Sergey lives in the Grey Zone, the area between fighting forces in the war-torn Donbass region of Ukraine, it’s been several years since Euromaidan, and ever since pro-Russian factions have been fighting with Ukrainian forces.

Kurkov’s knowledge of the peninsula, its peoples and traditions, on the other hand, is indisputable. And while Sergeyich doesn’t see himself as concerned with the war, he ends up becoming more involved than he would like to, all the same. It is finally time to make his way home, but one problem remains to be addressed: his hive of grey bees.The reader looks at the life of those living in Grey Zones of the war-torn Donbas as well as occupied Crimea through Sergeyich’s emphatic eyes.

There are also always reminders of the nearby conflict: the shelling in the distance (and occasionally closer to home) or, for example, the dead soldier Sergeyich spies lying in the snow not far from his home.

It's also a devastating commentary on Russian interference in Ukraine and the good old Soviet/Russian tradition of lying while oppressing people.

If, in the gray zone, people get along and help one another despite inhabiting a denuded, post-apocalyptic landscape, Crimea turns out to be the opposite. Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Egy ilyen regény esetében is kénytelen volnék elismerni, hogy remek írói teljesítmény - csak éppen utálnám. There are Sergeyich’s bees of course who mean everything to him, and they happy hums make him a happy man.Kurkov transforms the abstractions of geopolitics into an intensely human account of compassion and persistence . We also see how a basic economy of simple objects reveals an entire underlying web of social and political issues.

But Sergey Sergeyich, who used to work as a mine inspector but was retired disabled (with silicosis) at 42, has chosen to remain. as if the actions of the Russian government were in some ways reflective of a deeper national character.With its focus on Sergeyich, it captures the conditions in this small corner of the world during this time exceptionally well -- though of course now, in 2022, when full-scale war and large-scale destruction has been imposed on it by Russia it's no longer anything even like this. My little vignettes are a meditative representation of books I love reading and which bring me comfort, and of places I visit to find calmness and solace, especially during anxious times. Und wie der Autor es am Ende schafft, das Leben der Menschen und der Bienen gleiche Bedeutung beizumessen, so dass man sich fragt, wer denn nun eigentlich die Grauen sind, ist schon eine raffinierte Symbolik. In an act of whimsy, Sergeyich swaps the road signs, pleasing Pashka who now gets to live on Lenin St. Sergeyich is a witness to the constant harassment and subjugation of the Tatar community by the Russian authorities.