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Set in rural Armenia in the aftermath of war, Narine Abgaryan’s heartwarming short stories show people finding hope and purpose again.
Set in an Armenian mountain village immediately after the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s, these thirty-one linked short stories trace the interconnected lives of villagers tending to their everyday tasks, engaging in quotidian squabbles, and celebrating small joys against a breathtaking landscape. Yet the setting, suspended in time and space, belies unspeakable tragedy: every character contends with an unbearable burden of loss. The war rages largely off the book’s pages, appearing only in fragmented flashbacks. Abgaryan’s stories focus on how, in the war’s aftermath, the survivors work, as individuals and as a community, to find a way forward. Written in Abgaryan’s signature style that weaves elements of Armenian folk tradition into her prose, these stories of community, courage, and resilience celebrate human life, where humor and love and hope prevail in unthinkable circumstances.
View Table of ContentsRecently, I was given a complimentary copy of the book, "To Go on Living," by Narine Abgaryan. I had no idea what the book was about until I started reading. I was captivated after reading the first chapter. I knew nothing about the country of Armenia or about the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. I've never been much of a history buff, but found these very poignant stories touching my heart. The author uses a very descriptive writing style and immediately draws the reader in. Though the stories were very difficult to read, I was thankful to have the opportunity to read them. They helped me understand the realities of war. I was astounded at the ability of the people mentioned to rise above their situations. Their resilience was astounding. I don't think I'd I've been able to respond in the same way if I'd experienced the tragedies they had experienced. I would like to think that I would be able to have a positive outlook on life as they did, but I'm not sure I would have been able to do that. As I read, it seemed to me that each person in the story had accepted war as an integral part of life and had learned to either accept or reject it. As they learned to accept it, they managed to find a way to keep on living. Two quotes in the book really touched my heart: "To write about a war means almost destroying any hope within yourself. Like staring death in the face while trying not to avert your eyes. Because if you do, you will have betrayed your own self." And the other one, "Life is fairer than death, and that's what encapsulates it's unbreakable truth. It is necessary to believe this in order to go on living." Those powerful words gave me a new perspective. I would like to thank Plough publishing for allowing me the honor and privilege of reviewing this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in history but also to those interested in learning how to overcome tragic circumstances.
In To Go on Living the storylines and topics of this collection of short stories during the aftershocks of war are undeniably heavy and dreadful. The communities are all connected by a backdrop of loss and heartbreak, yet I found myself not feeling as deeply as I had initially anticipated. The narrative touches on numerous poignant accounts, but I believe that more time could’ve been devoted to exploring individual stories in more depth, rather than brief accounts of many. This approach might’ve allowed a deeper emotional connection with the characters and their experiences. (For me, anyway.) While I can’t say that I was untouched or unmoved by these tales, I did feel that the overall impact was lost somewhere. The stories seemed to skim the surface of the struggles and emotions, leaving me wishing for a deeper connection. It’s possible some of this disconnect is due to the translation, which might’ve affected the nuances and depth. Still, I enjoyed the underlying thread of hope throughout. #CoverLoverBookReview received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions are 100% my own.
Beautiful, heartbreaking yet hopeful stories, weaving together the lives of villagers who go on living after losing loved ones to war. Simple and understated, yet so superbly written, there are moments I was left breathless and stunned. Never before have I read a book with such emotional force. The translators deserve an award for rendering the prose in such natural, effortless English. Read this unforgettable book. You will be changed.
To Go On Living by Narine Abgaryan Reviewed by Judith Robinso What struck me most about this collection of interrelated stories is the imagery depicting the glories of a created world where colors, sounds, movement of plants, animals, and people are alive with joy, contentment, and pleasure, no matter what human foibles also run through this sense of blessing. But then the imagery of the hell of war that obtrudes on men, women, children, animals, even nature, is stark, gaunt, a skeletal black and white obscenity stripped of the beauty it destroys. In the novel A Month in the Country by J.L Carr, the main character who has survived the horror of WWI is hired to uncover a Medieval painting of Judgement in a country church. He has lost his faith in God and is still ravaged by trauma. Yet when he sees the painting, he says, “It was breathtaking. A tremendous waterfall of color, the blues of the apex falling, then seething into a turbulence of red; like all truly great works of art, hammering you with its whole before beguiling you with its parts.” I believe this passage is fitting for Narine Abgaryan’s stories of war-torn Armenia, where each horror is punctuated by some answer that says the choice is to go on living, even if body and mind are broken. Images of love abound: the love of the mother making “baklava—phyllo dough, whipped egg whites with sugar and walnuts, with a golden crust generously soaked in cinnamon honey. It was the last baklava she ever made…for how can there be baklava when the heart just aches and aches?” When the body parts of family members come home in separate parcels, the descriptions are compressed compared to those of the beauty of a lost world. The reader asks, where is God? In this amazing collection, many reflections come to mind, and all are related intimately or more distantly with suffering and compassion. Truly, this collection hammers the reader with its whole and astonishes with its parts to paint the beauty of the ordinary saturated with love in contrast to the perversions of war saturated with hate. How the writer achieves this vision of the world is not simple but profound, and it will engage my thinking and feeling and praying for a very long time. I recommend this book without reservation and with deep respect for this artist who has given such a gift to us. Reviewer: Judith Robinson
All stories are set in a little town called Berd in a region called Nagorno-Karabakh. Every story describes how the local people are affected by the conflict. Each of the characters wants to live their life happily, with joy and in good health. They all want to love and be loved. Are they asking for too much? Of course not. These people have done nothing wrong, they just were born in a region where two religions clash. Every story is very sad, you can feel desperation, total devastation, and yet they still have hope. If you are a sensitive reader, have a box of Kleenex at hand.
The way we consume media has desensitized us to the brutality, horror, and day-to-day despair of war, but this book slaps you in the face with it. The writing is so mundanely beautiful, and you can tell it comes from a place of love and honor for the land and people that she writes of. Often when we read of war it depicts concentration camps or diaspora, but we so rarely see the lives of those who stayed in their homes and towns, and how their lives are altered as they survive in a warzone. Women are the bearers of culture and community, and this book is beautiful.
What a lovely, lovely book. Bittersweet, heartbreaking, sad, melancholic, about the pain that lingers long after a war is finished. How war shapes lives not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. It is the second book by Abgaryan that I've read (the first was "Three apples fell from the sky" which I also liked a lot) and I will definitely add her to my "authors to follow" list.
A masterful exploration of the human capacity for endurance and renewal in the face of profound loss. Narine Abgaryan’s storytelling is both tender and unyielding, offering readers a window into the lives of those who persist in the aftermath of tragedy. Through its vivid characters, lyrical prose, and universal themes, the book affirms the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring power of community.
The relentless sorrow of people living in the hills of Armenia during war cannot overcome their dignity and connectedness; their perseverance gives me hope for humanity. These stories, full of painful beauty, are difficult to get through, but well worth the effort. In spite of never having lived in a war zone, I feel a commonality with these far-away people that makes me wonder how anyone can really go to war.
