The books published by The Day inspire one to reflect on Ukraine’s present and future, and on the crucial periods of our history. For the past six years the newspaper’s Library Series has been forming a new vision of Ukraine’s culture and past and helping readers find their bearings in today’s world. Tellingly, Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science has recommended The Day ’s books as “supplementary reading for secondary schools.”
This year the students attending the Summer School of Journalism were asked to write a short essay on the Library Series. Literature helps form a common informational space, which brings people closer. Is this the reason why the Summer School students communicate so easily with one another?
Denys OPARIIENKO , Dnipropetrovsk National Mining University, on My Universities :
“All the themes of this book are united by one important feature: they are focused on civic attitudes, which help create a virtual university, a community of people who are managing to find a common language on topics worthy of their attention. What is also striking is the spirit of Ukrainophilism that runs throughout the material; these kinds of publications are a rarity. This book gives readers a feel for certain universities, which can whet their appetites for something greater. But the book is much more profound because it shows the intellectual level of Ukrainian universities.”
Oleksandr KARPIUK , Zaporizhia National University, on The Day ’s Library Series:
“It’s a good thing that I realized in good time that if you chase after glory, along the way you can lose your heart and soul, because you will only be thinking about your own success, not about other people. So, maybe it is good that we don’t find out about some lesser-known people right away. They will remain for some time in the shadow of the worlds that they created, where they are waiting for the moment when some elderly woman reads a poem or other small work of the writer about whom only she knows — this is the way the small worlds of writers become known to others.”
Artem ZHUKOV , National University of Ostroh Academy, on Dvi Rusi:
“Usually, the history of a state is studied, but in our country people are trying to find out the truth. Thanks to those who seek to shed light on our dark past, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of Dvi Rusi . This book focuses on the most contradictory moments of Ukrainian history, which the conscientious citizens of our country are supposed to interpret properly. In my opinion, the problem is not that we do not want to study our own past, but that some people refuse to admit their secondary role in this process. A distorted history still prevents the masses from accepting the simple and indisputable fact that we are not the ones whom our elder brothers have traditionally taken us for.”
Lina SHVYDKA , Open International University of Human Development Ukraine, on Dvi Rusi :
“This book allows us to assert that we are the ones who are creating history. We should also remember that history is shaping us. The history of Ukraine is we ourselves, our actions and our thoughts. But our thoughts and actions depend on what kind of history is deep inside our hearts, what feelings this history and our native culture have instilled in our consciousness.”
Anna SLESAREVA, Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, on Ukraina Incognita:
“During my history classes in school I would often ask myself: how can this interesting subject be taught so badly? There were a lot of shortcomings: first of all, outdated and boring textbooks that made you want to cry, ‘I don’t believe it!’ every time you read them. But the data on the ancient city-states and the era of the principalities in Ukraina Incognita confirm the fact that we have been making world history for centuries, not just ‘existing’ in it. We are an ancient nation with a unique cultural heritage and striking personalities.”
Ihor SAMOKYSH , Zaporizhia National University, on The Day and Eternity of James Mace :
“What strikes me the most about this book is James Mace’s research on the 1932-1933 Holodomor. It is tragic, unique, and inimitable. The main thing is not so much the viewpoint of one more person on the tragedy that the Bolsheviks perpetrated against our country as the fact that Mace attempted to ‘curb’ Ukrainians’ inferiority complex, which the Stalinist government had implanted and developed so avidly. This book spotlights the most painful and pressing problems of our society.”
Yaroslav MIZERNY , National University of Ostroh Academy, on The Day and Eternity of James Mace :
“I had heard about James Mace long before I read this book, but I had never reflected on the tremendous impact that he had on Ukrainian history. I became fascinated by Mace’s life story after I read the book. The first thought that came to my mind was this: how low had Ukrainians fallen that they needed to have a US citizen restore the most painful moments of their own history to them! But the next question was: how did this American manage to love Ukraine so deeply? This means there is something special about our land.”
