A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Jenny)

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I'm not sure it is "extremely funny" or "mad and hilarious" as advertised on the cover blurbs, as a story about the complexities of first-generation immigrants, and the frustrations of blending families, this shortlisted book is a good read.

I liked the snappy dialogue, the quick storytelling, and the frustrating characters. Nadia and Vera are children of Ukrainian immigrants to the UK, actually immigrants themselves (although Nadia may have been born in the UK, I'm not clear). Their mother has passed away and their mid-80s father has become engaged to a Ukrainian who they suspect is after his money.

And he really doesn't have very much money. He is fascinated by "...the relationship between mechanical engineering as applied to tractors and the psychological engineering advocated by Stalin, as applied to the human soul," and is working on a book. Through his book, you get his view of Ukraine, of war and of politics, and through the stories he and Nadia's older sister tell, you learn quite a bit about their early history.

Through the contrast between Valentina and the family, you also see the misconceptions both countries have of each other, and the changes between various sociopolitical systems in the Ukraine.

Liars and Saints by Maile Meloy (Jill)

Liars and Saints
By Maile Meloy

In her debut novel, Liars and Saints, Maile Meloy explores family relationships, deceit, truth and religion through the Santerre family. Spanning over four generations, each chapter is told from a member of the Santerre family - some get more of a voice than others, but each person is enveloped in the conflicts that rock the family.

The story opens with Yvette and Teddy Santerre during World War II. We learn that the couple are deeply in love, but their young marriage isn't without struggles, compounded by Teddy's deployment to the Pacific theater. Teddy is insecure and jealous of his beautiful wife, and Yvette wrestles with her roles as wife and mother. The couple have two daughters, Margot and Clarissa, and the story moves quickly to when the girls become teenagers, and a particular night that would change the family forever.

At the surface, the issues facing the Santerre family are the stuff of daytime soap operas, but Meloy writes so eloquently, you hardly notice. The family members individually grapple with truth versus deceit. Is it better to spill the beans or keep things discreet? Sometimes, the choices the family made were ones they want to hide (even from each other), while others need to be aired out. True to life, you don't know if it is a good idea to disclose a secret until after it's done. Hindsight is always 20/20.


Liars and Saints is a solid debut, and I am not surprised to find it on the Orange Prize short list (2005). It's not without flaws, but its pace and story development are spot on. I look forward to more stories by Maile Meloy. (  )

Terri's Review: The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman

The Mammoth Cheese is full of surprises. I expected a light funny read, but this book is chock full of people with common problems and a few not so common. There are many stories taking place in the novel and they all twine together nicely.

In the small town of Three Chimneys, Virginia, Margaret Prickett is a single mom to 13 year old Polly. Margaret is trying desperately to keep the family dairy farm afloat. Threatened with foreclosure, she puts all her hopes and energy into electing Adams Brooke president. Brooke’s campaign promise of forgiving the debts of all family farms keeps Margaret going through a very challenging year. She tends the farm, makes cheese, raises Polly and works tirelessly on Brooke’s campaign.

Meanwhile, her neighbor, Manda Franks, has just given birth to 11 babies. You didn’t misread that. Eleven. The town – and the whole country – have gone into typical media frenzy over the births. The only person seemingly not thrilled by this historical event is Manda (and the nutcases who write threatening letters).

Many other characters and minor stories enter into play. August Vaughn has worked on Margaret’s dairy farm for many years. He’s been in love with her since they were teenagers, but she’s clueless. August still lives with his parents, the Reverend Leland Vaughn and Evelyn, and he travels around the region portraying his hero, Thomas Jefferson.

Some characters are just despicable; Holman may have gone a little overboard with her portrayal of Polly’s father Francis and of Patrick Lewis, the local weatherman-turned-feature reporter. Mr. March, Polly’s history teacher, is the lowest of the low.

