Vita Nostra

Vita Nostra is a novel by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko (Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko) first published in 2007 in Ukraine. The novel tells the story of Alexandra (Sasha) Samokhina, who is forced by an unknown man to attend a remote and mysterious university.

Vita Nostra
First edition (Ukrainian)
AuthorMarina and Sergey Dyachenko
CountryUkraine
LanguageUkrainain
GenreFantastic/Contemporary fantasy/High fantasy/Magic realism
Publication date
2007
ISBN9780062694591

Title

The novel takes its title from the lyrics of a commercium song commonly known as Gaudeamus igitur:

Vita nostra brevis est
Brevi finietur.
Venit mors velociter
Rapit nos atrociter
Nemini parcetur.

translated into English as:

Our life is brief
Soon it will end.
Death comes quickly
Snatches us cruelly
To nobody shall it be spared.[1]

Plot

While vacationing at the beach with her mother, Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage girl is powerless to refuse when this strange and unusual man with an air of the sinister directs her to perform a task with potentially scandalous consequences. He rewards her effort with a strange golden coin.

As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts for which she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer ends, her domineering mentor directs her to move to a remote village and use her gold to enter the Institute of Special Technologies. Though she does not want to go to this unknown town or school, she also feels it's the only place she should be. Against her mother's wishes, Sasha leaves behind all that is familiar and begins her education.

As she quickly discovers, the institute's "special technologies" are unlike anything she has ever encountered. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, their families pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want.

Major characters
  • Alexandra (Sasha) Samokhina - The novel's protagonist. She enrolls in a school in the fictional town of Torpa.
  • Farit Kozhennikov - The recruiter and advisor of Sasha.
  • Konstantin (Kostya) Kozhennikov - A student in Sasha's class and son of Farit Kozhennikov.
  • Oleg Borishovich Portnov - The instructor assigned to Sasha's courses of specialized study.

English translations
  • Julia Meitov Hersey's translation of Vita Nostra has been published by HarperCollins Publishers on November 13, 2018.

References
  1. "Gaudeamus igitur,". Translation by Mark Sugars
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