BOOK NOTES

Novel depicts modern-day odyssey of orphaned Ukrainian

"Crossing Years," by George O. Dzul. Published by Donald S. Ellis; distributed by Creative Arts Book Company, Berkeley, Calif., 2002. 146 pp. $14.95 (paperback).

The novel "Crossing Years" by George O. Dzul has been described as a "meditation on identity and selfhood, loss and change, the real and the counterfeit."

The author "tells the very real but often unbelievable story of a man's life, a life that begins in 1939 [in war-torn Europe] and is still very much in process in 1999."

An orphaned Ukrainian boy loses not only "his mother but his past and his heritage; he drifts from rescue to adoption to a wealthy family in Michigan - and from there to life as a playboy, a forger, a wanderer, and an owner of a company that cleanses what has been made unclean." His adventures, strongly marked by the element of the picaresque, bring to the fore the ability of the protagonist to reinvent himself.

The story, which spans 60 years, is narrated in four parts: "War Years, 1939-1953"; "Family Years, 1954-1979"; "Captive Years, 1980-1989"; and "New Borders Years, 1990-1999."

Ed Levitch, author of "From Beginning to Beginning" reviewed the book, noting Mr. Dzul's "masterful handling of rhythm and time" and the author's "capacity to narrate the passage of life through time with the graceful virtuosity of an orchestral composer."

"In a voice that is stylistically akin to the music of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, with its variations on patterns of repetition, George Dzul uses this device as a driving mechanism to establish transitions of chapters, of time, of place, of appearance. Even as it establishes its rhythmic pattern, nothing remains the same, except the will to survive," wrote Toni Werbell.

The absorbing and moving novel has been likened to "a modern Odyssey of its own kind" (Anna Muza, University of California, Berkeley) and "an interesting work both in terms of its narrative exposition and the history and personal lives that it represents" (Robert DeLossa, Harvard University).

George Dzul lives in northern California, where, in addition to his writing, he practices immigration law. Mr. Dzul's first novel, "Elusions," won the Hopwood Literary Award at the University of Michigan.

For information about purchasing the book contact Creative Arts Book company, 833 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94710 or call (800) 848-7789.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 7, 2004, No. 10, Vol. LXXII

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