News Summary

Kairos and Ivan and Phoebe Connect Readers to the Past

• Books Kairos and Ivan and Phoebe aim at connecting readers to time past and making the past feel immediacy.
• Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos is a novel about a woman who finds herself in different versions of the same life after her child dies, connecting her to the different layers of German history.
• Oksana Lutsyshyna’s Ivan and Phoebe is a novel about a Ukrainian orphan who is adopted by an American family, grappling with the challenges of cultural difference.
• Both books offer readers a chance to learn from the past and form connections with people who have lived in different times and places.

Final Thoughts

As Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” By offering a portal into different cultures, ideologies, and moments in history, books like Kairos and Ivan and Phoebe can help readers gain a more profound understanding of the world around them and engage in empathy and compassion toward others. Fiction and history are not mutually exclusive; together, they can create a comprehensive narrative of our collective human experience. These books are vital in fulfilling our obligation as human beings to learn from the past and shape a better future.

Original Article: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/26/1179616359/3-works-in-translation-kairos-ivan-and-phoebe-the-four-corners-of-the-heart