A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

An absolutely hilarious book. It arouses anger, and surprisingly a great deal of humour, from the injustice of a senile 84 year old man being manipulated by a scheming, narcissistic Ukrainian woman/'criminal slut', Valentina. She wants to marry him so she can live and work in the UK whilst milking him for every penny he has. The frustration of the narrator, the elderly man's daughter, Nadia at the unfolding events makes for incredibly funny and gripping read. The book is also centers on the reconciliation of Nadia and her sister as they join forces, after 2 years of cold silence, to fight a common enemy: the evil Valentina.

Comedy is usually at its best when it has a grounding in something dark in reality. As such, it's usually very difficult to do. But this novel pulls it off magnificently; the abuse of the elderly, asylum seekers and background history steeped in blood and despair. A rare treat.

Mildly amusing but not earth shattering (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book was just ok in my opinion. I did find it mildly amusing in parts and I did want to know what would happen to the family in the end but I wasn't hooked. Perhaps there weren't any characters i could really relate to or care about.

Missed Opportunity (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book could have been one of the greatest novels of our time. A family story involving sibling rivalry, issues about the elderly and immigration, the roles of communism and capitalism, wartime atrocities and even symbolism using tractors. It is well written and a page turner, so why is it an also ran?

Firstly, the characters act in unbelievable ways and any tension and conflict that builds up just fizzles out. There are unnecessary digressions that don't advance the plot and the plot itself is weak. And finally there is no great theme that glues the whole work together.

Which is a shame because I think that Marina Lewycka could have written that great novel. Perhaps the next one?

Unputdownable! (0/0 people found this helpful)

I must admit it took me a long time before I got round to reading this book. I wondered what all the fuss was about! I think it was the fact that the title made me wonder whether the book was about tractors and nothing else! However, when I started to read, I could not stop until I had reached the end. The narrative could be confusing, though, when there were the flashbacks in time. Although the subject matter was something I don't know much about, I loved the humour in the story, especially Pappa and the gold-digger Valentina, also the relationship they had with the two completely different daughters. I can wholeheartedly recommend "Tractors" to anyone else and cannot wait to read "Two Caravans".

Mixed Feelings (0/0 people found this helpful)

I ended up with mixed feelings on this one, despite enjoying it immensely at times. Firstly let me say it is very easy to read. The pace is good and the idea excellent. The problem is that as you approach the end of the book you sense a disappointment is coming - almost as if the author has run out of ideas and the whole thing just fizzles out.

The result is you feel let down and much of what has gone before suddenly seems irrelevant.

The book tells the story of an Octogenerian Ukrainian refugee living in Peterborough. He has two very different daughters and suddenly a voluptuous Ukrainian wife who is obviously out to bleed him dry. His daughters soon cotton on to this as "pappa" suffers abuse at the hands of Miss Voluptuous and her "genius" son who turns out to be a little short in the genius stakes.

There is plenty of pathos in the book and some deliciously funny sections which is quite a triumph from a plot that could have been very dark indeed. Some of the observations are very sharp and within the framework of the family relationships is exposed a wartime story of the correction camps and the family's otherwise hidden background.

Sadly there are no surprises and the ending is hugely disappointing. Problem is as the book unfolds you begin to feel that this will be the case and when it did all tail off I wasn't that surprised. Worth a read though.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

Marina Lewycka

Reader Reviews:

'You dried shrivelled relic of ancient goat turd!' (1/1 people found this helpful)

Mildly amusing but not earth shattering (0/0 people found this helpful)

Missed Opportunity (0/0 people found this helpful)

Unputdownable! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Mixed Feelings (0/0 people found this helpful)

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