Return to Ukraine (Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Tex.) [Hardcover]

Ania Savage (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Savage, a Ukrainian-born journalist, was invited in 1991 to teach a course on Western media at Kyiv State University, in the Ukrainian capital, and to serve as a guest editor for the Communist government-affiliated Ukraina's Society's English-language newspaper. Eager to see her birthplace again, Savage (who fled during WWII) returned to Ukraine with her mother (who was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's) and her aunt. As she recounts the emotional story of their travels, Savage writes of her ambivalent feelings about her country of birth. She writes of her trip to Babi Yar, where Jews were slaughtered during the Holocaust; of her encounters with Ukrainian censorship and surveillance (Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union during her stay there); and of how years of Soviet oppression have left Ukrainians poorly housed, fed and educated. But she also recounts the warm welcome locals extended to her mother, her aunt and herself; the friendships she formed with several Ukrainians; and her affection for the suffering people and her hope for a better future for them after Communism. Part memoir and part history, this is a detailed and thoughtful look at a part of the world that until the 1990s was not easily accessible to Westerners. B&w photos. (Mar.)

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This book is an account of the American author's quest for the "hidden bonds" of kinship in her native Ukraine. It is also a perceptive description of a country rediscovering its identity in the last tumultuous days of the Soviet Union. Savage takes us from the excavation of a mass grave for victims of Stalin's terror through the affirmation of Uniate Christianity in Lvov and the country's first independent parliament in Kiev. While the description is more anecdotal than analytical, the personal discovery is reassuring and redemptive. Savage begins in a sort of emigr? netherworld marked by her and her hosts' ambivalence; but from a "hodgepodge" of values and knowledge, she finds herself on the path of an aspiring pilgrim who is both American and Ukrainian. It is ultimately a spirit of humanity and a persistence for the truth that give such a personal testimony so universal a theme. While the book's subject may limit its appeal, readers will not be disappointed. Recommended for larger public and academic libraries.
-Zachary, T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: TAMU Press (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890969167
• ISBN-13: 978-0890969168
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #986,190 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Travel > Europe > Belarus & Ukraine

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars American journalist finds roots in Ukraine, February 21, 2000

By 

Martha Bohachevsky- Chomiak (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return to Ukraine (Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Tex.) (Hardcover)

Three books are enfolded into this elegant and readable volume. One is a first hand account of the very first months of Ukraine's existence as a separate state upon the collapse of the USSR. The other is an amusing travelogue through Crimea and the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea. The third is the personal story of daughter-mother relationship, made all the more poignant by the onset of the mother's Alzheimer disease. Savage, an American journalist born during the Second World War in Ukraine which her parents flee before the Soviets, is invited by the still existing Soviet Ukrainian government to teach a course on American journalism. She arrives in Ukraine two days after the aborted putsch put an end to the existence of the USSR. Aware of her mother's illness, she brings her to Ukraine for a short visit, which coincides with the exhumation of the skeletons on the Ukrainian Partisan Army soldiers who between 1941 and 1952 fought both the Nazi Germans and Soviet Russians. Figurative skeletons are skillfully woven into the account, as Savage deftly weaves history, politics, and personal observations into a fascinating tale of the slow disintegration of a totalitarian regime, and an equally slow birth of a new democratic Ukraine. This is much more than a travel book and it covers more than just the Ukrainian experience. Savage gives us a readable introduction to the painful story of how a totalitarian regime could destroy even those who fled it, while at the same time providing us with graphic vignettes of how individuals cope in conditions not of their own making. Savage is able to capture real people on paper, even though she does make a few factual mistakes. But why quibble with a spot, when the overall picture is so good? Martha BohachevskyWashington DC

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required New Text for Ukrainian Schools in North America, August 15, 2000

By 

A. Genyk-Berezowsky (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return to Ukraine (Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Tex.) (Hardcover)

Having taken a trip in 1990 for a pilgrimage to my grandparents' graves and to see my roots I was really interested in reading Ania's book to see what her impressions were. I had reservations about the ability to stomach reading the boring diary of someone else's trip. Boy was I surprised. I couldn't put the book down. Ania has a very interesting writing style. I didn't have to read dry trip recounting by a "wanna-be" author. I read a professionally written "story" with interesting scenes from her travels. These were presented complete with flashbacks and interspersed with historical facts that helped me understand the situation.

I think that anyone interested in understanding that period of time should read this book. Additionally one of the best uses of the book would be to make it required reading for all the second generation (+) children of Ukrainian parents in North American. Many attend evening or Saturday schooling in Ukrainian and struggle to understand what it's all about. This book would be easier for them to read and comprehend, and could help them immensely.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great description of independent Ukraine, May 11, 2000

By 

F. Orion Pozo "Orion Pozo" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Ukraine (Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Tex.) (Hardcover)

From the Carpathian Mountains to the Black Sea, a great description of independent Ukraine. Ania Savage has written a wonderful book describing her journey to Ukraine during the time Ukraine was gaining its independence from Russia. The story of her family fleeing Russian persecution when she was six years old and her growing up in the USA with her mother's fond memories of home adds depth to her visit to the towns of her youth. Her description of her visits to both Western and Eastern Ukraine gives the reader a great sense of the cultural and geographic differences in this large Eastern European country. She works in a urban university and a rural school and her descriptions of the people she meets are respectful but insightful. She provides a lot of historic background to the places she visits and her bibliography in the back of the book is a valuable resource for further reading. This is a great book to read if you want to find out about Ukraine at the moment this great country gained its independence. It is a shame that almost eight years have passed between the events described in the book and its publication. The last chapter tries to bring the reader up to date, but it is only able to update us on the characters. It only briefly covers events in the last eight years of Ukrainian democracy and left me yearning for more.