Review of To Go on Living: Stories by Nadine Abgaryan

*To Go on Living: Stories* by Nadine Abgaryan, translated by Margarit Ordukhanyan (2018). Published by Plough Publishing House.

Hello! If you’re new here and stumbled upon this blog through a random Google search (or from your search engine of choice—I know that there are so many other ones out there in the world), and this your first time, then I’m glad to have you here. My name is Ashley, and I started this blog after working as a professional film critic and writer.

I wanted to have a space where I openly shared my own thoughts about whatever I wanted to read, not whatever was trendy at the time to get some clicks here and there. It’s a swell time, as this blog is largely focused on international literature and film, as those are my core areas of interest.

In late 2024 and much of the beginning of 2025, I was left unemployed in an unexpected way, and I took a hard look at my finances and realized I had enough money to take some time off. This is an immense privilege, and this blog has been a way to keep my sanity and wallet (as I make a few pennies here and there when the ads pop up) going, as I definitely would have gone mad if I had nothing to do that.

That said, I caught up on a lot of books during this period. I knew that I wanted to read more to sustain my practice as a creative writer. I’ve published a few chapbooks here and there, but I wanted to use this time to write more poems, essays, and fiction, which I definitely did.

I have a lot of advance copies sent to me. Sometimes they’re physical ones, as the publishers manage to get my email through the weird and mythical powers of the Internet, but usually I get my online digital advance copies, sent straight to my Kindle from approximately a decade ago, from NetGalley. I prefer these because I only have so much room in my tiny childhood bedroom, which I still occupy as a young twenty something.

I had about thirty advance copies, which, much to my relief, are due all the way up until the end of 2025. I would have actually gone insane if I had to read all of these in a short amount of time, but I requested and received in a way where they’re beautifully spaced out.

To Go on Living was one I personally requested, as I wanted to read more Russian and Armenian literature. Armenia is a place I’m very curious about, as I know nothing besides the modern conflict between Azerbaijan. I also want to go to both countries to learn more about the region as a whole, but I flew through my copy of To Go on Living.

Let’s get into the review! Introductions can get to be quite long, and I don’t want to bore you at the beginning of the post.

The stories of the people living in Berd, a mountainous Armenian village, during the war with Azerbaijan.

For those who might not be familiar with Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan, I recommend reading up on that before checking out a copy of this book, or, if you’re finished with the stories already, go ahead and read some more about what’s happening. I thought I knew about it, but I was dead wrong. This goes back, and it’s horrifying to read about the atrocities committed.

This collection of stories takes place around a village named Berd, which is in the mountains and not too close from the border with Azerbaijan. Each chapter focuses on someone different living around the area, but we often see the other characters in each other’s stories and learn about their fates and trials in different ways.

This is a rural village, set during the 1990s, so when we read about the way these people live, it’s very agricultural and community based. Families rely on each other and the men in the house to bring home some income, but as we see, many of the able men are enlisting in the army or other jobs in order to bring home some more money.

That often leads to disastrous consequences, as is the case of the mother who, after already losing her husband, loses both of her sons due to the violence of the war. Death and unexpected dying is one of the biggest motifs throughout the course of the book. Whether sitting in a car or leading your sheep down the road, snipers are everywhere and willing to kill anyone who gets caught in their crosshairs.

Gunshots are also not only one of the most heard sounds throughout the town; there are also mass explosions, leaving some without any home to return to. Others die inside of their home, entire generations wiped out by a stray missile or bomb hitting their home without any care to who was living there before.

All of these stories contain horrific descriptions of the violence that went on, but also the cruelty of some, such as the husband who kidnapped and tortured an Azeri to use as exchange for his missing wife (who is most likely dead, much to the despair of her daughter that waits at the bus stop she left at).

But above all else, there is hope for something better in these stories. They demonstrate human kindness, how people are willing to help each other out, even if it means hauling your corpse inside to prevent it from being destroyed by bombing and ensuring you get a proper burial.

Overall Thoughts

These stories were painful to read, but as I mentioned in the introduction, I got through them quite quickly. I thought that the pacing was good, and although there are thirty-two stories and perspectives contained within this collection, that there were just enough pages for each story.

Because of that, and the fact I really liked the structure of the writing, it made this book quite the easy read despite its subject matter. I did have to stop here and there to really think about what I had just witnessed on the page, as it’s so terribly tragic. But it’s true, and the author, as I can gather, most likely lived through a lot of this herself.

I say if you’re interested in the book, pick it up. I had an interesting time figuring out the classification, as the author writes in Russian, but this is a very Armenian story. It’s Armenian literature, but it is technically considered to be Russian literature because of the language and residence of the author (at the time).

Regardless, I want to read more Armenian literature in general, and this was a good step in the right direction. I hope more gets translated.

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