Gargling With Tar by Jachym Topol
Czechoslovakia, 1968. The Soviet troops have just invaded and, for the young orphan Ilya, life is suddenly turned on its head. At first there is relief that the mean-spirited nuns who ran his orphanage have been driven out by the Red Army, 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. When the troops return, the orphans are given military training and, with his first-hand knowledge of the local terrain, Ilya becomes guide to a Soviet tank battalion. A position which leads him ever deeper into a macabre world of random cruelty, moral compromise and lasting shame.
JÁCHYM TOPOL is an award-winning writer, famous in his youth as a samizdat poet and songwriter, and now for writing books that have successfully and imaginatively captured the dislocation brought about by the fall of Communism. His novels include Nightwork and The Devil's Workshop, which will also be published by Portobello.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846271625 |
| ISBN 10 | 1846271622 |
| Title | Gargling With Tar |
| Author | Jachym Topol |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Granta Books |
| Year published | 2013-06-06 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Prizes | Short-listed for European Literature Prize (NL) 2011 (UK) |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |