Reading up on Ukraine

Getting ready for a trip to Ukraine needn't entail hours wasted reading dodgy Soviet-era spy thrillers that are found in such abundance in the airports and hotel lobbies of the world. Get straight to the point with the fine literature out about the country or by Ukrainian authors.

Put yourself on the right track for a trip to Ukraine, or just settle back with a good book and prepare for some armchair voyages, with the following authors and their top reads:

Firstly, get set for a trip down memory lane, indulging in the nineteenth-century writings of Nikolai Gogol. Born in the Ukrainian Cossack village of Sorochyntsi back in the days of the Russian Empire, Gogol is best known for Dead Souls and his short stories Diary of a Madman, The Nose, and The Overcoat. While Dead Souls focuses on provincial life, his short stories are perhaps more relevant for a trip to Russia's "Window to the West", as they take place in (and satirise) life in imperial St. Petersburg. Yet his undisputed masterpiece, Taras Bulba, tells the tale of Taras Bulba and his sons, Andrey and Ostap, who are Cossacks of Zaporozhia, in Central Ukraine. Ernest Hemingway apparently recognised Taras Bulba as "one of the 10 greatest books of all time" - but don't just take his word for it!

More recently, Everything is Illuminated has been turning heads and getting people to tune into the latest offerings on the silver screen. Written by Jonathan Safran Foer, the novel is the mostly fictional account of the author's travel to Western Ukraine in search of a woman called Augustine, who saved his grandfather from the Nazis in her youth. The film, adapted from the novel and released in 2005, starred American actor Elijah Wood and Eugene Hütz, the Ukrainian-born singer of American "gypsy punk" band Gogol Bordello. In both book and film, Jonathan begins his journey with his "translator" and guide, Alexander "Alex" Perchov, Alex's "blind" grandfather, and the grandfather's dog, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr. Even if a Ukrainian trip isn't on the cards, this is one story that's worth checking out - both for the style of the prose and Hütz's inspired performance as the slightly misguided Alex.

So no matter if you're stuck on the Moscow metro, waiting in the lobby of any one of those numerous Prague hotels, about to catch a flight to or from Kiev, or anywhere else in the world, get into a great book about Ukraine and thoroughly enjoy the experience!