Ukrainian writer, his works are published in great envelopes, they are read by many and with pleasure. Appropriate reviews, recognition and success … And communicating with a well-known writer probably involves profound philosophical questions and reputable immersive answers. But with Maxim Kidruk everything is different: it is swift and structured in actions and words. Therefore, it is not surprising that his works are acoustic and multilayered, with unpredictable solutions and sharp dialogues, action-stories and techno. And on all the serious questions he finds simple and rational answers
“Today we are talking about my new book,” Do not look and keep silent. ” In the small towns where I am going now, I tell about all the books and show all the trailers, even those old ones, which were made in 2013, demonstrating the evolution of the trailer. There’s nothing so romantic, but you want to show and tell”
“When I started this book, the push was not the desire to write about teens. I had some interesting episodes, some interesting stories, both from the point of view of the plot component and from the scientific point of view. I thought that it was necessary to show something realistic that could actually be. And then, when I thought of the plot, I realized that it would be better if that was the story about the teenagers. Why? Because most adults, even those who are poorly educated in school, intuitively have this realistic perception of the world, intuitively, not everyone perceives faith, searches for the true causes, find out why this may be the case, and not otherwise. Adolescents are not so, although the teenager is already, actually, an adult. With their cockroaches in their heads, but in relation to the real world, objects in the real world, they have the vision of older adults. But among them there are those who treat the world more directly, do not dig deeply and perceive things as they are. And then I realized that this very type of teen is very good for my characters – fourteen-year-olds Mark and Sonia. Mark has a more realistic vision of the world, and Sonia is more direct. And that is why the existence of those places that I am describing does not cause it a shock, a dissonance. It does not cause problems with the understanding of reality ”
“My step in the literature, and this, of course, was stretched over time. Very much! Looking back, it just seems like “op!” – and you’re already in the literature. In fact, I wanted to become a writer all my life. My father has a huge library, I read very much from very young age. But when a person finishes eleventh grade, or rather a physical class, she does it very well, she has a gold medal, then she will not tell her parents: “Mom, dad, I want to be a writer.” At best, they laugh ”
“My dad is a journalist, writer, and my mother worked as a registrar in the maternity hospital. From her mother’s line there was a very culturally and enlightened family, which was terribly deployed, and brought out many ancient books by hooks. Grandfather on the mother’s line was the director of the school. Therefore, the genes passed the ease of assimilation of new information, its processing and the formation of certain conclusions. I remember by myself that I did not study at school: I was an excellent student, but I have never done anything. And the fact that I needed to cram, for example, poetry, I hated. I have a good vision, and I remember how he gave the verse “Masonry”. On the third desk, the guys put a book between them and I read it. From this way, I gave out poems that had to be taught by heart ”
“The most hated items from which the teacher with a creak of teeth gave me” excellent “were Ukrainian and Ukrainian literature. I read a lot, but the program was hated. Even though from the whole of the soviet trash, one could choose something that would be interesting for a teenager. I read Maine Reed and Jules Verne, and then my father collected a series of Western Louis L’amour. And I think about three years that the best writer in the world does not exist. Such were the fighters of interest! But I was simply dumped into the impossible, this dogmatic extortion of writing works, there are some thoughts of Gonchar in the novel “The Cathedral”. AT! And I had to write a page or three pages! I just could not understand it, and the works I were terrible! I just pressed them by letter! But as soon as in foreign literature, when we were given a task to write an essay on a free topic a couple of years ago, I described how my comrades in Kirovograd region played Indians. It was somewhere there in the eighth grade, there were beaver creeps, and we hunted those beavers, made their own bows! The work was read to everyone. But the dogmatic works that you have to write as if from yourself, but you have to be clearly within the framework, I hated. I think my teacher now knows who I was, I even think she was reading something, but I do not know what she thinks about it. Nobody was dragging me on the medal, it’s not stupid! And I understand that the mathematical class, and the Ukrainian language and literature are not profile items, and she gave me that assessment, but … “(Smiling)
“For me a diametrically different understanding of the concepts of what countries like, and in which countries I see myself. I see myself only in Ukraine. I had the opportunity to live in Stockholm, Sweden, but to be a Ukrainian writer, living in Stockholm, is wrong and even unrealistic. Here, in Ukraine, I am in my place, I am engaged in what I want to do, here I am happy. ”
“I share the world not by country, but by places. And here the undoubted number one for me is the Easter Island. This is the most distant piece of land on the planet Earth. And the whole book “Journey to the navel of the Earth” is all about the Easter Island”
“I shot a film for Azarov in Namibia. This is the chemba tribe. Absolutely such an idea was spontaneous, however much as I was asked about this video: “How were you preparing?”. But did not prepare! Just then this topic was deeply relevant, all said something. I have everything in my head, and I drive through, people go. You know, there are such tribes that I call “tourist”. They dress, something shows to tourists, but only you go, they dress in normal European clothes and go 500 meters in the hut with a satellite antenna to watch the TV clips. But these are not! We traveled to some really stuffed corner of Namibia, but just among those stones the family went with the children. Naked women, bandages. We waved, stopped. There was a Dutchman, an Australian, with us, and we had to go, actually, when I said, “Wait.” We approached them, began to explain, some of them knew English. I explained that and how, so that they did not think that there will be swear words and then from them just will all get together in YouTube. I explained, I asked if he or she had taught them two or three phrases. And it was funny. It was a good experience, but I did not expect it to be so public. Well, yes, I thought that there would be publicity in my literary party, who knows me, but that’s right! And you know, it’s a bit annoying: when you do something nonsense, and they all talk about it. And here you write a book in which you invest so much, and everyone says: “Well, okay!”. Here you made an absolutely idiotic video and got to the top. But this is a fun experience. And they really spoke beautifully in Ukrainian “(Laughs)
