 | Wydawnictwo Literackie
Cracow 2006
145 x 205
202 pages
paperback
ISBN 83-08-03830-1
Translation rights: Wydawnictwo Literackie |
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Zbigniew KruszyńskiAleksander’s Return
Excerpt
Society as presented in Zbigniew Kruszyński’s masterfully written collection of stories is dominated by an endless obsession with communication, whether by mobile phone or via the Internet. However, no real communication ever takes place, because these modern tools give the protagonists the opportunity to create all sorts of masks to suit their needs, sometimes to hide from potential danger, and sometimes to beguile a partner. In Kruszyński’s world sex has lost its communicative function too – though eagerly desired, it is ineffective as a means of conquering the distance between people; sometimes it is theatrically robotic, as in the title story, where because of a misunderstanding, two prostitutes attend to the main character at once, though he fails to achieve more than just “professional” contact with either of them. Unable after many years away to make a real return to his home town, he is also incapable of fully finding himself in the sterile world of Sweden. Having left the scene of his youth, he is no longer capable of resettling there, and as a result he has no proper roots anywhere; not just the political tragedy of martial law is to blame for his alienation, but also more or less objective processes: the way in which the world has changed in the meantime, quietly performing a curious volte-face and turning its back on the hero. Thus he has two valid passports entitling him to travel all over the world, but none that could help him to settle in one particular place where he would feel at home.
Jerzy Jarzębski
Zbigniew Kruszyński (b. 1957) writes fiction. He has degrees in Polish and Romance studies from Wrocław and Lausanne universities, and was involved in the underground Solidarity movement. From 1982 to 1984 he was imprisoned, and then left Poland for Sweden, where he lived until 2002. He lectures at Uppsala and Stockholm universities. Aleksander’s Return is his fourth book.
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