Buy Book "Marusya Churai" in Ukrainian

It is strange… and at the same time obvious… to realize how significantly the time and place of our location affect the perception of a literary work…

It is also interesting to realize how much our life experience affects this… the depth of what we have heard… seen… and experienced personally.

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Like probably many of you, I first read Marusya Churai as part of the school curriculum.

Back then, at the age of 15, it seemed to me to be a completely “ordinary” book. A book that was no different from other works by Ukrainian writers. The same drama… suffering… war… and devastation.

This morning I opened this book (purchased a few weeks ago because of the fantastic cover and incredibly stylish illustrations) with rather modest expectations… And I couldn’t put it down until I finished reading it a few hours ago.

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Long story short, or brief conclusions:

1. If this is not a masterpiece, it is an absolute classic… The book is timeless… When epochs, like scenery, change each other… but people… their problems… emotions and experiences remain unchanged.

2. This book is incredibly relevant right now… Not only because it describes the difficult wartime of our history… But first of all because Lina Kostenko was able to convey the DNA of our people… the whole essence of Ukraine and Ukrainians in words.

3. Reading Marusya Churai and similar works before you are at least 30… means wasting your time and the author’s efforts (another warm greeting to the fools who develop school programs). So, take your time, if anything.

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Highly recommended. Take the time to read it.

I assure you that now, when war has come to our home, the enemy is trying to destroy everything Ukrainian, and we have felt ourselves as a nation with renewed vigor, this work will reveal itself to you in full.

A famous historical novel in verse in which the personal fates of the characters are closely intertwined with the fate of Ukraine. The work has two storylines. The first one is about the life of the girl from the legend Marusya Churai, and the second one is about the historical events that took place in Ukraine during the time of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. A young girl is on trial for murder – she poisoned her lover. As always, there are battles in court, but everything is complicated by the fact that this is not an ordinary girl, but Marusya Churai, who is known throughout Poltava and beyond, and who has repeatedly raised the morale of the Cossack regiment with her songs. And although one of the Cossacks defends the girl by saying that Hryts betrayed her and that this is tantamount to betrayal of the Motherland, the law sentences the poet to death. And in her cell, Marusya recalls all the events that led to the murder, as if she had come to her reader for confession. And then there will be preparations for the execution, an unexpected pardon, a pilgrimage to Kyiv… The second storyline has no less interesting events: a Cossack regiment preparing for a campaign and setting off for Bila Tserkva, the devastation of Kyiv by Radziwill’s troops, the siege of Poltava by the Poles… In depicting these events, Lina Kostenko raises many issues: loyalty and betrayal (both to a person and to the state), patriotism and opportunism, parents and children, service to the people, etc. But for me, this is a work primarily about love, pure, all-encompassing, sacrificial: “Her love reached the sky, and Hryts walked on the ground with his feet.”

I adore Lina Kostenko, a brilliant poet and seer of the fate of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Each poem, each work, like a priceless jewel, has enriched and enriched Ukrainian literature. And as you know, a precious stone needs an equally expensive setting. Undoubtedly, the edition from the A-Ba-Ba-Ga-La-Ma-Ga publishing house is simply luxurious: a hard cover covered with high-quality fabric, embossing that you just want to touch, gold letters for the author’s name and title. The book’s format is very convenient. Even without opening the book, you can feel the careful attention to design and thoughtfulness in all the details. And inside we find two main and most precious gifts: the first is illustrations by the talented artist Vladyslav Yerko. The second is a novel in verse about the fate of Marusya against the backdrop of historical events in Ukraine. Everyone knows the plot, so I don’t think I need to describe it. Because readers first get acquainted with Marusya Churai when they are at school. But over the years, the work opens up deeper and deeper each time, allowing us to comprehend more hidden but always relevant content.

An exquisite edition, very effective, from form to content, one feels unsurpassed and, I’m not afraid of this word, impeccable in everything. Many thanks to the publishing house for the opportunity to enjoy not only the immortal work, but also the aesthetics of the publication.

This edition combines an amazing novel in verse by Lina Kostenko, Marusya Churai, with an unsurpassed design by ABA-BA-GA-LA-MA-GA: gold stamping, illustrations by Vladyslav Yerko, and a cover covered with expensive fabric – luxury, well, there is simply nothing to add!

For those who don’t know the plot, the story here is about the semi-legendary poet and singer Marusya Churai, who lived in the time of the turbulent Khmelnytsky region. In the summer of 1652, she was sentenced to death for poisoning her beloved Hryts Bobrenko. What happens next? And then a true masterpiece of Ukrainian literature unfolds before us, with lines that are impossible not to fall in love with. I want to analyze the whole novel into quotes, but this one, in my opinion, describes it most accurately: “an inequality of souls is worse than property.” The events of the book, moreover, unfold not only against a love story, but also against a colorful historical background, where we have to watch war, death, defeats, and victories, which are constantly accompanied by Marusya’s loud song. An amazing novel with fabulously beautiful artwork that every Ukrainian should definitely read!

I bought the book to add to my home library and to prepare for the EIT. I adore Lina Kostenko, and this work has become my favorite. It contains a lot of reflections on life, its meaning, and love, which allows the reader to reflect on these issues themselves. The author writes very easily, so this novel is easy to read, and I have memorized several quotes myself because I really liked the work. I recently went through a not-so-happy situation in my life, and this novel helped me to endure it a little easier, and I liked the phrase “Somewhere, maybe, we will meet. If we don’t have arms, we’ll hug each other with our wings.”