“In politics, I also had an experience. It has been a long time ago, and for a long time to tell, why I have agreed to it. The experience was, of course, negative, but this is an experience. Kirovograd region is my second birthplace, there are many contacts, and I knew all the underwater currents, I understood what everything is going on. I lost the election, and then there was terrible pressure in all senses, it was very difficult. I lost the election, but in a few days everything turned upside down. When I came to present Kropyvnitsky’s novel in half a year, a lot of people came to the presentation, which told me: “I’m sorry we did not vote for you”. In the end, there was a full hep-end, almost like a movie, but before that there was enough trash, which is simply unpleasant to remember ”
“I am a rationalist. In my book “Do not Look and Keep Silent” is the character of Grandfather Arsen. Through him, I translate a lot of my views: a realistic attitude to everything, from science to people-to-people relationships, including politics. No radical changes will make anything. Changes will be made if they go through gradual education and the development of rationalist perceptions in the people’s heads. People have to filter all the information, distinguish fake news from the right, understand how to look for the right news, understand who speaks or why, who can stand for it. Then, after the election, there will be changes. Idiots are full and in America, but their advantage is that there are sober minded people a bit more. Therefore, they function as a nation successful. And we have too many people who believe in populism, who wait for a messiah after a shovel … There have to be several changes of generations to make changes. We travel a lot in the villages, and when in the villages instead of three gilded churches and a victim’s school there will be three schools and one church, there will be changes. At the same time, I have nothing against religion, it is also necessary. But in politics then everything will be fine when politicians will choose the majority of educated people ”
“I am very fond of American football. This is a completely unknown sport in Ukraine! I have a Wilson at home, which, unfortunately, we did not get on the road. As we go to Rivne, we will definitely take and will be photographed, because I even have a hashtag # friendship_Vilson. I often go out with friends or just with my wife and she plays the role of the receiver. This is a very intellectual sport, the most intelligent of all team types. Unfortunately, he is often confused with rugby – a sport with extremely simple functions: “Take the ball, run, wait.” And in American football, each has its own function, even its own body structure under the executable role. Someone is blocking, someone is distracting, someone is running, someone catches. Certain players can touch a ball, and some do not have the right to do so. It’s like chess! Each draw on the line of collision – it’s actually a duel between two coaches, one of which has invented something, and the other one has to prevent him. I like to run and watch myself. And here, in Ukraine, I do not even have enough people with whom I could talk about it ”
“I am collecting cold weapons, collecting a model of passenger liners. I have a great love for aviation! They are made by various companies: Herpa, Inflight 200. These are not glued models, they are extremely realistic – just a small plane! This is a huge part of my life ”
“Once in school we had a group in which I sang, although it was difficult to name singing, but nevertheless, I really love music. This is now a Google play, and I have bought discs for a very long time. Of course, I was seen as an idiot, when I paid 24 euros for the disc. Now I have a huge collection of disks, and there is a wonderful sound. Now few people think that the file MP-3 is smaller, the human ear does not catch that, because the frequency of sound is different. And disks are a format that is transmitted on all paths. And if you have good speakers, you feel completely different things, or you will perceive music”
“What is the most important thing in life? Find a person with whom you have a pleasure to spend evenings. And it’s a pleasure to spend time together, just like you. It’s not just love, it’s a much wider relationship, but love too. The second is self-realization. You need to wake up every day, with the understanding that you are in your city, with a smile, and that you like what you do. This is also a great reason for the fact that we are all so bad that people do little to do what they do not like, and the environment in no way contributes to expressing themselves. And the third most important thing is to ignore the noise in the broadest sense. Starting from not listening, when they say: “You will not do anything.” And ending with the removal from social networks, news that create the illusion of existence ”
“I do not know if I am a strong man. It’s now I have large prints, great tours around the country. But the transitional period was dreadfully difficult. There were days when I was eating only buckwheat or oatmeal, because there was no money for anything else. And that’s why I think the strength is not important. The banal obstinacy is important here. Power is important for a one-time solution. That’s what I wanted – I’m going to the gym today. Or I wanted everything – I’m dropping a job, I’m starting to write a book. Whatever the power, it will not be enough. It is not necessary to go to the hall for two or three weeks, writing a book is not two or three months. The result requires a long period, banal obstinacy and faith in their own strength! And let there be what’s happening, let there be what you say ”
“I was in Zhytomyr, but I was driving. The question about the city I came to bring everywhere. We’ve had tours for almost five years, and I will not creep: take me now, where I’ve been five times in a row so I do not know what that particular city is, then I will not say where I am. I could have lied to you, but no, damn, I do not know Zhytomyr! Well, in Lviv, okay, architecture is definitely better, but I would not say that the best people or the city are making some other feelings. I do not know what Lviv. For me, it’s a taxi, a coffee shop, where I had dinner, an evening room and then a train or a car that I’m going home with. That’s all my Lviv. And Zhytomyr is like a city where it is comfortable to raise children ”

Translated by Aliona Matushevich