"I'm sorry, but the war has begun."
February 24 began with such words for the writer Vladyslav Ivchenko. The day life changed forever. Already in line to the military commissariat, he realized what he had now has its own story about the beginning of the war. "My grandmother had one, my parents didn't have one, and I was sure I wouldn't either."
"After the 24th" is a collection of short stories and rhythmic prose about the war, a record of what we have experienced and are experiencing now. About those who are ready to die for freedom and those who are ready to survive at any cost, about lovers and in lovers, about losses so bitter that you want to howl in pain, and about laughter that keeps you healthy and sensible. About betrayal and fear, about those in the rear and those at the front. Something is taken from life; something is invented. I warn you: very often, what will seem to be a real story will turn out to be fiction and vice versa.
The author is not trying to reflect on everything that is happening now or to give answers to all the questions that arose after the 24th because, after all, this is impossible in our time. Despite this, literature is still a reliable way to talk and tame our fears and replenish the reserves of hatred we will still need to win.
Vladyslav Ivchenko is a writer and the author of the novel "2014", the collection of short stories "Games of Memory," and the series about the adventures of the best detective Ivan Karpovych Pidipryhora.
