Quotes from book
The Moscoviad

Name: The Moscoviad
Author: Yurii Andrukhovych

The Moscoviad is a 1993 novel by the Ukrainian author Yuri Andrukhovych. His second novel, it was translated from the original Ukrainian into English by Vitaly Chernetsky in 2009. It may be regarded as a part of the trilogy which also includes Perverzion and Recreations. The three novels are not logically connected but all of them feature the postmodern style and deal with the same type of the protagonist — a picaresque Ukrainian poet. The Moscoviad depicts the adventures of Otto Vilgelmovych von F. which take place in the course of one day in 1992 in Moscow shown as a diverse, multicultural and disorganized city controlled by KGB and having imperial ambitions. The text is written in a rich and vivid language, exhibiting the elements of magic realism and mentioning multiple historical and cultural figures. Although the original text's language is Ukrainian, it contains many sentences in Russian and German spelled in Ukrainian for a more pronounced comic effect.

“The army is no longer capable of fulfilling the orders left by our ancestors: it only simulates. It is too squeamish to kill. This is no longer an army – it is a large gathering of pacifists and faggots, who are, in essence, the same.”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 172

“At the helm of freshly-baked, forgive me, independent governments there will appear executives tested and appointed by us. Chaos will generate more chaos. Where this would prove impossible, power will be grabbed by plain old degenerates. Or political prostitutes, dear Vladimir Ilyich. Or simply nothings.”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 176

“If I were a nationalist I would have answered you," you say slowly and articulately, even much too slowly, much too articulately. "But what sort of nationalist am I if I'm standing here with you drinking beer?”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

Якби я був націоналістом, то відповів би тобі, — кажеш повільно й виразно, аж занадто повільно, занадто виразно.
Але який з мене націоналіст, коли я отут з тобою п'ю пиво?
The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 48

“It's the subjugation of the entire world, it's communism, it's the immortality of mummies in mausoleums. It is the radiance of suns and rulers. It's a tower that takes ten thousand years to build. It's the might of armies, it's the burning of witches, it's the movement of people, continuous and unifying. It's the great copulation of nations, it's the swallowing of the smaller ones by the bigger ones, of the weaker ones by the stronger ones.”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 177-178

“To be drunk in Moscow is like having a relatively common hair color. Can you fault a man for the color of his hair? I think not.”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 107

“By the way, our nightingale language ranks second in the world in its melodiousness.”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 83

“You know that we are now allowing free expression of satirical thoughts. As they say, democracy is a beautiful thing, but humanity couldn't come up with anything worse than that.”

Yurii Andrukhovych book The Moscoviad

The Moscoviad
Source: The Moscoviad. Yuri Andrukhovych. Spuyten Duyvil, New York City. ISBN1933132523, p. 130