A review by anatrnd
The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed

4.5

review in English below

цю книжку потрібно прочитати абсолютно кожному. і всім українцям, щоб ніколи не забути всі ті жахи, які вчиняє на нашій території терористка росія. і іноземцям, щоб дізнатись хоча б маленьку частинку того, що ми тут проживаємо щодня вже 2.5 роки повномасштабного вторгнення. при прочитанні хронік війни (тобто конкретних новин за конкретні дати) я просто не могла втриматись від сліз. це занадто жахливо і занадто боляче. ніхто з нас не заслужив нічого з цього, але вже як є.

єдиним мінусом у англійському перекладі виділю те, що багато українських імен/слів неправильно транслітеровано, використано, на жаль, застарілу транслітерацію.

absolutely everyone should read this book. all Ukrainians, so that they never forget all the horrors that the terrorist state russia commits on our territory every day. and foreigners to learn at least a small part of the things that we have been living through here every day for 2.5 years of a full-scale invasion. while reading the chronicles of the war (specific news for specific dates), I simply could not hold back tears. it's too horrible and too painful. none of us deserved any of this, but it is what it is, not our choice.

the only con in the English translation is that many Ukrainian names/words are incorrectly transliterated, unfortunately, an outdated transliteration is used.

залишу кілька цитат, які особливо зачепили / some quotes:

russia must be silenced.

russian intellectuals and writers are all trying to convince the world that above all else, this is putin's war, not theirs. But putin wasn't the one who did this. He does not rape, kill and destroy.

It's scary not because I'm afraid to die, but because I am full of regret. It's a shame how far we could have progressed in technology, in the development of society, literature, education, culture, how much we could have done, but instead we have to deal with russia.

The whole country is a daily bloody proof: russia is a terrorist state that annihilates the people of Ukraine because of who we are.

I recognize that I really don't want that much from life. Just their deaths. And to feel nothing.

I want to forget it all. I want to never forget.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.