Trigger warning for mentions of domestic violence.
John Turner is a man at loose ends. His longest romantic relationship is over. His father—his only family—has passed away. His job is going nowhere. Still, it’s surprising that John takes up a wild offer from an old college friend, Davey. His mission is to go to Lutsk, Ukraine, and teach the agents in this friend’s call center to sound more American. (Apparently, Ukrainians don’t do American-style small talk and it’s putting off the customers.) In Calling Ukraine, Johannes Lichtman tells John’s story, from his days as a stranger in a strange land to the day he has to say goodbye to people and places he has found himself in love with.
Calling Ukraine is set in 2018, before Volodymyr Zelensky was elected president. (In a brief note at the beginning of the advanced reader’s copy I received, Lichtman explains his decision to not change much of the text in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.) Turner speaks no Ukrainian or Russian when he arrives in the country. He’s also been told that it’s no problem to overstay his visa when it runs out or pay taxes, although he worries a bit about the legalities. Taxes and visas are the least of Turner’s problems, we soon learn. So many things are different in Lutsk that, until he starts to make friends who deign to explain how water delivery or the public toilets etc. work, Turner spends a lot of time worried about doing the wrong thing.
Turner’s mystification matches the bafflement of his friend Davey’s employees over American small talk. I’m really glad I listened to Lingthusiasm‘s episode on phatics before I read this book. It’s really handy background on a practice that, if you start to think about it, is really hard to explain. Culture is so deeply embedded into small talk that Turner really has to work to explain to the call center agents why Americans talk about the weather, ask about weekend plans, and chat about nothing to fill the silence. I was hugely entertained by Turner’s flailing. I know I wouldn’t have done any better, of course, but it’s hilarious to watch someone else struggle to explain something we do unconsciously all the time.
I enjoy fish-out-of-water stories, especially when there’s a linguistic element. So I enjoyed much of Calling Ukraine. I felt for the anxious, lonely Turner as he navigates American English and Ukrainian and the vast differences between the two languages and cultures. I especially enjoyed the deadpan Ukrainians who, once they get used to the American in their midst, transform into warm, lively people. There were some elements of the novel that didn’t work for me (two chapters narrated, for some reason) by other characters, but this might be nitpicking on my part. Readers who would like to do some armchair traveling to western Ukraine will like this one.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.
