 | | Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy ZNAK
Cracow 2001
© ZNAK
152 x 213
140 pages
hardcover
ISBN 83-240-0114-X
sold to Germany, Netherlands, Israel, France, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Croatia
rights available |
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Paweł HuelleMercedes-Benz
About the author
Excerpt
A most entertaining short novel, which begins in truly dramatic circumstances: the main character (who is called Pawel, just like the author, to whom he bears a surprising resemblance) starts having driving lessons and almost dies of shame and humiliation. Attempting to divert an absolute calamity, he resorts to a truly Hrabalesque trick by creating a story about his grandparents' cars. So we read of a brand-new Citroen being smashed by a train or of a mythic Mercedes-Benz in which his grandparents, together with some friends, chase a balloon, thus inventing a new type of automobile "fox hunt"As the story gradually moves to the present, Pawel, magnetised by his instructor's beauty and sensitivity, becomes acquainted with some dramatic but fascinating facts from her life. This part of the story is mostly concerned with varying human fates in Poland at the time of economic and political changes. But at some point Pawel finishes his classes and parts with his infatuating instructor. The story ends with the news of Bohumil Hrabal's death and a most impressive literary tribute to his writing and life.
Being an extremely skilled narrator, Huelle uses Hrabal's idea well and alludes frequently to his writing, but does this in a non-obtrusive and well-balanced manner. The narration is multi-levelled and multidimensional, and motives from Hrabal's work are interwoven with contemporary ones as well as with a nostalgic, humorous and warm expedition into a family's past.
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