Extraordinary Books – serie

'A tremendous book – oracular, clear, vital. It will shift the ground under every reader of it' Ali SmithA radical reframing of Russia’s war on Ukraine‘Apocalypse Baroque bears witness to a country on fire and a culture that fights against erasure. Crossing Ukraine in trains and volunteer cars, I have collected testimonies of everyday defiance that has surprised the world and, at times, Ukrainians themselves. A suitable language for relaying the atrocities we endure does not exist. I accept it, alongside the need to reach for a universal dimension in the singular horror of each act of Russian aggression. When reaching for the universal, one often taps into folklore. And once in the realm of folklore, one can read the old stories in a new way and make the reading emancipatory. In the sixteen tales that comprise this book, we meet characters from myth and legend next to my contemporaries and fellow citizens, united in a fightfor justice.’ Sasha Dovzhyk