Panas Myrnyj (pseud of Panas Rudchenko) Writer. He worked in various government offices and eventually achieved the rank of full government councilor (1914). The works of Taras Shevchenko had the greatest influence on the formation of Myrny's worldview, artistic preferences, and ideology. His early literary attempts included poems, dramas, and short stories. In 1872 the short story 鈥楲ykhyi poputav鈥� (The Evil One Did It), written in the style of Marko Vovchok, was printed in the Lvivjournal Pravda. In 1877 appeared his novel Lykhi liudy (Evil People), about the life of the intelligentsia. His best-known work is the novel Propashcha syla (The Ruined Strength), also titled Khiba revut鈥� voly, iak iasla povni? (Do the Oxen Bellow, When Their Mangers Are Full?, 1880), which he coauthored with his brother, Ivan Rudchenko (pseud: I. Bilyk). The work can be characterized as a sociopsychological novel-chronicle; it covers almost a hundred years in the history of a Ukrainian village, from serfdom to the postreform era. In it Myrny depicts social oppression, internal strife between different social groups, the tsarist legal system, the harsh life of a soldier during the time of Tsar Nicholas I, police violence, and spontaneous protests against lies and injustice. Myrny's second important sociopsychological novel, Poviia (Loose Woman, 1884), describes new social processes brought about by the reforms of 1861. Myrny also portrayed the changed social dynamics of the village after the abolition of serfdom in the story 鈥楲ykho davnie i s'ohochasne鈥� (Ancient and Contemporary Evil, 1903) and 鈥楽ered stepiv鈥� (Among the Steppes, 1903). Myrny also wrote some dramatic works, the comedies Peremudryv (He Outsmarted [Them], 1886) and Zhuba (Loss, 1896), and the dramas U chernytsiakh (Among the Nuns, 1884) and Spokusa (Temptation, 1901). The most popular drama was Lymerivna (The Daughter of the Harness Maker, 1883), which was first published in 1892 in the journal Zoria (Lviv). He is also known as the translator of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem The Song of Hiawatha and of William Shakespeare's King Lear. Myrny markedly expanded the lexicon of the literary Ukrainian language and with his talent for rhythmic and melodious phrasing enriched Ukrainian syntax.
This is a Ukrainian classic 19th-century novel, the English title is Do oxen low when mangers are full? which in turn a quote from the Bible. It is a life story based partially on the real life of a convicted robber, a kind of 鈥榟alf Robin Hood鈥� i.e., who takes from the rich and gives to himself as the poor. During the Soviet times, it was a necessary part of the Ukrainian literature school program for it can be seen as a critique of class inequalities, but in reality, it is much, much more. As a lot of literary classics, it is a book that is much better appreciated by an adult, not a teen (at least the kind of teen I was).
I鈥檝e re-read it now because this year I plan to read more of Ukrainian classics, so I took (Ukr) and decided to go through the list as it is composed, i.e. chronologically. This is the #3 in the list.
The book starts with a young fellow Chipka going thru the fields, including his part and he is happy, the sun is shining, all is great. He meets a girl and falls in love with her鈥� next the story moves backward twenty years and tells about a newcomer to a village, who soon marries one of the local woman, but instead of 鈥榣iving happy ever after鈥� he is uncovered as a bigamist, arrested and taken from the village. His second and thus illegal wife here is Motrya and even despite of course there is no her fault, she is ostracized by fellow villagers. As is her son, who will be born soon and who is Chipka, the protagonist of this story.
The rest of the story (and it is quite long, 350+ pages) tells readers about Chipka, as he grows up with his mother and his grandma, often having nothing to eat and who cannot even go to play with other kids 鈥� it is quite surprising for many readers, who could have guessed that Ukrainian writers, who often saw in the rural life an ideal contrasting it with urban life, a version of Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft. In reality, they were often quite critical of illiteracy, blind adherence to the church as they understand it, and a lot of other issues. So, the boy grows pugnacious, constantly feeling that the rest of the world robbed him, so when he is recruited to the army, he quite quickly sucks their rules 鈥� 'steal, but don鈥檛 let them catch you'. For me, the description of soldiers, who are allowed to rob and steal to just get normal food, was so reminiscent of many present-day situations鈥�
Definitely an interesting if a quite grim novel about how society punishes already psychologically damaged people, who are a burden to themselves and their loved ones. It is a bit meandering, with scores of minor characters, like a lot of 19th-century prose, thus not to everyone鈥檚 taste, but I am glad I鈥檝e re-read it.
A significant Ukrainian classic. A story that broadened my perspective on the historical significance of the eve of the 1861 reform. It delves into the hardships of the Ukrainian people鈥攎ainly peasants鈥攁nd the lingering sense of hopelessness about their future.
It ends in tragedy, as the main character loses faith in his land and in justice itself after facing relentless and blatant social injustice.
The question that echoes throughout the novel is simple yet powerful: Where is the truth?
Somehow, if somebody would like me to formulate the idea of the book shortly, I would say "It sucks to be a peasant under serfdom in Russian Empire and some peasant will obviously rebel or act out". Nothing more, nothing less. It is quite boring and kind of pointless, to be honest, realistic genre is not my favourite, I would dare even say it is one of my least favourite one. The value of it for me is quite debatable, I am neither entertained nor inspired by it. The book is kind of a biography of an invented character. Myrniy does not really give an evaluation of what the characters does, he just shows it and leaves it to the reader to pass judgement on what protagonist does. I have already seen how different people come to the exact opposite conclusions when reading this book and judge the protagonist completely differently. The value of the book to me is debatable, this just my opinion though.
While some parts a bit difficult to get through, especially with all the history, it is these historical events that are used create the theme of individual versus an unjust society. Overall a great book, a must read for any fan of classical Ukrainian literature or history, I highly recommend it.