a refugee camp at the end of World War II and grew up in England. In the course of researching her family roots for this novel, she uncovered no fewer than three long-lost relatives.

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    Reviews for A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

    3.5/5

    1,743 ratings138 reviews

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    • 3/5
      About immigration & the knock-on effect the World Wars had on people in the East even up to this day, but told in a light, funny story. I enjoyed it a lot, although I suspect I missed some of the point of the sub-plot of the titular work. It was a nice, easy read but not a dumbed down read. It deserves all the attention its been getting lately.
    • 4/5
      A solid, well-written book. Brought back for me the proxy feel of being an immigrant from the ice box days of living with my grandparents. Multidimensional characters and portrayals of the good and bad old days of the uprooted, as seen from the acquisitive present in quasi-rural England. Also, in conversation and excerpts, an informative history of tractors.
    • 3/5
      fun to read
    • 3/5
      Rabck from House-elfdobby, 1001 book. Quirky, british-centric book. As an american reader, I tripped over some of the british idioms & needed a dictionary on hand to know what some of the things were. Base of the book is a gold-digging Ukrainian 30 something tart, who gets her claws into a retired doddering widowed lonely Ukrainian/British engineer. Enter her family and friends, his daughters and the author sets up comedy, painting over top of the atrocities from Pappy's younger years, including things that the older daughter experienced & the family never talks about. In the end, you feel sorry for the gold-digger, and are sobered by the resiliency of the whole family, who suffered before and during WWII. How did they survive intact?
    • 2/5
      In my eyes a pointless book. Neither entertaining nor enlightening. I have to ask "What's the point?". It says it is funny but I didn't find many funny situations in this book. It was annoying to read about the obvious, how the main character's dad gets drawn into a scam by the Ukrainian lady. All too predictable, no surprise at all. And the author has this "tick" to get lost in endless lists. She describes i.e. over half a page the content of a fridge by listing food after food after food. I usually jumped to the end of the paragraph. Annoying.
    • 3/5
      When their widowed elderly father decides to remarry a valuptuous younger women trying to get her papers to live in England, two estranged sisters band together to protect their father from this gold-digger. Has emotionally poignant and very amusing moments, as well as containing a short history of tractors. It was captivating for a once through read, but probably would not do a reread.
    • 3/5
      Well, I guess I didn't find it THAT funny, or witty, or interesting.
    • 4/5
      This one is worth reading for the writing! This is an odd duck of a book. The plot....well...two sisters try to protect their frail, elderly father from a Ukrainian fortune hunter with large breasts. The characters......very believable. The writing.....absolutely marvelous! Marina Lewycka is incredibly funny. I laughed out loud several times. At other times I was appalled. At other times I was deeply saddened.
    • 3/5
      In a well-drawn situation with colourfully created characters, the humour carries through with some real social bite. The novel, however, seems to strain to reach its conclusion long after the fruit of the story has given its best juice.
    • 4/5
      A widower in his golden years, adjusting to his life alone, by sponsoring a young woman to move to the UK, and marry him. His adult children find this appalling, perplexing, and threatening. This is a story of a family going through a big change, and there were some familiar aspects, and some wild ones, I enjoyed the story, though it was a little slow in places. I'm confused by some of the reviews who say they love it, or like it, and yet they rated it one star. It's fun, not at all what I was expecting, but I think it should be rated better.
    • 4/5
      If you've heard that this book has been nominated for all sorts of prizes you might be expecting something different; but if I tell you it reminds me of Anne Tyler or Joanna Harris you might not be disappointed and might even be a little surprised at the steel edge under this tragi-comic family story.
    • 4/5
      This book is funny indeed, even though it has sad parts; also many are infuriating. All in all it's a good, easy and enjoyable read. It's the story of two sisters born in Ukrainia but brought to England very young by their parents right after the war. And it's the story of their father, an 85 year old Ukrainian airplane engineer who worked on a tractor factory in Ukrainia. The story begins with the father,Nikolai, announcing to one of the daughters, Nadya, that he is getting married. His wife of 60 years had just died two years before, and the bride is none other than a 34 year old Ukrainian, who is married with a son, and wants to get married to Nikolai so she can get a British passport. From this point, the story hinges on the two sisters, who incidentally have been fighting between themselves all these years, trying to first stop their father from getting married and, after the wedding, trying to get him separated from the wife Valentina. They succeed in the end, after many funny incidents where many other interesting and shady characters intervene. Interspersed in the novel are many paragraphs of the history of tractors that Nikolai is writing, in Ukrainian. So, if nothing else, the person who reads this book learns a little about tractors, John Deere, Ferguson, and other tractors that were prominent in Europe during the first half of the 20th century.
