In the West, the mashup genre has been played with in literature for a long time. It is a combination of a work of classic literature with a variety of fantastic elements, assumptions, etc. Mashups became quite famous in the 2009 novel by American writer Seth Grahame-Smith «Pride and Prejudice and Zombies», which was made into a 2016 movie of the same name. It turns out that Ukraine also has similar works, and today we will talk about one of these novels, called «The Kaidashev Family vs. Zombies». It was written in 2021 by Ukrainian writer Oleksiy Dekan and published by «HERE». As you can imagine, we have a combination of Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky’s famous novel «The Kaidashev Family» and the walking dead. Read how it is perceived, whether it is worthy of attention and whether it is necessary at all in the material below.
Pluses:
high-quality bright edition; an unexpected combination of classics of Ukrainian literature and the walking dead; careful treatment of the original and its incredible fantastic improvement; the book is interesting and simply written, but at the same time made in the style of the original
Minuses:
not everyone will accept such a combination of genres and general experiments with the work; not enough, we want more
Author Oleksiy Dekan
Publisher HERE
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 144
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2021
Size 130×200 mm
Website knygarnya.com
1878. The Independent Ukrainian Republic. Almost 30 years ago, during the war between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the world was invaded by zombies. It changed the political map of the world, destroyed many countries, and gave others the opportunity to gain independence. Of course, Ukraine took advantage of this, but the walking dead have not gone away, so the NUR is no longer afraid of Muscovites because their country does not exist. However, many people carry weapons, and villages and cities look more like fortified fortresses.
Not far from Bohuslav, in the village of Semyhory, the Kaidash family lives. Omelko Kaidash was an assassin in the last war. His wife Marusia is a black voodoo witch from Africa whom he met during the war and took to Ukraine. And their children, Lavrin and Karp, look exotic for a village in Ukraine. This family and the village as a whole will soon face many sufferings, problems, and conflicts, but they can only survive them by uniting. However, sometimes this will not help.
The last time I read an original work by Ivan Nechuy-Levytsky was at school. It was an interesting, but sometimes boring, and most importantly, morally challenging experience. Of course, to prepare for reading this mashup, I had to re-read it. Those who remember will recall the sadness and longing that seems to permeate the story. Although, in my opinion, these are characteristic features of most Ukrainian literature of the time because those were the times.
Oleksiy Dekan retained this signature atmosphere in his mashup «Kaidashev Family vs. Zombies», but added brightness, effectiveness, and action to it. At the same time, the author did not spoil the plot, characters, or mood of the story. The main elements of the story you read above are logically explained and woven into the story in such a way that it is difficult to find fault with anything. Of course, it’s impossible to follow the novel without changing anything here, so there are certain plot moves and changes that are not in the original, but there were no zombies there either.
I never thought I’d say this, but the theme of the walking dead is very much a part of classic Ukrainian literature. The gloom is already there, we have already mentioned the longing, so Oleksiy Dekan just needed to add mysticism and horror. And now a wonderful mashup is ready, which schoolchildren will read much more eagerly than the classic «The Kaidashev Family». And adults will also be interested, especially fans of science fiction, mysticism, and fantasy. But I don’t know how this work will be received by connoisseurs of classical literature. But it was not written for them either.
«The Kaidashev Family vs. Zombies» — is a vivid and modern reinterpretation of a classic work of Ukrainian literature. And the addition of the walking dead and other fantastic elements only enhanced the overall not-so-funny atmosphere of the story, which together resulted in a book that is hard to put down.
This mashup is simply and easily written. And although the author tried to write in the style of the original, we have here a modern work, and a genre work at that, so reading the story «Kaidashev’s Family Against Zombies» is much easier and more interesting than the original work. Especially if you like zombies.
It is also important that the author did not artificially inflate the original, so we have 140 pages of text, or a small book. But on this, so to speak, compact «platform», Oleksiy Dekan managed to do everything: start the plot correctly, introduce characters, logically explain changes and the existing universe, keep the tension and create drama, ignite the story and end it effectively. That’s why «Kaidashev Family vs. Zombies» reads rapidly, and most importantly, it makes you want to take a break.
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