Gargling with Tar by Jachym Topol
Czechoslovakia, 1968. The Soviet troops have just invaded the country and, for the young orphan Ilya, life is suddenly turned on its head. At first there is relief that the mean-spirited nuns who run the orphanage have been driven out by the Communists, but as the children are left to fend for themselves, order and routine quickly give way to brutality and chaos, and Ilya finds himself drawn into the violence, both committing murder in order to save his best friend and forced to witness the death of his disabled brother. When the troops return, the orphans are given military training and, with his first-hand knowledge of the local terrain, Ilya becomes a guide to a Soviet tank commander, leading him ever deeper into a macabre world of random cruelty, moral compromise, and lasting shame.
J CHYM TOPOL is an award-winning writer, famous in his youth as an underground poet and songwriter, and now for writing books that have most successfully and imaginatively captured the dislocation brought about by the fall of communism. His novels include Nightworks, which will also be published by Portobello in 2011.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846271618 |
| ISBN 10 | 1846271614 |
| Title | Gargling with Tar |
| Author | Jachym Topol |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Granta Books |
| Year published | 2010-05-06 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |