A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (2005) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Nadezdha/Nadia: Narrator of the story. Daughter of Nikolai.
• Vera: Nadezdha's sister. They are estranged at the beginning of the book but Nikolai and Valentina's relationship brings them together.
• Nikolai: Father of Nadezdha and Vera.
• Valentina: Nikolai's new love.
• Ludmilla: Nadezdha and Vera's mother, Nikolai's wife. She is deceased at the beginning of the book.
• Mike: Nadezdha's husband.
• Anna: Nadezdha and Mike's daughter. Adores her grandfather, Nikolai.
• Bob Turner: A man Valentina lives with because his house is close to her son's school.
• Stanislav: Valentina's son.
• Sonia: Mother of Ludmilla.
• Mrs. Zatshuk: Neighbour of Nikolai, becomes a friend of Valentina.
• Dick: Ex-husband of Vera.
• Alice: Daughter of Vera.
• Alexandra/Lexy: Daughter of Vera.
• Laura Carter: The lawyer Nadia hires to represent her father in his divorce. Described as a blonde, blue-eyed, English rose tigress.
• Eric Pike: A car dealer and friend of Valentina's.
• Justin: The private investigator Nadia hires to find out information about Valentina.
• Shura: Ludmilla's sister, Vera and Nadia's auntie.
• Dubov: Valentina's ex-husband and Stanislav's father.
• Margaritka: Valentina's daughter
• Baba Sonia: Vera and Nadia's grandmother. Ludmilla's mother.
• Bald Ed: The bartender at The Imperial Hotel that Valentina sees.

Quotes edit see section history

• “"It's the testosterone surge," says Mike as we follow my father through the busy Saturday morning streets.."Look, his back is traightened up, his arthritis is better. We can hardly keep up with him."..."Oh you men are all the same. You think sex is the cure for everything.""It cures quite a lot of things."I”

  Mike

• “"I don't know," Bogey-nose whines, "no one ever told me anything about it.""Sometimes it's better not to know."With a snap, Big Sis closes the door to the past and turns the key.”

  Nadezhda

• “"And so I leave you with this thought, dear reader. Use the technology which the engineer has developed, but use it with a humble and questioning spirit. Never allow technology to be your master, and never use it to gain mastery over others.”

  From Nikolai's book on tractors

• “Take an apple, push iron nails into it, leave it overnight, then take the nails out and eat it - that way you get both Vitamin C and iron.”

  Aunty Shura

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• And so I leave you with this thought, dear reader. Use the technology which the engineer has developed, but use it with a humble and questioning spirit. Never allow technology to be your master, and never use it to gain mastery over others.

  Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers

• Between seven and ten million people died across Ukraine during the man-made famine of 1932–1933.

  Highlighted by 8 Kindle customers

• “It was that moment—more than anything that happened to me afterwards—that turned me into a lifelong socialist.” There is silence on the other end of the telephone, and for a moment I think she has hung up on me. Then: “Maybe it was what turned me into the woman in the fur coat.”

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• Every time I phone my father or my sister, it is like crossing a bridge from the world where I am an adult with responsibilities and a measure of power, to the cryptic world of childhood, where I am at the mercy of other people’s purposes, which I can neither control nor understand.

  Highlighted by 6 Kindle customers

• It is my father’s great regret that both his children were daughters. Inferior intellectually, yet not flirtatious and feminine, as women should be, but strident, self-willed, disrespectful creatures. What a misfortune for a man. He has never tried to conceal his disappointment.

  Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers

• When someone has power, the lesser people always try to gain favour with them.

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• “The triumph of the human spirit?” Vera snorts. “My dear, that is charming but quite naïve! Let me tell you, the human spirit is mean and selfish; the only impulse is to preserve itself. Everything else is pure sentimentality.”

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• “That’s what you always say, Vera. But what if the human spirit is noble and generous, and creative, empathic, imaginative, and spiritual—all those things we try to be—and sometimes it’s just not strong enough to withstand all the meanness and selfishness in the world?”

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• The only way to outwit hunger is to save and accumulate, so that there is always something tucked away, a little something to buy him off with.

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• so…perspicacious. You’d think he could see through her.”

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Ukraine
• Peterborough
• England
• Cambridge
• London
• Nottingham
• Essen
• Ramsgate
• Kofferraum

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Family Relationships and Conflicts: Describe this theme.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Marina Lewycka (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize (2005)
• Man Booker Prize (Finalist, 2005, Longlisted)
• Orange Prize for Fiction (Finalist, 2005)
• Waverton Good Read Award (2005/6)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › British › Contemporary
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Thrillers › Psychological & Suspense
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Romance