Readellion
Mariia Diakova and George Vyhranovskyi are the founders of Readellion, Ukraine’s first magazine store. Passionate about print and design, both Mariia and George wanted to share their love for beautiful printed objects with the rest of their country, as well as to encourage and develop a more vibrant magazine, book and zine scene in Ukraine.
If you could recommend 3 books to anyone, what would they be?
The City by Valerian Pidmohylnyh
We had to read this book at school and it made practically no sense, but rereading it in a more sane age was worth it. It's an urban novel, showing the changes in the mind and soul of the rural young man who decides to conquer the capital, Kyiv. There are still huge differences in the ways people live in the country and the city in Ukraine, so wherever you live, there is something from the protagonist in you. The doubts, the vanity, the idealism, the energy. It's a great book, makes you think and check your compass once in a while.
Unfortunately, it seems like you can't find the paper copy of it in English, but there's a free e-book version at University of Toronto website.
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol
Turned out we both loved this book a lot more than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's a childhood classic, something that makes people laugh, wonder and fall in love with the language. Alice is the first glimpse into the world of surreal, something that makes you a David Lynch fan later on in life. "Life, what is it but a dream?", right?
Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Many people know Ken Kesey for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but reading Sometimes a Great Notion gives you a feeling that you keep seeking in movies, TV series and other books years after reading the novel. It's a big book and a long family story of Oregon loggers, where not a single entirely positive character can be found. That's when you know the book is good. You can have mixed feelings about it at the beginning, but if you are brave enough to go on, pure joy is all that's left.
What are you reading now?
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, because there are never enough family sagas. The book is arresting, but almost physically painful in its frankness.
Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense by Rory Sutherland is something our friend recommended us to ease up on our rational side.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is a science fiction classic and it's definitely on our reading list.
Whose reading list are you most curious about?
"Joerg Koch, Paula Scher, Mirko Borsche, any of the movie directors.”
— Mariia Diakova and George Vyhranovskyi of Readellion
