''Notes of a Ukrainian Madman'' () is the first novel by Ukrainian poet

Lina Kostenko Lina Vasylivna Kostenko (; born 19 March 1930) is a Ukrainian poet, journalist, writer, publisher, and former Soviet dissident. A founder and leading representative of the Sixtiers poetry movement, Kostenko has been described as one of Ukrai ...

. It was published in 2010, and was the first new book by Kostenko in 20 years.Lina Kostenko. The poet of the era

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

(26 December 2018) The book shows Ukrainian politics and daily life of ordinary Ukrainians through the diary of a 35-year-old Ukrainian programmer. The book starts ironically and pessimistically during the end of

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

's presidency, and ends optimistically during the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

. The book contains the observation that "all nations suffer from certain pathologies; Russia's are incurable". The book became a Ukrainian bestseller, with around 100,000 sales in the first six months.

Background

Lina Kostenko was predominantly famous as a poet, and the book became her first experience in the genre of prose novel. Also it was her first new book since about 1987. Lina Kostenko was writing the ''Notes'' for almost 10 years. The book design was created by artist Vladislav Yerko. The cover uses a picture by Polish artist

Rafał Olbiński Rafał Olbinski (born February 21, 1943) is a Polish illustrator, painter, and educator, living in the United States. He is considered one of the major representatives of the Polish School of Posters. Biography Olbinski was born in Kielce, Polan ...

(''Manon Pelleas et Melisande''). The first edition went on sale December 17, 2010, and comprised 10,000 copies. It was rapidly sold out, and the new edition appeared in bookshops January 18, 2011. As of June 2011, the publisher estimated the total official sales to be 80 thousand copies, as well as 20 or 30 thousand issued by pirates. The book includes numerous allusions to and direct quotes from books by

Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the Grotesque#In literature, grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works "The Nose (Gogol short story), ...

, and from ''

The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...

'' by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

. The name of the novel itself is a reminiscence of Gogol's ''Diary of a Madman''.

Plot summary

The novel describes the period of

's presidency and the

. The protagonist of the novel is a 35-year-old programmer. He met his future wife during the student protests of 1990 in favor of Ukraine's independence. His father, a famous translator and a sixtier, has a new wife and a young

introverted Extraversion and introversion are a central trait dimension in human personality theory. The terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung, though both the popular understanding and current psychological usage are not the same as Jung's o ...

son that appears in the novel under the nickname Teenager. The wife of the protagonist is a linguist studying

. The protagonist's son studies at school and befriends his neighbor Boris, the son of a ''new Ukrainian''. The protagonist writes so-called "Notes", where he keeps track of all catastrophes, assassinations and scandals, of which he learns from the news. Thus he tries to channel his emotions, to describe his attitude to the corrupt Kuchma regime and avoid slipping into complete cynicism. In parallel, the notes reflect the sometimes problematic relationship of the protagonist with his wife. The notes start in an ironic, pessimistic, skeptical, even mocking tone, but at the end the tone changes dramatically, as the protagonist goes through the emotionally intense events of the Orange Revolution.

Notes

External links

* * * * * * {{cite newsgroup , date=January 7, 2011 , title=«Записки самашедшого» – це Костенко в масці програміста, – трійця з «Кабінету» , trans-title=''Notes of a Ukrainian Madman'' shows Kostenko masked as a programmer, they say in ''Cabinet'' , url=http://zik.ua/news/2011/02/07/zapysky_samashedshogo__tse_kostenko_v_mastsi_programista__triytsya_z_270856 , language=uk , newspaper= ZIK Ukrainian-language books Ukrainian novels 2010 novels 2010 in Ukraine 2010 debut novels

Background

Plot summary

See also

Notes

External links