My choice is very obvious. But after the 24 February 2022 I am not sure obvious is obvious. It’s George Orwell’s 1984.

The sad irony about my acquaintance with this classical piece is that I first read it last year in Summer - July 2021.

We were at my mother-in-law's house outside Kyiv, Ukraine. In a town called Brovary. During the hot July days I was sitting in the deck chair in the shadow of the apple tree and reading this well-written horrible distopia. In comfort and calmness.

And just half a year later real bombs and missiles hit Brovary. My wife’s mother and her friend had to hide in the basement for several days – until they moved to western Ukraine. And still we don’t know whether we will meet again.

There must be no war.

Valentin Novopolskij, Vilnius, 11 April 2022