Depeche Mode

»A poet and novelist whose work has been variously compared to Rimbaud, Charles Bukowski and Irvine Welsh, Serhiy Zhadan’s first novel Depeche Mode depicts Ukrainian youth during the turbulent 1990s. Described by the author as ›a book about real male comradeship,‹ the novel follows the unemployed narrator and his friends, Jewish anti-Semite Dogg Pavlov and Vasia the Communist, on their adventures around Kharkiv and beyond.

Against a background of social disintegration, slowly eroding Soviet mores and rapidly encroaching Western culture, the three comrades drink gratuitous amounts of vodka and embark on a quest to find their missing friend Sasha Carburetor to tell him about the suicide of his one-legged stepfather. Despite containing some darker themes, Depeche Mode takes an irreverent look at life; Zhadan is not afraid to mix philosophical musings and grotesque narrative with moments of slapstick comedy.

Serhiy Zhadan is one of the key voices in contemporary Ukrainian literature: his poetry and novels have enjoyed popularity at home and abroad. His poetic style and masterful wordplay have led critics to dub his trademark approach ›verbal jazz‹, a description that reflects his unique authorial voice. Zhadan stands as a witness to a time of great social change through the eyes of Ukraine’s dispossessed youth. His work explores the changes he has witnessed as a representative of the immediate post-Soviet generation in Ukraine.« (book description from the English edition published by Glagoslav Publications)

»Despite containing some darker themes, Depeche Mode takes an irreverent look at life; Zhadan is not afraid to mix philosophical musings and grotesque narrative with moments of slapstick comedy. Serhiy Zhadan is one of the key voices in contemporary Ukrainian literature: his poetry and novels have enjoyed popularity at home and abroad. [...] Zhadan stands as a witness to a time of great social change through the eyes of Ukraine’s dispossessed youth. His work explores the changes he has witnessed as a representative of the immediate post-Soviet generation in Ukraine.« Three Percent

»More, perhaps, than any other writer from the post-Soviet era, Serhiy Zhadan speaks to this experience of national and personal upheaval… Zhadan gives us a flâneur‘s perspective on post-Soviet urban life, with its ruined socialist architecture, industrial wastelands, petty crime and violence. The absurdity of the clash of socialist and Western culture is also sharply observed.« Uilleam Blacker, The Times Literary Supplement

»Despite the (by now far too) familiar tropes and types, and the excessive reliance on excessive alcohol consumption, Depeche Mode stands out among novels of the early post-Soviet transition – going beyond these, as well as offering a few very nice literary flourishes and twists, early evidence of Zhadan’s promise as a writer.« M.A.Orthofer, the complete review

»In fact, Serhiy is not only a brilliant novelist but also a superb poet who succeeds in blending tradition and modernity in his verse. Kerouac and Skovoroda, Semenko and Ginsberg.« Massimiliano Di Pasquale, Eastonline

»What a book! Abysmally sad and hysterical at the same time, hopeless and deeply poetic, pitch-black and of a furious, unruly force.« Neue Zürcher Zeitung

»This is rock’n’roll as it should be. Fast, full of life and simply intoxicating!« Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung

»Serhiy Zhadan, poet, performance artist and impresario, is one of the most important creative forces in modern Ukrainian alternative culture. His first novel absolutely bashes this into the reader. He writes desolately, brashly, deliriously, associatively, cleverly and with laugh-out-loud humour and great empathy for his characters. […] A book between Charles Bukowski, the Sex Pistols and the also-rans poetry of Aki Kaurismäkis.« KulturSpiegel

»[Zhadan] crafts an opalescent kaleidoscope of psychedelic scenes out of disparate chips of meaning and ideological building blocks that make for a hilarious, anarchic and fantastic read.« Berliner Zeitung