There are so many themes running through this book, it could almost make up three or four books – but because Holman weaves it all together so nicely, it didn’t feel overwhelming. Some of the issues include:

• corporate farms vs family farms
• food politics
• coming of age
• the ethics of fertility therapy
• dishonesty in politics
• patriotism
• media responsibility
• strengths and weaknesses of community
• unrequited love
• child sexual abuse

One of the things Holman does so well is depicting setting. I felt damp and dank after reading the description of Leland’s visit to Manda’s after some of the babies come home:

“Manda, could I trouble you for some Tylenol? I have a vicious headache,” said the preacher, wanting to break the depressing spell cast by the wet dogs and the musty food, the unmucked pen and the relentless drizzle. He was getting soaked, and a dull pain was blooming behind his left eye. (snip)This would be the weather in Hell, Pastor Vaughn thought dully. Not an infinite inferno, but one long unsettled day in between seasons, too hot to wear a sweater, too rainy to go without one, a muggy, clammy, oppressive sort of day, when all the world’s sins would stick to a man like dust from the road.

Made me want a shower.

Holman does a great job with her characters (with the exceptions above) and the story, chunky as it could be, really flows. And what is the mammoth cheese? It’s a 1,235 pound block of Margaret’s artisan cheese destined for an unforgettable road trip to Washington D.C. I won’t reveal more – but Holman’s book is not predictable! Recommended.

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Laura's Review - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
Marina Lewycka
294 pages

Oh, puh-leeze. This book annoyed me; let me count the ways.

First, we have two middle-aged sisters, Vera and Nadia, who emigrated from Ukraine to UK as children. They don't get along. And they have much angst about this but seem powerless to change their relationship.

Second, we have their father, Nikolai, an elderly widower also living in the UK. He's lonely and a bit naive. And he's writing a history of tractors, and relates the development of the tractor to other events in history. Actually, Nikolai didn't annoy me. I felt sorry for him. Let's move on.

Third, there's Valentina, a 30-something Ukrainian blond bombshell. She has a young son and very large breasts. Valentina convinces Nikolai to marry her in order to provide legal residency and an education for her son. As I mentioned, Nikolai is lonely and naive. And he likes her breasts. So he agrees.

Back to Vera and Nadia. Their father's marriage causes them even more angst. This, I could understand because Valentina turns out to be after Nikolai's money. And she spends it like there's no tomorrow. But Vera and Nadia? They whine, and talk, and fight with one another. Then they whine, and talk some more. Eventually they do something about the situation.

There were some interesting elements to this book, like gaining some understanding of Ukrainian political events that led to the family's relocation in the 1940s. And there was a great deal of humor in the book, especially the portrayal of Valentina who was really over the top. But almost from the beginning, I felt like I knew where the story would go. And the dynamics between the sisters bored me. When the "big reveal" came, which explained why the two were so different in a way that was supposed to be oh so emotional, it just left me flat. ( )

My original review can be found here.

A Short of History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Jill)

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
By Marina Lewycka
Completed January 24, 2009

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was indeed a history of tractors. However, this was also a story about the battles between parents and their children, manipulative romances and surviving the harshest of circumstances. This book with the clever name had many layers – some were good, some got old – but all fed into a delightful book.

At the surface, this book was about Nadia, her sister Vera and their aging father, who had fallen in love with a 36-year-old Ukrainian woman. Valentina clearly wanted to marry Nadia’s dad to ensure a British visa. Despite the daughters’ protests, the two married and shared a life of fighting, verbal abuse and general misery. Eventually, Dad (convinced by his daughters) wanted to divorce Valentina, but this became an enormous task. The ups and downs of their relationship hogged the story line, and after 100 pages, it became frustrating and burdensome. If it were not for the other themes in this book, I would have abandoned “Tractor History.”

Once I muddled (or ignored) the love/divorce story, I found layers that better fit my literary tastes. By spending time with her father and sister, Nadia discovered how her family immigrated to England from Ukraine after World War II. Nadia’s parents did not have an easy start to their marriage – either living in paranoia of Stalin’s purges or surviving a German work camp during the war. Through her family history, Nadia learned about the true meaning of survival, which made her father’s current drama seem so inconsequential.

I also enjoyed the short blurbs that were, in fact, a short history of tractors in Ukrainian. Nadia’s father was an engineer and an expert in tractors. Throughout the book, he shared snippets of his “short history.” These passages showed how technology, though intended to improve our lives, should not take over how we live.

Also, The "rights” of immigration were central to this book. Two sides of the immigration question emerged: people who emigrate to escape a tyranny and those who escape to better their lives financially. Nadia’s family was from the first camp, escaping Stalin, communists and Nazis. Valentina was from the second – trying to escape the financial chaos of Ukraine. Which one had the most “right” to settle into another country? Was one reason better than the other?

