BOOK NOTES: Two books of Ukrainian short fiction in the English language (06/04/06)

BOOK NOTES

Two books of Ukrainian short fiction in the English language

"Riddles of the Heart: Ukrainian Short Fiction in English," Roma Franko, translator; Sonia Morris, editor Winnipeg: Language Lanterns Publications, 2004. 349 pp. $14.95.

Translated by Roma Franko, "Riddles of the Heart" is a collection of short stories written by prominent Ukrainian authors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The stories in the compilation all have the similar theme of love and desire.

The love described in the stories, however, is not innocent or idealistic. The stories show that love is often arbitrary and cruel, as in Mykola Chernyavsky's short story "The End of the Game." In this story, a doctor in a village is married to a woman, though it is fairly obvious that the husband and wife are not in love with each other.

In Mykhaylo Mohylyansky's story "From the Dark Wellsprings of Life" a man who has just left his wife is found dead in his private train compartment. In an other story, "The Fiancee," a young girl is overcome by her passion for a stranger in the darkness of his train car even though her fiancee is onboard.

The collection in "Riddles of the Heart" is meant to call attention to the difficulty and confusion of what it means to "be in love" with someone. This collection is a glimpse into what life in urban Ukraine was like and the roles that both men and women had to play when it came to relationships.

"Passion's Bitter Cup: Ukrainian Short Fiction in English," Roma Franko, translator; Sonia Morris, editor. Language Lanterns Publications, 2004. Winnipeg: 349 pp., $14.95.

Translated by Roma Franko, "Passion's Bitter Cup" is a collection of stories written by famous Ukrainian authors with one overarching theme: living with love and passion comes at a price.

For example, in Yevhen Mandychevsky's story "The Storm," foul weather parallels a young girl's struggle against an old sailor who is about to rape her. Mykhaylo Mohylyansky writes about a desperate prostitute who takes in a scared young boy and helps him become a man, only to be physically abused by him when she tries to dry his tears.

As hinted by the title, the stories tell of the physical and emotional pain that accompanies relationships. They peek into the dark side of Ukrainian women's plight as they sometimes must fend off aggressive men and provide for themselves by selling their bodies for sustenance.

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Both books are available for purchase in soft-cover format on amazon.com in the United States, and in Ukrainian bookstores in Canada. They are also available through www.languagelanterns.com for $14.95 each.

The editor of both books, Sonia Morris, notes that "Riddles of Heart" and "Passion's Bitter Cup," which contain works written in 1880-1920, "continue to fill in 'blank spots' in Ukrainian literature in translation by making a broad array of stories with love and erotic themes from this significant 40-year literary period accessible to readers of English.

She notes in her introduction that the short fiction in these two books by 14 authors "provides a fascinating glimpse into life as it was lived in urban Ukraine at the turn of the 20th century - a time of social unrest, shifting mores and heady affirmations of freedom of choice."

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