French Author Marc Levy Visits Warsaw to Present New Book on Ukraine
One of the most renowned contemporary French writers, Marc Levy, made a visit to Warsaw and attended the "French Touch" gala evening on October 26th, marking the conclusion of a series of events designed to connect the Polish audience with France through its goods, culture, fashion, cuisine, and music. Polish and French artists, including performers from the world-famous Parisian cabaret "Moulin Rouge," participated in the event for the second time in Poland, as reported by Polskie Radio.
During this gala evening, Marc Levy introduced his latest book in Poland titled "The Symphony of Monsters" ("La Symphonie des monstres"). This novel, released on October 17th, narrates events in Ukraine immediately after the invasion of Russian forces in February of the previous year.
"The Symphony of Monsters" tells the story of a missing child from the village of Rykove in southern Ukraine, located approximately 50 kilometers from the administrative border with Crimea. A 9-year-old Ukrainian boy named Valentin is abducted by Russian military personnel and sent to so-called "re-education camps." To write his novel, Marc Levy used various sources, including visiting Kyiv and meeting with the Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubynets.
Levy portrays the novel's main character as mute, considering the child a "symbol of his country, the incredible humility of Ukrainians, and their steadfast will to resist."
"I think that amid all the lies Vladimir Putin spreads worldwide... sometimes his madness forces him to believe it's the truth. But his plan has never been anything other than the genocide of the Ukrainian people. It was important to tell this story because it's evidence of his true intentions," Levy stated in an interview with Polskie Radio.
Levy's books have been translated into 50 languages, including Polish, and have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
The French author strongly criticizes the Russian government for its invasion of Ukraine, but despite this, he remains a highly popular writer in Russia. As a result, the Russian translation of "The Symphony of Monsters" will be made available on the internet for free access, allowing Russian citizens to learn about the crimes committed by their country in Ukraine.
Regarding this, Marc Levy noted that if popular writers had written about Nazism back in 1933, some Germans might have viewed things differently.
It is worth noting that the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children. The Gaze publication in its video discussed how international justice could hold Putin accountable.