Bang your head against the wall

A book about complex family relationships and the various ways of coping with lifelong trauma. The author reveals the hidden causes of misunderstanding between a father and son, which are largely influenced by oppressive life circumstances. Soviet slavery and poverty, the shocking atmosphere of omnipresent fear, suspicion and hopelessness, imprisonment, prohibitions, persecution, and also the long, unequal struggle of the Ukrainian nation for independence. The novel, which alongside specific memories includes psychological deep dives, philosophical reflections and dream-like scenes, masterfully illustrates the absurdity of totalitarian thinking while also describing, without embellishment, the side of Ukrainian patriotism that was supposed to be crushed once and for all, but which nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of it, remained deeply rooted in the culture.