The City

The “Non-Canonical Canon” series is a way to talk about those we did not know, whose texts we read without understanding the context of their time. It brings together a wide range of Ukrainian authors and their works. Each text is accompanied by reading guides by Ukrainian literary scholars.

At its simplest, The City is the story of an ambitious young man who moves from the countryside to Kyiv to build a new life. He is often compared to the hero of Maupassant’s “A Dear Friend” and the self-confident and unscrupulous conquerors of social heights from Balzac’s stories. However, for Pidmohylny this is not just a career story. He describes the life of Stepan Radchenko in the historical and cultural context of contemporary Ukraine.