Latest Harry Potter book, in Ukrainian, is launched in Kyiv (10/16/05)

Latest Harry Potter book, in Ukrainian, is launched in Kyiv

by Yana Sedova
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - A Ukrainian-language version of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" rolled off the presses on October 6, joining German and French as the first translations of the latest novel in J.K. Rowling's wildly popular series.

"Don't be a Muggle, support Ukrainian because it's cool!" read the book's slogan, printed on one of the back pages.

To meet the frantic demand, Ukrainian booksellers bought up 70,000 copies of the series' sixth installment before its official presentation at the Ukrayinskyi Dim in Kyiv.

The official 574-page Ukrainian translation arrived two months ahead of the Russian version.

"This is very important for promotion of Ukrainian reading," said Ivan Malkovych, the director of the nation's biggest publisher of children's literature, A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, which has been active since 1992.

"It was very important to publish the book earlier than the Russian translation in order to engage tens of thousands of readers who would read at least 600 pages of Ukrainian in their life," he explained.

The original English-language "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released on July 16. In the first 24 hours it was available, Americans bought 6.9 million copies, making it the fastest selling book in history, according to bookseller Barnes and Noble.

The most impatient fans could read the latest novel on the Internet, in Russian, a few weeks after its English-language release in July 2006. However, the pirated translation was of a rather low quality.

More than 200 Ukrainians, mainly mothers and their excited children, swarmed the presentation party, in Kyiv, catching their first glimpse of the bright, colorful cover.

Every translation has its own unique cover, and the Ukrainian version depicts Harry Potter seated in an aquamarine-colored rowboat, holding a magic wand and crossing a lake in a cave. Seated behind him is his mentor of magic, Prof. Dumbledore.

In fact, Harry Potter's trademark owners in Great Britain have deemed Vladyslav Yerko, the artist who created all the covers for the Ukrainian translations, as the novel's best international illustrator, Mr. Malkovych said.

Mr. Yerko's depiction of Harry Potter has grown increasingly similar to English actor Daniel Radcliff, the young man who portrayed the wizard in the movie series.

Mr. Yerko is the rare person involved in the Ukrainian translation who has yet to read a single Harry Potter novel. "I will read the whole series after the seventh novel is released," Mr. Yerko said at the book release.

The Harry Potter translation team consisted of nine workers who toiled through the translation project without taking time off for weekends or vacations.

Viktor Morozov bought the novel in Amsterdam on July 16, the release date, and started work immediately. He spent 16 hours a day in his Washington office translating the novel, sending it in parts to Mr. Malkovych by e-mail.

The early translation wasn't the only surprise for Ukrainian Harry Potter fans. In the middle of one of the 70,000 books, the phrase "Zolotyi Harry" is written in the margins.

Mr. Malkovych said his publishing house would give a free computer and the whole Harry Potter series printed in Ukrainian to the owner of this book.

The book presentation became a festival for children, who enthusiastically chanted the right answers in response to Harry Potter trivia questions that Mr. Malkovych shouted above the crowd.

It was very difficult to choose a winner since the children started crying out the answers before Mr. Malkovych even finished his questions. "I was frightened, because these kids know absolutely everything about Harry Potter," he said afterwards.

Their knowledge isn't surprising, considering many of the avid Harry Potter fans said they have read each novel six, seven and even eight times.

"I liked the fifth book ['Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix'] more than others," said Ivan, 10. "There are many interesting adventures, magical and funny situations, and his friends always support him."

While about 30 children won free books, parents had the chance to buy the new book at its specially discounted price of $5 - half as much as in book shops, where the price is almost $10.

As a result, many guests bought several books, and more than 600 copies were sold by the end of the day, Mr. Malkovych said.

Before the release date, Mr. Malkovych gave about 100 copies to each book shop in Kyiv. By the end of the first week, the books had already sold out, according to promoters.

"This book is an undoubted leader in children's literature sales," said Olha Ponomariova, the deputy director of the Kyiv book shop Litera.

The Ukrainian translation historically has been much better than the Russian official translation, along with the quality of paper and book's design, Ms. Ponomariova pointed out. That's the main reason Ukrainian copies were swept off the bookshelves so quickly, she said.

"We were luckier than other bookshops because we received 180 copies for being a big shop," Ms. Ponomariova said. "If we had received more, we would have sold all of them as well."

In order to satisfy the needs of young readers, about 50,000 additional copies will be printed this week.

Some Ukrainian editions will even seep into Russia's book market, where the Russian translation won't appear until December this year.

It is unknown how many Russian-language editions have sold in Ukraine in the past several years, compared to the Ukrainian-language versions.

However, in both countries, readers bought several million copies of the Russian-language edition, compared to 300,000 of the Ukrainian version.

This is the case despite the fact that critics said the Russian-language version of the fourth novel, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," was poor, and the Ukrainian version was the first translation of the novel anywhere that year.

Harry Potter is promoting the Ukrainian language, and children are finally starting to read books in their native language, Mr. Malkovych said. Moreover, Harry Potter is getting kids to actually read, since many have gotten used to playing computer games and watching television.

"I read three books about Harry Potter, all in Ukrainian," said Severyn, 9. "I like that there are different adventures in the books, and I think Ron and Hermione were good friends of Harry."

Among those attending the book release was Valentyn Tykhenkyi, a 12-year-old who looks very similar to the movie actor who played Harry Potter. His classmates even gave him the nickname "Harry Potter" for his strong resemblance to the famous young wizard, including the circular lenses of his glasses.

Valentyn said he read all five novels in Ukrainian and would like to have friends like Harry Potter's.

Not all Ukrainians are enthusiastic about Harry Potter. Vsevolod Nestaiko, a leading author of Ukrainian children's literature, said some religious people think the book is anti-Christian, though he doesn't agree.

One sign of the changing times is the fact that many Ukrainian parents said they read their children the Harry Potter stories instead of old traditional fairy tales.

"This book can change present-day children," said Halyna Ivasiuk, who came to the Ukrayinskyi Dim with her two daughters, age 4 and 12. "Our children are too pragmatic. And this book teaches friendship, sympathy and the emotional experience. It teaches how to be human."

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