Daria KOTSYLO , Zaporizhia National University, on The Day and Eternity of James Mace :
“Ukraine has begun to appear in the international arena. It is respected. A state that has lived through so many crises and should, by all accounts, be broken and oppressed is once again declaring itself in a brilliant way. ‘The Holodomor was an act of genocide of the Ukrainian nation,’ we are saying to the international community. And James Mace made a big contribution to this.”
Hanna TYMOSHCHUK , National University of Ostroh Academy, on The Day and Eternity of James Mace :
“When you read this book, you seem to relive the distant years 1932-1933. This creates a strange paradox: an American journalist is doing his utmost to convince the world that it was a pre-planned and deliberately organized way of wiping out Ukrainians as a nation and a country, while the Ukrainian government was afraid to say this. You feel bitter because ‘Comrade Stalin’ achieved the main goal: he destroyed Ukraine and her children spiritually, not just physically. He killed and trampled the self-identity of an entire nation; he forced us to be scared and keep silent. The premeditated and deliberate murder of a nation — millions of its people — was as quiet and silent a tragedy as was the death of the millions of starving people, who were suffering mutely on the threshold of death. The same applies to the general policy of the Soviet regime in those years: not a word to the outside world about what was really going on in the Soviet Union. Not a word! Not a sound! Not a stir! Empty houses, desolate streets, a black sun, and a blacker world — this is the picture of Ukraine at the time.”
Viktoria SKUBA , National University of Ostroh Academy, on The Apocrypha of Klara Gudzyk:
“You can get an idea about a book either from the author or by reading it. But you can believe in what is written there only if the words strike a chord with you and they are in tune with their own melody. Each article in this book is a separate problem, a separate pain, a separate fraction of history and religion, a separate ‘I believe’ or ‘I don’t believe.’ You can write an essay on every article. When you read this book, you’d better think about each one of its words. This book should be in every Ukrainian household because, of all things, we lack tolerance and the ability to accept someone else’s viewpoint. Everybody needs this book. I hope that something can still be changed, that there are worthy individuals out there, that we will learn to listen to each other, that there will be faith, not only the church, and that clergymen will start addressing their flocks in our native language. That will eliminate the problem of recognizing the Ukrainian church. For does it really matter whether somebody recognizes what already exists, lives, and is becoming strengthened in people’s hearts?”
Daryna HUZENKOVA , National University of Ostroh Academy, on The Apocrypha of Klara Gudzyk:
“Klara Gudzyk may be said to represent ‘aristocratic’ (i.e., intellectual) journalism, which requires an intellectual reader. Naturally, readers may not agree with everything she writes, but are not polemics the sign of sound journalism?”
Olha YUDINA , Dnipropetrovsk National Mining University, on My Universities:
“This book is not at all a lyrical story, but after reading the pages of this ‘diary,’ you suddenly feel warm, comfortable and cozy deep in your heart, and something prompts you to turn one more page, and then another.”
Lydia AKRYSHORA , Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, on Ukraina Incognita:
“Ukraine is not just a country with beautiful landscapes, a superb language, and friendly people. It is a land with a centuries-old history filled with enigmas and mystery, the indefatigable golden hands of Ukrainian wheat-growers, the green Carpathian Mountains and boundless steppes of the Crimea, ‘a cherry orchard next to your house’ and an embroidered towel, the guelder-rose that welcomes the Cossacks back from a campaign, blue skies and the unquenchable pain of mothers who are seeing their sons off to war. It is the belief in a better future and an unbreakable patriotic spirit, never-ending oppression, and the struggle for independence. It is the melodious song of a nightingale and a mother’s lullaby, an original culture, and the charming Hutsul countryside.”
Tamara BALAIEVA , Zaporizhia National University, on Dvi Rusi:
“In her article ‘Ukraine as a Victim and a Factor of Globalized Catastrophes’ Lina Kostenko writes that our country has long positioned itself as a victim oppressed by other countries and never-ending privations. With this kind of attitude, you can hardly respect yourself, let alone demand that others respect you.”
