Peter Pišťanek, Rivers of Babylon

Peter Darovec (Comenius University)

Ed. by Charles Sabatos, Yeditepe University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.8.1: Czech and Slovak Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Charles Sabatos (Yeditepe University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1991

Places

Slovakia (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Peter Pišťanek’s 1991 literary debut,

Rivers of Babylon

(the original Slovak title is in English) is widely considered the most influential Slovak novel of the post-Communist period. It is a revolutionary novel in a number of ways: first, in its original poetics, unheard-of in Slovak literature; secondly, the fact that it was written at the time of the 1989 Velvet Revolution; and, finally, that it thematised that period of radical social change almost before it happened. By the standards of Slovak fiction, it had relative success in reaching English readers: Peter Petro’s English translation was praised by the

Times Literary Supplement

, the

Guardian

, the

Independent

and the

Telegraph

, where Pišťanek was described as a worthy heir to the legacy of Rabelais, Balzac and Gogol.

Rivers

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2582 words

Citation: Darovec, Peter. "Rivers of Babylon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 November 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39458, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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