A stylized fable as well as epic allegory about the inexorable grind of time, the clash between modernity (the masculine) and nature (the feminine), it has been translated into most European languages. Yet Primeval and Other Times is a novel of universal dimension that does not dwell on the parochial. In prose that is forceful and direct, the narrative follows Poland's tortured political history from 1914 to the contemporary era and the episodic brutality that is visited on ordinary village life. The village, a microcosm of Europe, is guarded by four archangels, from whose perspective the novel chronicles the lives of Primeval's inhabitants over the course of the feral 20th century. It is set in the mythical village of Primeval in the very heart of Poland, which is populated by eccentric, archetypal characters. Tokarczuk's third novel, Primeval and Other Times was awarded the Passport Prize in 1996 and the Koscielski Prize in 1997, which established the author as one of the leading voices in Polish letters.
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