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A Harvest Truce

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Brief Description
Brothers Anton and Tolik reunite at their family home to bury their recently deceased mother. An otherwise natural ritual unfolds under extraordinary circumstances: their house is on the front line of a war ignited by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Isolated without power or running water,... Read More
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In Serhiy Zhadan’s tragicomedy A Harvest Truce, brothers Anton and Tolik reunite at their family home to bury their mother. Isolated without power or running water on the front line of a war ignited by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the brothers’ best hope for success and survival lies in the declared cease fireβ€”the harvest truce.

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Brothers Anton and Tolik reunite at their family home to bury their recently deceased mother. An otherwise natural ritual unfolds under extraordinary circumstances: their house is on the front line of a war ignited by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Isolated without power or running water, the brothers' best hope for success and survival lies in the declared ceasefireβ€”the harvest truce. But such hopes are swiftly dashed, as it becomes apparent that the conflagration of war will not abate.

With echoes of Waiting for Godot, Serhiy Zhadan's A Harvest Truce stages a tragicomedy in which the commonplace experiences of death, birth, and the cycles of life marked by the practices of growing and harvesting food are rendered futile and farcical in the wake of the indifferent juggernaut of war.

Series: Harvard Library of Ukrainian Literature

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674292017

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 July 2024

Country: United States

Imprint: Harvard University Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Nina Murray

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 127.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 140

About the Author

Serhiy Zhadan is a globally recognized poet and writer, translator, performer, and activist, and one of the best-known Ukrainian cultural figures. His numerous literary and cultural awards include Book of the Year, Ukraine; BBC Ukraine Book of the Year; Hubert Burda Prize; Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski Literary Award; BrΓΌcke Berlin Prize; Jan Michalski Prize for Literature; Angelus Central European Literature Award; Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, and many others. Nina Murray is a poet and an award-winning translator of Ukrainian literature, including works by Oksana Zabuzhko, Oksana Lutsyshyna, Serhiy Zhadan, and Lesia Ukrainka. She is the author of several poetry collections and a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service.

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