Diary of an Invasion

Reviews / Votes

A vivid, moving and sometimes funny account of the reality of life during Russia's invasion -- Marc Bennetts * The Times * No-one with the slightest interest in this war, or the nation on which it is being waged, should fail to read Andrey Kurkov -- Dominic Lawson * Daily Mail * Andrey Kurkov [is] one of the most articulate ambassadors to the West for the situation in his homeland -- Sam Leith * Spectator * Immediate and important. . . From the grim incredulity at Russians massing on the border to the displacement of millions of people, this is an insider's account of how an ordinary life became extraordinary. It is also about survival, hope and humanity -- Helen Davies * The Times * The author's on-the-ground account is packed with surprising details about the human effects of the Russian assault. . . His voice is genial but also impassioned, never more so than when deploring Putin's efforts to erase Ukrainian culture and history. Ukraine, he says, 'will either be free, independent and European, or it will not exist at all'. That's why the war has to be fought, with no concession of territory. And he remains quietly hopeful that it will be won -- Blake Morrison * Guardian * Probably the first important literary work to emerge from a conflict that appears likely to alter the course of world history, Diary of an Invasion is a thoughtful and humane memoir by one of Ukraine's most prominent living authors -- Simon Caterson * Sydney Morning Herald * Kurkov's diaries. . . make the early days of the war vivid for the reader. He writes stirringly of the notes people begin leaving in their cars offering lifts to the border; of his sudden longing for the comforting sweetness of honey; of the cigarettes required to bribe Russian soldiers at checkpoints in the east. Here are the kind of stories you don't see on the television news -- Rachel Cooke * Observer * Uplifting and utterly defiant -- Matt Nixson * Daily Express * It is little wonder. . . Kurkov, known for his keen eye for the absurdities of life, would pack his diary of the war with
fascinating and eccentric details. . . yet what makes Kurkov's diary memorable is its departures into the more quotidian gossip-filled trips to the sauna, Ukraine's morale-boosting victory in the Eurovision Song Contest, ruminations on the status of Ukrainian literature amid paper shortages, and ploys to protect animals in the country's shuttered zoos -- Megan Gibson * New Statesman * Kurkov, an internationally-lauded novelist, is strongest when he writes on cultural matters. And this, he demonstrates convincingly, is a cultural war -- Ed O'Loughlin * Irish Times * With the sort of eye-witness detail missing from even the most rigorous newspaper account, this book makes for essential reading -- Claire Allfree * Metro *