Who and what historical events appeared in the book “The Last Horse of Andranik” (video)

The novel “The Last Horse of Andranik” begins with “Operation Zod”. One of the central characters, Atam, accompanied by the Silikian brothers, visits the local Tatars in Zod with the intention of reconciliation. However, following a feast, the Tatars brutally behead the Silikian brothers and massacre the soldiers accompanying them. Only Atam manages to escape and return to the village, but the horse given to him by Andranik remains in the hands of the enemy.

The unpublished book was reviewed by the poet Hakob Harutyun, who believes that Susanna Harutyunyan is on a quest to explore Armenian identity through her previous and current novels. “The horse is a symbol here. Especially, that horse is not the last one, the color is different. The horse is the spirit of the Armenian gene. The delicacy that was resurrected in Moses is in the Armenian gene. Let me turn to our epic. There is a problem with the Armenian code in the epic. Few people paid attention, it's the child. Mher’s family couldn’t have children, they said, let us die, they will have them (children). In the case of Moses, suddenly a patriot is born among so many scoundrels. What is it, the Armenian gene? Neither you nor I are the saviors of this country. But I believe in that gene, maybe that gene will be born from Andranik”.

Andranik in this case is not the military commander but the video operator, who is also named Andranik. Poet Hakob Harutyun observed this symbolic coincidence and noted that the author had used symbols in her previous book “Crows before Noah” as well. Harutyun stated, “If in the case of the Crows, she transformed reality into a myth through the character of Harut, in the case of Andranik, she transformed the myth into reality through the character of Moses. A troublemaker, even an unsavory person, steals from a house. But he becomes a patriot. He is even offended to hear curses to Andranik’s address”.

The entire village is a hero in the book, depicted through a hyperrealistic style. Each character is described in detail, complete with all their imperfections. They beat their wives, cheat on them, and even kill unborn and sick children. However, they are unforgiving when it comes to any disrespect directed at their commander. The main character is willing to forgive those who cursed his father and even his mother, but he cannot forgive the Turk who cursed Andranik and compelled all the Azerbaijani villagers to vacate Armenian lands.