Григір Тютюнник. Три зозулі з поклоном

Григір Тютюнник

Work proposed for translation:

Три зозулі з поклоном
Short stories (1969–1981)
Length: 220 pp.
Copyright: Publisher: publishinghouse@vikhola.com

Hryhir Tiutiunnyk (1931–1980) is a Ukrainian writer, translator and teacher, representative of the generation of the sixties. He received his education at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Kharkiv. After completing his studies, he moved to Kyiv, where he worked in the editorial offices of newspapers and publishing houses. Published in 1966, his first book Ovary was well received by literary critics. The writer’s work contains autobiographical motifs of a difficult childhood: childhood wanderings amid war, hunger, arrests, devastation, death. The subject matter of the works covers acute social, tragic events, recreating the realities of life in the Ukrainian village. Because of this, the Soviet censorship later included the author in the list of unreliable authors, and therefore he had significant difficulties with the publication of his works. Unable to withstand such pressure, Hryhir Tiutiunnyk ends his life by suicide.

A selection of his prose works Three Cuckoos with a Bow represents the best works of the writer. Siege is to some extent a reproduction of the author’s experience. Through children’s eyes, the writer depicts a terrifying reality in an adult way: the orphaned Kharyton, looking for a refuge, constantly encounters death and poverty, moving after the front. And although not for long, he does find it — next to the military radio operators. Three Cuckoos with a Bow is a story about the complexity of human interaction in the face of unrequited love. One of the main characters, Mykhailo, while in exile, feels the presence of Martha’s soul, who loves him, next to him, so in a letter to his wife he asks to convey to the woman his sign of gratitude and respect for her feelings. The short story They Gave Katria in Marriage has a different character: it depicts the process of erasing national identity. Here, Ukrainian customs are ridiculed by guests from Donbas, and the wedding is more reminiscent of a funeral. And My Saturday Day was published after the author’s death. Here, the main character Mykola Porubai introduces the reader to his life, sharing his thoughts, and demonstrates the modern world in which he finds no place: he belongs neither to a modern city nor to an archaic village.