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was short-listed for the Orange Prize and became a bestseller around the world. I would recommend it to those who like to read about family relationships or Orange Prize books. For me, the love drama was a bit overdone, but overall, Marina Lewycka’s book is a good one. ( )

Laura's Review - Old Filth

Old Filth
Jane Gardam
290 pages

First Sentence: The Benchers' luncheon room of the Inner Temple.

Reflections: Edward Feathers, or "Old Filth," is a Raj Orphan, the child of a British couple living in Malaya, who is sent back to England around the age of 5, ostensibly for his own good. He is first cared for by a foster mother, then sent away to school, and informally adopted by his best friend's family, spending all of his holidays with them. The experience leaves a scar: "All my life, from my early childhood, I have been left, or dumped, or separated by death, from everyone I loved or who cared for me."

The book is set in the present time, when "Old Filth" is well into his 80s and very wealthy, having had a successful law career in Hong Kong. Recently widowed and quite a curmudgeon, he is learning to manage on his own. He spends much of his time remembering the past, and gradually tells the story of his childhood. I found these parts of the story quite sad. On the effect of the "Raj orphan" experience:

"They say it suits some. They come out fizzing and yelling, 'I didn't need parents,' and waving the red, white, and blue. Snooty for life. But we're all touched, one way or the other."

"Most of them learned never to like anyone, ever, their whole lives."

"If you haven't been loved as a child, you don't know how to love a child."

Back in the present, "Old Filth" sets out on a journey to visit two cousins with whom he shared his first foster home. He has not travelled in years, and his household staff believe he is unfit to drive. But he's stubborn, so he does it anyway. There are some poignant moments as he encounters everyday modern conveniences which are foreign to him, and reunites with the cousins, each of whom have had very different life experiences from his own. Later, he visits another part of the country where he spent time during World War II, and again reconnects with memories and people. Along the way he makes peace with himself and comes to terms with his childhood experiences.

"Old Filth" is a quirky and memorable character who makes this book enjoyable.

My original review can be found here.

Old Filth - Wendy's Review

Old Filth dozed off then with this picture before him, wondering at the clarity of an image thirty years old when what happened yesterday had receded into darkness. He was nearly eighty now. -From Old Filth, page 24-

Old Filth ("Failed in London Try Hong Kong") is a surly, retired Judge who begins to remember his past as he enters the final years of his life. The story is told in a series of flashbacks, taking the reader to Malaya where Filth was born, to Wales where he is fostered by the evil Ma Didds, to England where he attends school, and to Hong Kong where he finds his professional niche. Along the way, people from Filth's past surface to fill in the gaps of his memory - and a crime is uncovered. This book was hard to rate - there were moments of brilliance from Jane Gardam. She likes to play with words and metaphor, such as when Filth meets a character by the name of Loss.

Loss's defection was the metaphor for Eddie's life. It was Eddie's fate always to be left. Always to be left and forgotten. Everyone gone, now. Out of his reach. For the first time, Eddie was utterly on his own. -From Old Filth, page 230-

Gardam also uses this same style to explore the idea of revelation - a central theme in the novel.

The suitcase was immense. He got it out of the roof like a difficult birth. Its label called it a Revelation. "Revelation was once the very best luggage," said Filth. "They were revelations' because they expanded." -From Old Filth, page 282-

And just in case the reader misses it, Gardam ties it up in a neat bow when Filth strikes up a conversation with a character he meets on a plane.

"I always feel tip-top. I say - you're not by any chance...?" "Yes. Old Filth. Long forgotten." "Well, you're still remembered out here." "Yes. Well, I dare say. I hope so. Ha. Did you ever come across a chap called Loss?" "No. I don't think so." "Or Islam?" "They're all called Islam." "He's probably dead. Certainly retired. I've got one of his suitcases. Called a Revelation." -From Old Filth, page 287-

Gardam is a natural storyteller who writes stellar dialogue, heavy with meaning. Despite this, Old Filth is not an easy novel to read. At times the story becomes dreamlike and the characters warp into odd, almost surreal figures. Gardam's style tends to be circular, which ultimately leaves the reader with a satisfying end. Not great, but good. Recommended for those readers who enjoy literary puzzles and creative use of language. Rated 3.5/5