5. "Primeval and Other Times" (Prawiek i inne czasy”) - Olga Tokaczsuk

Yesterday I finished reading another literary book by a Nobel Prize-winning author and in particular Olga Tokarczuk from Poland, who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature. I could say that this book traveled me pleasantly in older times in northeast Europe, even though many of those times were really bloody periods of European history. The adverb “pleasantly” I used above is due to Olga Tokartsuk's linguistic ability to describe times and events in a calm lyric way. This lyricism softens the description of even the saddest times.

So, the theme of this book, is following the story of a Polish village called "Primeval" during the period from the beginning of World War I to the end of the 20th century. This observation takes place through the telling of small stories, characteristic of each of the characters who become the protagonists of the book, who are not other than the inhabitants of the Primeval. The main figures of the literary work, around which the narrative revolves, are those of the miller Michal’s family. Thus, when reading the novel one observes the life of three generations of this particular family.

A) The advantages of the book:

"The Primeval and Other Times" is a very valuable book, which justifies the Nobel Prize in Literature for its author. It is read pleasantly and with great interest without tiring the reader, traveling him in space and time. It presents in the least painful way some of the most difficult moments in European history.

B) Disadvantages of the book:

Generally this particular literary work has mainly advantages and probably no disadvantages. Of course, like many other works of speech or imagery, which are distinguished in various remarkable world competitions, they refer more to human pain rather than to human pleasures.

C) The conclusion of the novel:

Life and time flow fast and relentlessly. Generations come and leave, each living its own time, its own unique story.