 | | Fabryka Słów
Lublin 2002
© Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz
125 x 195
336 pages
paperback
ISBN 83-89011-06-9
rights available |
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Rafał A. ZiemkiewiczA Whole Pack of Big Brothers
Excerpt
In this book, Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz formulates a biting commentary on Polish social and political reality. Most of the eight stories in this collection are satirical in character and have a common narrator-protagonist. This is the young journalist Rafał Aleksandrowicz (the author's allusion to his own name), who tilts against the symptoms of stupidity, abuses, and manipulation with which, if we are to believe the author, characterise Polish public life. Ziemkiewicz's jocular, witty work has an unusual strong point: in the middle of a narrative marked by an impeccably realistic style, literary tricks and devices from the realm of fantasy occasionally pop up to surprise the reader. As a result, the world represented in this prose takes on an outlandish hue, appearing much more weird—and, at the same time, intriguing. It could also be said that Ziemkiewicz's fantastic motifs, paradoxically, serve the realism and reinforce the political engagement that has always distinguished this writer. This is exactly what happens in the title story about the "unhealthy" relationships inside Polish television, or in the story "Devoutly to Be Wished" about a religious mania that comes out of nowhere to overwhelm the worlds of media and business. Ziemkiewicz is a sharp observer and a malicious commentator on politics and manners. He spares no one—not even himself. There is a great deal of spleen directed at today's journalists, represented as characters ready to commit every sort of malfeasance.
Dariusz Nowacki
Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz, 39, is the author of numerous novels and stories in the genres of fantasy and political fiction, as well as a highly-regarded journalist and columnist.
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