    • 2/5
      This book explained too much when no explanation was necessary, and explained too little when there was much that should have been said. There were also chronological issues throughout-- it went back and forth in time, but in a way that made the novel seem haphazardly-organized. I understand that going from present to the family's past is an integral part of the novel, but it was done so abruptly that I couldn't appreciate it, and there didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to when it sprung up in the context of the present-day setting. I had been looking forward to reading it for some time, it being recommended to me based on supposed similarities with my favorite book, but unfortunately it did not live up to its expectations. It was, however, humorous at times.
    • 3/5
      Not a great literary work, however a fun, if not at times, a rather disturbingly dark read.
    • 4/5
      Well, this if for sure not the kind of book I normally read. But I must say that I liked it. Some parts are very recognisable, like the care for (grand)parents after their spouse died and the argues families can get in when money is involved. However much Nadia holds on to the 'good' side of people, Vera keeps reminding her of the underbelly of society. Peace Baby and War Baby ... I think they are a perfect example of a very different generation within one family.
    • 4/5
      This book was chosen as one for our book club, where we had the silly fantasy that we would actually be able to meet during the summer. It never happened, but I felt obliged to read the book anyway, never having missed one in the couple of years since I forced all my friends to join. I feel responsible. I do.This is the story of a an old Ukrainian man who, after his wife dies, suddenly announces to his daughter that he is going to marry a young, buxom blonde from the Ukraine so that she can immigrate to England with the son. The old man is a dreamer, an engineer with the fervent idealism that can only have conceived of socialism. His daughters, estranged since the death of their mother, come together to try and oust the hussy.Family relations- one between sisters, husband and wife, daughter and father - are showcased in this slim, easily read volume. There is nothing earth shattering here, although there are many very tragi/comic moments (when the father is dreaming of how it will be to rest his head on the ample bosom of his young new wife, for example). There are also secrets, the youngest daughter who was born after the war are not privy to, secrets that have shaped her family life and of which she is only finding out now. In the end, they achieve a better understanding of themselves, if not complete acceptance. This would be a book, like the Guernsey Literary blah blah blah society, that I would recommend to my mother.
    • 4/5
      Funny, but bittersweet story about what happens to a family when the 85-year old father decides to remarry - a 36 year old divorcee from the Ukraine. This story especially touched me because of the similarities between the father and my own. (No 36 year old wife, but an immigrant who is passionate about engineering and the losses that come with aging.)
    • 3/5
      This book had the potential to be one of my favorites, based on the description (and title; I like quirky titles). However, it didn't live up to that expectation. I didn't find the book very hilarious, and the historical parts also lacked something. I think my biggest problem was with the fact that the characters were so stereotypical and also unlikeable. What saved the book from being bad is the funny writing style and the fact that it addresses tragedy in a funny novel.
    • 3/5
      This is the story of a family of Ukrainians who settled in Peterborough after the war: an elderly widower father, Nikolai, and his two middle-aged daughters, Vera and Nadezhda. It begins when Nikolai announces his engagement to a 36 year old buxom Ukrainian, Valentina. Naturally the daughters are aghast and put aside their differences to try first to stop the marriage and then to secure a speedy divorce.Whilst this was an ok read with an uplifting and enjoyable ending I don't think its quality lives up to the hype. This is a book that was longlisted for the Booker prize, shortlisted for the Orange prize and won a prize for comic fiction. It has been heavily marketed with a catchy title and an enticing cover but I don't feel the novel itself lives up to the billing.This book is a light-hearted read and yet deals with some serious issues. Nikolai is very old and frail and is being taken advantage of financially by his new wife and she is often violent towards him and neglects their home leaving him in squalor. That this is a comedy means that these issues are not dealt with and we are encouraged to laugh at Nikolai's naivety and helplessness whilst thinking, actually that's not funny at all. There was a lack of description that didn't bring the characters to life, apart from maybe Valentina, particularly Stanislav, Mike and Vera. Plus I felt that the Ukrainian immigrants were stereotyped. Is it ok because Lewycka herself is Ukrainian so she is allowed to laugh at her own, or is she really reinforcing prejudices against immigrants in search of a better life?In all this was a disappointment. Top marks to the marketing department, shame about the novel itself.
    • 4/5
      This story of an Ukrainian emigre family in England is both typical and unique. The egregious circumstances they find themselves in now, after so many years in England, is the main plot, alongside the flashbacks into their past. The writing is very mature and imaginative (the very phrase "Toshiba apples" is priceless! - those who've read the book will know the hilarious meaning behind it... otherwise you would never guess...). In fact, when the book's jacket disclosed that Marina Lewycka was the author of 6 books on aspects of elder care, it puzzled me how such talent for writing fiction was hiding behind non-fiction for so long. (More research showed that this novel won quite a few prizes and that there are 2 more books after this one, which I will be eager to have a look at). Satirical, sad, poignant, almost too frank, disconcerting, nostalgic, touching, even enlightening - this book is all that, at least it was for me; it stirred up a whole gamut of emotions.
