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Slogans: Our Children, Our Future
Seven-year old Stepha and his little brother Vanya never mistook their Russian village of Unkurda for Eden, but after the Communist revolution in 1917, they found Hell. The two were among the millions of children cast adrift by a succession of soul crushing events. War, revolution, epidemic, and starvation, all conspire to force even the youngest of them to mature beyond their years. The brothers, armed only with the memories of their dead mother and absent father, vow to do more than just survive. They swear a blood oath to reach their dream or die trying. Their dream—a far off place they know only as America.
464 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 4, 2015
18 people want to read
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December 9, 2015
Slogans is more than a recount of history, a story of war or a family biography- it is a story of human frailty, strength, endurance and resiliency. Pribish is an artist who draws with words. Every word, every phrase, is chosen for the impact it will have upon the reader. He draws you into the lives of his characters through their actions and deeds as well as their strengths and weaknesses. The story is told through a number of viewpoints but the most powerful are those told through the eyes of Akulina, a young mother and her two sons, Stepha and Ivan. Many scenes brought me to tears or caused my throat to constrict in shared emotion. Senseless losses, the normalizing of horrific behavior, the impact of “slogans” on a people looking for hope, the strength and belief of one woman, who would not be swayed by the rhetoric or the beliefs of the masses, and the love of that woman for her children, are themes that will stay with the reader for a long time.
A unique and refreshing style that Pribish employs throughout the book is the inclusion of a children’s fable at the beginning of each chapter. This serves as an effective ploy to provide much needed emotional relief from the tension of the preceding chapter while at the same time foreshadowing what lies ahead. Coupled with the children’s viewpoints in the story, the effect is powerful. It reflects man’s innocence and relative infancy in the evolution of humanity. The fable makes the reader stop and ponder- the simple wisdom provided by their creators so many centuries ago, holds true today. If only we would listen and remember. How easily we are swayed.
Slogans has many layered themes and underlying morals that lead the reader to self-reflection. How would I respond in that situation? How am I responding to the refugee situation that exists in the world now? Is this any different than what Akulina, Stepha, and Ivan faced in Russia in 1922? Pribish leads the reader to examine our human frailties as well as our strengths, to recognize the repetitive nature of history and to yearn for a way to break the cycle. This is the perfect book for book clubs to discuss and debate and university students to analyze, for there is much to discuss and many answers to big questions hidden beneath the surface, just waiting to be examined and explored.
Slogans will not pale next to Tolstoy’s, War and Peace or Ken Follett’s, Pillars of the Earth. It is classic that will resonate with all readers and withstand the test of time and style.
A unique and refreshing style that Pribish employs throughout the book is the inclusion of a children’s fable at the beginning of each chapter. This serves as an effective ploy to provide much needed emotional relief from the tension of the preceding chapter while at the same time foreshadowing what lies ahead. Coupled with the children’s viewpoints in the story, the effect is powerful. It reflects man’s innocence and relative infancy in the evolution of humanity. The fable makes the reader stop and ponder- the simple wisdom provided by their creators so many centuries ago, holds true today. If only we would listen and remember. How easily we are swayed.
Slogans has many layered themes and underlying morals that lead the reader to self-reflection. How would I respond in that situation? How am I responding to the refugee situation that exists in the world now? Is this any different than what Akulina, Stepha, and Ivan faced in Russia in 1922? Pribish leads the reader to examine our human frailties as well as our strengths, to recognize the repetitive nature of history and to yearn for a way to break the cycle. This is the perfect book for book clubs to discuss and debate and university students to analyze, for there is much to discuss and many answers to big questions hidden beneath the surface, just waiting to be examined and explored.
Slogans will not pale next to Tolstoy’s, War and Peace or Ken Follett’s, Pillars of the Earth. It is classic that will resonate with all readers and withstand the test of time and style.
Displaying 1 of 1 review