Living through revolution: a view from an apartment in Ukraine.

• Author: Tomkiw, Lydia
• Position: Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev - Book review

A Review of Ukraine Diaries: Dispatches from Kiev

By Andrey Kurkov

Translated by Sam Taylor with an afterword translated by Amanda Love Darragh

(London: Harvill Seeker, 2014), 262 pages.

Andrey Kurkov's diary begins on Thursday, 21 November 2013--the day the Ukrainian government decided to suspend preparations to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. Many Ukrainians hoped this agreement would draw Ukraine out of Russia's orbit and reorient it westward. After hearing the news, Kurkov heads to a cafe where he orders a coffee and then decides to add some cognac to it. He writes, "We have, once again, had our future taken away from us." (1)

One of Ukraine's most well-known fiction writers, Kurkov has kept diaries for decades, but it was not until the EuroMaidan Revolution, the illegal Russian annexation of Crimea, and the subsequent war in eastern Ukraine, that he decided to publish his personal reflections spanning the period from late November 2013 until late April 2014. (2)

Kurkov, who is ethnically Russian but has lived in Ukraine since childhood, chronicles his daily life with his wife and three children in their apartment 500 yards from the main square in the capital, the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Protesters began gathering on the Maidan on 21 November 2013 and would remain camped out for months protesting against then-president Viktor Yanukovych's decision not to sign the Association Agreement along with many other grievances, particularly the amount of corruption in the government.

Kurkov writes about his daily routine, the cold weather, what he cooks for dinner, and visiting with friends and family; all interspersed with updates about political events and his own observations from walking around the Maidan and speaking with those camped out in the square. In one entry, he describes chaperoning his son's birthday party at Paintball Planet and then reflects on the Ukrainian government's information policy--a typical juxtaposition of Kurkov's daily life and thoughts. His work provides a unique window into what it is like to live through a revolution and the downfall of a president.

As events unfold and violence escalates, Kurkov chronicles his increasing anxiety. Frightening rumors circulating around him are spreading throughout the capital. He cannot focus on the fictional novel he is supposed to be writing set in Lithuania. Instead, he describes seeing cars burning on the streets he loves. Even though...