Wroniec (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Polish edition cover | |
| Author | Jacek Dukaj |
|---|---|
| Original title | Wroniec |
| Translator | not translated |
| Cover artist | Jakub Jabłoński |
| Language | Polish |
| Genre | fantasy |
| Published | 2009 (Wydawnictwo Literackie) |
| Publication place | Poland |
| Pages | 247 |
| ISBN | 978-83-08-04392-9 |
| OCLC | 2010418547 |
Wroniec (meaning Crowman) is a fantasy novel published in 2009 by the Polish science fiction writer Jacek Dukaj, published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Literackie. The novel is extensively illustrated by Jakub Jabłoński. It was nominated for the prime Polish award for science-fiction literature, the Janusz A. Zajdel Award, as well as the Angelus award, in 2009. It also received the Autumn 2009 prize of the Poznański Przegląd Nowości Wydawniczych (Poznań Review of New Publications).
The book is presented in the form of a fairy tale for children and tells the story of a fantasy-like adventure of a young boy during the martial law in Poland of December 1981. Due to its layered nature, it contains numerous serious references to the events surrounding the controversial martial law in question and is targeted more at adults than at children.
Dukaj has described the book as the "dark, national phantasmagoria in the form of a children's fairy tale";[1] Crow-Soldiers throw those caught without a pass into boiling cauldrons, Milipants (misspelled militiamen) beat with the intention to kill, and crows go for the eyes.[2] There are numerous references to language and cultural aspects of the bygone Polish People's Republic.[2] Dukaj mixes the vocabulary of a little boy with the Polish Communist Party's newspeak.[3] He creates new words, and the book is full of songs and poems created through that mix.[2] There are inspirations and references to the Grimm Brothers, Lewis Carroll (whose quote opens the book), Cormac McCarthy, Edgar Allan Poe, Stefan Żeromski and Tadeusz Konwicki.[3][2]
The book tells a fantasy-like story of a young boy during the martial law in Poland of December 1981.[3] Adaś, a little boy, falls ill around the time that martial law is declared.[3] After he wakes, he witnesses the kidnapping of most of his family and the wounding of his mother by the eponymous Wroniec ("Crowman", a pun on the nickname of WRON and General Wojciech Jaruzelski, who orchestrated the martial law).[3][2] Together with an old worker, Jan Beton, Adaś sets out to look for his family.[3] Outside his house, the town is gray, as the Graying Machine tries to sap energy from everyone.[3] He will have to face many opponents, such as the Milipants, the Double Agents, the Queue and other monsters.[3] He will be aided by the opposition, led by the Most Stubborn Electrician (an allusion to Lech Wałęsa).[3]
