In his latest book, Szczepan Twardoch looks into the trenches on the first line of the war front in Ukraine. The brutal, dirty and terrifyingly realistic reality in “Null” is devoted by means of checked in previous novels of the Silesian writer. It is worth reaching for it especially now when the fate of Ukraine is weighing.
Since the full -scale War in UkraineSzczepan Twardoch regularly goes to the front. Personally, he provides drones to Ukrainian soldiers, rifles, night vision devices, telescopes and many others needed to fight, which he buys for money from collections. As he said in an interview with PAP, “a great and terrible experience was to see this war up close for the first time”, he even said that it was “somehow formation” for him.
Although the writer initially planned to reflect the horror of this war through the non -fiction book, he finally decided to get the species from which he is best known – a novel. In the note at the end of the book he writes that although the characters and events in “Null” are fictitious, “he described this war as close to the truth as he could.” As a result, the novel is very realistic. This is not a story about noble heroes and heroic deeds, but about the people who were lost by the continuous struggle that the story caught and made soldiers.
“Null” – review
The narrative in “Null” is unusual – the narrator speaks to the main character. It is a 45-year-old horse (he is known to comrades in arms), a historian, a Pole whose one of his grandparents was a Ukrainian. When a full -scale war breaks out, the horse enhancers into a volunteer to the Ukrainian army. He is not sure if he does it because of Ukrainian ancestors, or maybe he just wants to escape from his life in Warsaw.
He wonders when he is sitting in a small cavity on Null, which is the most extensive point of the front. As his companions say, “sometimes hangs”, and then he thinks not only about his life before February 24, 2022, but also about, among others: remorse after killing the enemy, the sense of war, the nature of Russians, friendship. The internal monologue of the horse is a very important and extensive part of the book, with which Twardoch tries to tell about difficult to capture issues that are of great importance in the war. This style of narrative, consisting of interlacing the ongoing action with extensive divagations, is nothing new for Twardoch. In this respect, his previous novels were similar.
The book is read quickly, although its action does not take place. There are no violent phrases and surprises in this story. We will not find here spectacular missions of soldiers straight from Hollywood war films. Because this is not everyday life on the front. The horse crawls from the cavity on the null to pick up a packet of water dropped for him, he must get into a nearby basement, or lead a drone, which is protected by a companion approaching quietly to the enemy. These actions do not seem thrilling, but they are extremely dangerous. Twardoch presents a reality in which death is at every step and a minimal mistake, inattention or just bad luck can bring her to soldiers. This is a very brutal novel, which is sometimes pain reading.
The strength of the book is her expressive, well -defined heroes. Twardoch devotes the most attention to – of course – soldiers, among whom is, for example, an alcoholic with a sentiment to the USSR, who simply wants to survive in the war. Or a thirty -year -old from a good home who threw his studies because he took part in the Revolution in Majdan. A former member of Berkut, who was also in Maidan, is fighting at his side, but to suppress the revolution. Nobody is bad for him now, because in the fighting with the Russians he shows great courage.
The writer shows the specificity of the Ukrainian army consisting of people from various social strata, reminding that since the outbreak of war it has been largely functioning thanks to the common departure. She is not uncritical towards her. Quite the opposite. She indicates that she is undisciplined, and her soldiers can be broken, unreasonable, sometimes stupid, and their motivations to fight are sometimes worth pitying. However – what is important – he does not undermine for a moment that their fight with the Russian invader is correct. Ukrainians are fighting just and Twardoch gives this feeling in their book.
“Null” is not a novel only about the war, but also about getting lost in the dark. For a horse, life before plowing into the army seems to be something unreal, unreal, it is more and more difficult for him to believe that he would come back to him someday. Some soldiers say directly: this war will never end. They have no hope for a happy return home, sometimes we even have the impression that they are looking for death. They are lost, broken mental, and it is an extremely poignant aspect of this book. Already in previous Twardoch he proved that he could describe the dark recesses of the human soul. Now he confirmed this.
This is not a monumental novel with an extensive story and many side threads. In part, it is understandable, because Twardoch gives reality on a small section of the front, which with the army remains only in radio contact. However, several times, some threads, arising thanks to the memories of the horse, break too quickly before they draw us in good.
This is a very short novel that can be ended on one winter afternoon. Nevertheless, it is worth reaching after “Nulla”. Szczepan Twardoch, based on the funds he trusted in previous novels, gave the enormity of the nightmare that takes place next to us. The book allows you to look at it deeper than in the relationship of information services.
The book was published on February 26 by the Marginsy Publishing House.
Source of the main photo: Albert Zawada/PAP