    • 4/5
      Explores immigration, age, Ukranian history and, peripherally, tractors. Engaging, readable, thought-provoking, but for "comic fiction", not actually very funny. I cynically suspect that that description has been used to sell the book. It is however a good read. Some of the stereotyping is perhaps a little unsubtle and there is a rather odd structural disconnect between the majority of the book and the "history" towards the end.As well as exploring a set of important issues in an engaging way, and showing the evolution of the main characters, especially the growing together of two estranged sisters, the story reveals a dark past in the family history in a refugee camp. The actual stated dark event is bad, but not as bad as the build -up suggests. However there are several pointers in the story that suggest another much darker interpretation.
    • 4/5
      Intriguing and delightful, this stale of a gold-digging Ukrainian seeking a better life in England kept me going to the end. Bitterness separate Nikolai's two daughters till they find common ground fighting the advances of Valentina who is set to benefit from her marriage to their 80-somethings father.
    • 3/5
      Reads well, well-written, entertaining story, just not with a lot of depth.
    • 3/5
      This is a clever little comedy, and one which would likely enjoy success as an independent film, were it to be made. The flamboyant Ukranian tart Valentina is a catalyst who arrives in this family of two squabbling sisters and an aging eccentric and love-struck father "like a fluffly pink grenade." By the story's end, conflicts are resolved, everyone undergoes a change, and all live happily ever after. The novel provides an amusing little window, of necessarily limited scope, into the transplanted Slavic family and its mindset - full of history, tragedy and quirkiness. I have been trying to think why this work would be be considered one of the '1001 books I must read before I die,' and I conclude it may be primarily because of its unique comedic Slavic voice. An easy read.
    • 5/5
      I actually listened to this on tape. The reader was Sian Thomas, and she nailed the accents. This brought the book to life in a way that I could never have managed on my own. I found the character Valentina to be one of the most amusing/exasperating/wonderful characters I've come across in fiction in a long, long time. Everything else in the novel also works well--so FIVE stars from me.
    • 3/5
      I picked this book up at a used book store, drawn in by it's unique title and remembering that it had made it on to one of the editions of 1001 Books To Read Before You Die. I found it incredibly funny, somewhat informative and at times a little tragic. Way more than I was expecting for a $4 paperback. The story follows a British-Ukrainian family during a time of family crisis. The crisis being that the father has decided to marry a much younger Ukrainian woman, who is clearly using him for money and a passport. His two daughters than join forces to save him from his unhappy fate. What made this book for me was the father, and his interactions with his youngest daughter Nadezhda. The father is quirky, old fashioned and conflicted. I can picture him perfectly in my mind. I can even hear his Ukrainian accent when I'm reading his dialogue. His antics are funny all of their own, but are made even funnier by his daughter's attempts to help a very stubborn old man. You can't help but love the father, he's the product of his history, his age and his daughters and he fulfils his role perfectly. In case you were thinking this book was a little too light hearted and fluffy, it is interspersed with memories of the families time living in the Soviet Union. Before moving to Britain the family did not have it easy, facing famine, work camps and the wrath of communism. These are serious undertones to a very funny book. I found them particularly interesting, as Ukrainian history is not one you generally hear about. Overall a nice book. It's funny, not too long and you learn a bit about the Ukraine at the same time.
    • 4/5
      What do you get when an octogenarian is intent on wedding a buxomous, gold-digging immigrant, whose romantic intentions are clearly only for the purpose of securing residency via matrimony. Throw in a pair of feuding sisters who have to forge an alliance to deal with the trials and tribulations of an aging parent, and of a marriage gone wrong, and you have a blunt (a little crass, but not obscene), oftimes funny pow-wow that makes for a deliciously delightful read.
    • 5/5
      Funny, touching, ethnic and universal, painful at times--I enjoyed this novel on all sorts of levels and it deserved the praise it earned from critics. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      A very entertaining read. And in case that description sounds condescending, let me add that there's a very profound undertow beneath the swell of the story. Memories, and how to live with them. How to cope with memories supressed a lifetime when they finally explode into one's life. But, back to the entertainment. What does one do when one's 84 year-old father rings up to say he is getting married to a tarty 34 year-old? That's page one. It gets more entertaining with every page that follows. Recommended
    • 4/5
      Warm, witty and insightful, this was a delight to read.