SOURCE: "In Eastern Poland …," in American Book Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, March-April, 1985, pp. 21-2.

In the review below, Kuryluk examines elements of time and setting in A Minor Apocalypse, suggesting analogies to contemporary Polish-Soviet relations.

One of the best ideas in Tadeusz Konwicki's Minor Apocalypse is the uncertainty of time. All actions of the novel take place in Warsaw between the morning and the evening of one day, but none of the characters is sure which day, month or year that is. Different dates are suggested by different people, newspapers and calendars. Supposedly the occasion is a festive one and a banner reads: "Long live the fortieth anniversary of the Polish People's Republic."

The Polish People's Republic was proclaimed on July 22, 1944 in Lublin, a small town in Eastern Poland, by the Communist government set up by the Soviets. Thus, by means of a simple addition, the reader is led...