Odessa is not only the name of a city but also the name of a myth. The theme of this book refers to the contribution of Russian literature of the XX century to the construction of this “Odessa myth”. The city gave the world many talented writers who, in turn, gave this city to the world. Unique images of the city appear with texts by I. Bunin, K. Paustovskyi, I. Babel, I. Ilf and E. Petrov, V. Kataev, Y. Olesha. All this was skillfully combined and presented to the readers by a Dutch writer Jan Paul Hinrichs.
Jan Paul Hinrichs (1956 born) – Dutch Slavicist, works at Leiden University. Author of numerous books on Russian and Bulgarian literature and the history of Slavic studies in English, German and Dutch languages. His book Lemberg – Lwów – Lviv: the fatal city was translated in Ukrainian and published in Kiev in 2010.
Jan Paul Hinrichs. The Myth of Odessa. – K.: Dukh i Litera, 2011. – 182 p. ISBN 978-966-378-202-7.
Reviews and articles:
- Igor Degtiarenko. “The Myth of Odessa”: onlooking from Holland. – ATV TV company.
- Illia Reiderman. “The Myth of Odessa”: purely subjective perception. – Vecherniaia Odessa newspaper
- Elena Karakina. Repetition of the Myth. – Shomrei Shabos newspaper.
- Irina Zakharchuk. Stories about Odessa told with the Holland accent. – Kommentarii newspaper.
Awards:
In 2011 the book became the winner of the Odessa Municipal Literary Competition named after Kostiantyn Paustovskyi.
