Obce ścieżki

Norweski dziennik #2

by Andrzej Pilipiuk

Jak pamiętamy z części pierwszej "Norweskiego dziennika", Paweł Koćko (lub, jak kto woli, Tomasz Paczenko) nie mógł narzekać na wakacyjną nudę. I tym razem Pilipiuk nie oszczędza swojego bohatera (bo przecież bohaterzy są po to, by ich doświadczać na różne sposoby, ku uciesze czytelników). Nie dość, że chłopak musi się ciągle ukrywać, to nadal nie wie zbyt wiele o swojej tożsamości. Wciąż poszukuje odpowiedzi na pytania: kto podjął się pewnego szalonego eksperymentu genetycznego, jak rozumieć niepokojące sny, nawiedzające chłopaka? Jakby tego jeszcze było mało, nie zawsze wiadomo, kto szpieg, a kto przyjaciel...

Z tą powieścią czas nabiera innego znaczenia, a świetnie poprowadzona akcja przykuwa uwagę do ostatniej strony. Pilipiuk coraz więcej wyjaśnia, ale też stawia nowe znaki zapytania na drodze swoich bohaterów. Nad głową bohatera przetoczy się niejedna poważna burza. Na szczęście, czasem i słońce nieśmiało wyjrzy zza chmur.

Genres: Polish Literature, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Young Adult

398 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Polish humoristic fantasy and science fiction writer. According to university degree an archeologist.

Debuted in 1996 with short story Hiena, first appearence of Jakub Wędrowycz - an alcoholic, civil exorcist - who later become a character of many short stories gathered in 5 books.

In 2002 he got Janusz A. Zajdel Award for short story Kuzynki (Cousins), extended later into book and sequels. Kuzynki, Księżniczka (Princess) and Dziedziczki portray the adventures of 3 women: an over 1000-years old teenage vampire, a 300-year old alchemist-szlachcianka, and her relative, a former Polish secret agent from CBŚ (Polish 'FBI'). A recurring character in the series alchemist Michał Sędziwój, and the universe is the same as the one of Wędrowycz (who makes appearances from time to time).

Reviews

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ujmuje mnie w tych książkach takie poczucie, że wprawdzie wszędzie wokół dzieją się rzeczy, baluje rosyjska arystokracja na uchodźstwie, krąży gdzieś car-pretendent, KGB poluje na biednego bohatera, który nie-wiadomo-kim-jest i w ogóle, spiski, zamachy i Europa na krawędzi, ale... nie czuć tego w ogóle. To jest takie spokojne i subiektywne, jak powinno być, w końcu to pamiętnik. Zaskakująco dobrze mi się to czyta. Nie spodziewałam się.
Tylko scena ze świnkami morskimi i armią kobiet. WTF? Wyrzucam z pamięci, żenujące.

[eM eR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo miło się wraca do takich książek po latach.

[Michał Rodziewicz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mystery, and the mystery comes down to a single, simple question: why would anyone bother to write this?
At this point I should warn you as I am about to throw in some spoilers.

I feel betrayed, tricked and disgusted with this publication. Especially that it comes from the author of adventures of Jakub Wedrowycz. If it was any worse, I would value a roll of toilet paper more than this... I should also point out that any attempt to analyse these books is pointless. And as to why it is pointless, you will see that by the end of this review.

Enough of this rage, let us all focus on the facts.

Story takes place on a Norwegian coast, battered by the sea, covered in woods and so forth... or does it really? Apart from a few names of characters, name of a village, there is very, very little in terms of Norwegian feel. It could have easily been set in Scotland, or anywhere else where is cold and dump and by the sea. I am not asking here for a traveller’s guide, but for anything, something that would make me feel like this is Norway.

Characters. There is only one well written character in the whole book. ONE. And he appears in last 20 pages or so. And that is of course Jakub Wedrowycz. All the rest of the characters are just leaves flying randomly in a strong wind. Take our main character for example. Boy who lost its memory, is taken captive, rescued by secret agents, smuggled to Norway, on its own, only to learn that he is a protégé of a rich man, and that he has an important part to play. He is left on its own in a small, ruined Norwegian hut on the cliffs. Fine, let’s not ask any questions, like "how?" and "why?", lets the story unfold, maybe there is a justification for that.

What strikes me most is that he is afraid, lost and on his own, yet when he is shot in an arm, by a bullet fired by spy watching his house, he treats this like it was his daily bread. I seriously doubt if even John Rambo would have been so calm under fire. A lost, young orphan, shot by a bullet, and he does not even cry!

While we are at this situation, let’s have a closer look at the spy. Sven. The only Norwegian thing about him is his name... He is set to do some espionage on Tomasz. The relation between the two is mind-boggling. On one occasion, they threaten each other, play tricks on each other, Maciej Wedrowycz considers killing Sven, and yet, few pages down the read they make peace and drink tea together. Sven is nor presents at all times, but suspiciously appears exactly when author needs him...

Language. How is it possible that the same author wrote a book that made me laugh so hard, another one that out shivers down my spine, and (looking at the year of publication) at the same time wrote this...thing! This book is simply fool of absolutely meaningless sentences. Like "I went to bed, but did have any dreams", and again, on the next page "I was really tired, so I went to bed and slept until morning, and yet again "I saw a phone booth, I thought about calling someone, but I had no one to call, so I didn’t do it". There are dozens of such examples. There is a rule I learned from Mark Twain: "the episodes in a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help to develop it." Make no mistakes, seventy percent of this book is not necessary, and this could have easily been a single book, and not a trilogy.

So how did it come to this? How is it, that this book feels like it was written by a child? Well... It was! After reading three parts of this tale, we learn that it was all written by Pilipiuk when he was a teenager. This was actually written down by a child, long before this child grew up to be a respected author. He confesses to this on the last page, of the last book. This it was his way of escaping problems with his class-mates, that it was his imaginary land where he felt safe as a child. As he himself wrote, he wanted to close down a chapter in his life.

Pilipiuk! You evil bastard with no conscience! Do I get this right? You write a book and get famous, then another one and yet another one. At some point, you become so excited with this, that you grab any scribblings, and drafts that you can find (even if they were written when you were twelve), work on them a little, and get them published? Without telling us beforehand what it really is? That is a low blow Pilipiuk, that was a really low blow. This thing is a disgrace.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paweł Koćko vel Tomasz Paczenko still searches for his identity, but has to be in hidding. Someone made a genetic experiment combinig a human with a horse. Such a people are stronger, their wounds are healing much faster than normal and they have different inner body build.

[Krysztyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jakoś nie wciągnęła mnie ta powieść. Pomijając, że czytałam ją dość długo, za dużo zwrotów akcji w niej nie było. Średnio polecam i liczę, że kolejna część będzie lepsza.