Volodymyr Vynnychenko was a Ukrainian literature rebel at the beginning of the 20th century. He provoked many intellectual conflicts and, at the same time, built an incredible literary and political career. Vynnychenko became a popular playwright and author of novels, articles, and memoirs, and in 1917 he headed the General Secretariat of the Central Rada.
"Notes of the Snub-Nosed Mephistopheles" is a novel about a moral experiment in which, perhaps for the first time in Ukrainian literature, the relationship between a man and a woman is openly analyzed. A hero who wants to get rid of his own child because he does not want to be a father. A woman who refuses to have an abortion. An unwanted child that eventually becomes a psychological shelter for the main character. The author tests his credo, "do what you want when you are not tormented by remorse," and looks for the limits of personal freedom in relationships.
About the series "Non-canon canon"
Thinking about the canon of Ukrainian literature, only a few names from the school curriculum come to mind: Shevchenko, Franko, and Nechuy-Levytskyi. Although in reality, this list is much more extensive and more diverse.
Before you are the series "Non-canon canon", with the help of which we want to talk about all those we did not know, whose texts we read without understanding the context of the reality of the time. Before you are a series designed to rediscover familiar strangers. You will find a range of Ukrainian authors and their works - from Pidmohylnyi and Barhianyi to Khvylovyi and Johansen, from an elegant intellectual novel to a dynamic adventure, from innovative urban prose to psychological texts.
Keys accompany each text for reading from Ukrainian literary experts. They will tell you what to pay attention to and help you look at the texts of Ukrainian classics in a new way.
