Vous voulez voir cette page en fran�ais ? Cliquez ici.

Quantity:

More Buying Choices

46 used & new from CDN$ 2.97

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

See larger image

See 1 customer image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian (Paperback)

by Marina Lewycka (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

List Price:	CDN$ 15.50
Price:	CDN$ 11.32 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
You Save:	CDN$ 4.18 (27%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

Ordering for Christmas? To ensure delivery by December 24 to Toronto, Ottawa, or Montreal, choose Express at checkout. Read more about holiday shipping.

16 new from CDN$ 6.18 30 used from CDN$ 2.97

Frequently Bought Together

Total List Price: CDN$ 50.00
Price For All Three: CDN$ 36.01

Show availability and shipping details

This item: Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Strawberry Fields

by Marina Lewycka

4.5 out of 5 stars (2) CDN$ 13.14

Too Close to the Falls: A Memoir

by Catherine Gildiner

4.5 out of 5 stars (12) CDN$ 9.48

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

4.7 out of 5 stars (3) CDN$ 13.83

Atmospheric Disturbances and Other Sad Meteorological Phenomena

by Rivka Galchen

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 18.87

People Of The Book

by Geraldine Brooks

4.5 out of 5 stars (6) CDN$ 12.05

› Explore similar items

Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Penguin Paperbacks; 11th printing edition (Mar 28 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143036742
ISBN-13: 978-0143036746
Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 12.7 x 1.5 cm
Shipping Weight: 273 g

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #45,536 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

The premise of Lewycka's debut novel is classic Viagra comedy: a middle-aged professor's aging and widowed father announces he intends to marry a blonde, big-breasted 30-something woman he has met at the local Ukrainian Social Club in the English town where he lives, north of London. It is clear to Nadezhda and her sister, Vera, that the femme fatale Valentina is only after Western luxuries—certainly not genuine love of any kind. Smitten with the ambitious hussy, their father forges ahead to help Valentina settle in England, spending what little pension he has buying her cars and household appliances and even financing her cosmetic surgery. In the meantime, Nadezhda, a socialist, and Vera, a proud capitalist, confront the longstanding ill will between them as they try to save their father from his folly. Predictable and sometimes repetitive hilarity ensues. But then Lewycka's comic narrative changes tone. Nadezhda, who has never known much about her parents' history, pieces it together with her sister and learns that there is more to her cartoonish father than she once believed. "I had thought this story was going to be a knockabout farce, but now I see it is developing into a knockabout tragedy," Nadezhda says at one point, and though she is referring to Valentina, she might also be describing this unusual and poignant novel.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Vera and Nadezhda have not spoken to one another since their mother's funeral two years ago. But the news that their eccentric 83-year-old father, Nikolai, wants to marry a 36-year-old woman from Ukraine so that she can stay in England causes them to work past their differences to save the old man from himself. Despite their efforts, Valentina moves in with Nikolai and begins to demand the good life the West is supposed to provide her, from a "civilized person's Hoover" and a "not-peasant-cooking" stove to a Rolls-Royce. As Valentina's demands become more ridiculous, the sisters band closer together to get her out, while Nikolai begins his laborious work on the history of the tractor and its effect on society. While the sisters and Valentina spar, Nadezhda struggles to put together the pieces of her family's past in Ukraine and Germany during World War II. Drawing on her own family, Lewycka has created a funny, tender, and intelligent novel that is as much social history as family saga. It is a delight. Elizabeth Dickie
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

canadian(1)

historical(1)

historical fiction(1)

literary(1)

women writers(1)

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

	89% buy the item featured on this page: Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian 4.2 out of 5 stars (6) CDN$ 11.32
	4% buy The Cellist of Sarajevo 4.4 out of 5 stars (17) CDN$ 15.33
	3% buy Strawberry Fields 4.5 out of 5 stars (2) CDN$ 13.14
	2% buy Three Cups Of Tea 4.7 out of 5 stars (75) CDN$ 8.25

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, Jul 4 2006

By	John Smith (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews

What particularly struck me about this book was the beginning of the opening chapter. Reading it further captivated me and the end of the book proved that it is an amazing story. A story in a story, A SHORT HISTORY OF TRACTORS IN UKRAINIAN captured the depth of characterization that produced an amazing octogenarian in love with a woman in her prime, a born survivor who is determined to make use of any advantage to secure a better future for her son; and the pragmatism of two conflicting sisters who are determined to 'rescue' their father. Enlightening, hilarious, gracious, gave and tender in turns, this fascinating story gives us an insightful view of the lives of those trying to make a new life as refugees or exiles.

I would recommend this book to any lover of good literary works. There are many lessons to learn from this book. In different ways we find that too in THE UNION MOUJIK, WAR AND PEACE,THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, OUR KIND.I enjoyed reading this book, so if you are undecided , my advise is that pick it up and do some reading that you will remember after

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "To survive is to win.", Aug 30 2007

By	Kona (Emerald City) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

In this unusual novel set in the English countryside, Nadia narrates the story of her father, 84-year old Ukrainian engineer Nicholai, who is about to marry 36-year old Valentina, also a Ukrainian. The old man is crazy in love with the busty blonde, while she only has eyes for English citizenship papers. Nadia and her estranged sister Vera frantically try to help their confused, lonely father get out of this marriage to his cruel and promiscuous bride, while he doggedly writes his magnum opus, a history of tractors, in Ukrainian.

Valentina is a brutish cow of a woman who has men lining up for her attentions; she quickly makes Pappa's life unbearable. Nadia, ten years younger than her sister, grew up knowing nothing of their parents' lives in Ukraine; little by little she gets Vera to talk about what her parents - and she - went through under Russian and German rule. These reminiscences were so horrific, so pitiable, I read with tears in my eyes, yet I was glad to see light shed on this grim chapter of history.

This is a quick read, an odd combination of wry family humor and grand tragedy; I would not call it a comedy by any means. Recommended for those who like stories about families whose members don't always see eye-to-eye, and for those who would like to learn about the Ukrainian experience in the 20th century.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Many excellent stories rolled into one., Jun 21 2007

By	M. Catalano "Have book, will walk into walls." (Toronto) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I can't decide whether I liked the history of the family, the development of the relationship between the two sisters or the advertised story of the octogenarian father and his relationship with the woman trying to take advantage with him. All were very well done but I found it a little hard to keep jumping from different story line to different story line in this short book. However, it is definitely a book I would pass on to others.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 6 customer reviews...

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fresh and hilarious
This is one of my all-time favourite novels. I love how the way the father's tone about the tractors changes depending on how he feels about the women in his life. Read more

Published on Jul 2 2007 by Marsha Skrypuch

2.0 out of 5 stars A SHORT REVIEW OF A SO-SO NOVEL
Being a second generation Ukrainian-Canadian, I had great expectations of this new novel from England. It promised history, humour, and social commentary. Read more

Published on Nov 12 2006 by James W. Derry