Verba movent, exempla trahunt

Abstract

Valentyna Sobol’s review entitled Verba wovent, exempla trahunt analyses the latest work of professor Mykola Zhulinsky My Second World War – a documentary „novel-chronicle in voices” (Жулинський Микола. Моя друга світова. Роман-хроніка в голосах, Видавництво «Ярославів Вал», Київ 2016, 416 сс.). The reviewer pays special attention to book’s complex structure, however it consists of just two, albeit extensive chapters „A war on us against all” (Війна з нами проти всіх) and „A war for ourselves with everybody” (Війна за себе з усіма). These chapters and their titles are keys that unlock unknown charters of Ukrainian history of 1939-1945, but they do not give definitive answers to difficult questions. V. Sobol analyses tragic experiences of main personages of the novel-chronicle and its multiple (real-life) secondary heroes – all set against the backdrop of the history of East-European totalitarian societies of the 20th century. Of special significance for the novel are the rules the narrator applies to portray its people and his skillful ability to reveal their idiosyncratic and universal features. Zhulinsky’s book overwhelms the reader and gives it a powerful stimulus to its own thoughts and judgements.