Bez gruntu. Stories

The novel «Bez gruntu» and the short stories «Pomsta», «Pryborakanyy haydamaka», and «Oy poikhav Revukha...» are united by a common theme:
They are all stories about people who are forced to live with a double identity, pretending to be someone they are not in order to survive.
The novel "Bez gruntu" is set in the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 1930s. It describes a time when the ideology of the new world sought to completely break with any traditions. The goal was to create a new type of person, not burdened by the past. In an authoritarian state, the leader becomes the only object of worship. The protagonist of the novel, Rostyslav Mykhailovych, a culturologist from Kharkiv, comes to his native Dnipro to decide the fate of the Varangian Church, built by his grandfather.

Domontovych masterfully depicts the atmosphere of total fear that reigns in a totalitarian state. People are forced to wear masks to hide their true thoughts and feelings. Some seek salvation in intellectual escape from the terrible reality.