Boarding School — a new novel by one of the world’s most renowned Ukrainian authors — Serhiy Zhadan. A prose writer, poet, true citizen and patriot of Ukraine — what should he be writing about nowadays? The answer is quite clear: about life in the most painful corner of Ukraine, about war in the East.
As the author notes: “Boarding school is one of the settings of the novel. But at the same time — it is also a metaphor. A metaphor for worldview, a metaphor for abandonment, for a lack of love, ultimately.”
That is, Zhadan felt that the misunderstanding with the East arose from its alienation from the “Ukrainian family.” Like a child from a boarding school, it defends itself with teeth and fists, has a stubborn stance and a slightly distorted view of life.
The main character of Boarding School is a teacher named Pasha. He finds himself in the midst of military events in Donbas in January 2015. Pasha is local, not aggressive in disposition, but peaceful living and working is impossible — he must decide whose side he is on.
Serhiy Zhadan recommends: “It would be useful for people who have never been to eastern Ukraine to read this book — those who form their impressions of Donbas and the Ukrainian-Russian war solely through media reports and general sentiments on social media. Those willing to see living faces behind electoral percentages.”
