
"An Imperfect Time" is an epic story depicting the fate of people involved in the grim history of the twentieth century in Poland. From the pogrom in the village near Pinsk to the reality of the Third Republic, the author takes us on a narrative that changes perspective, epochs and countries. We follow the fate of several generations of the Brok family, to whom history did not spare anything, neither suffering nor betrayal, nor crime, nor ideological constriction. This story attempts to understand the experiences that shaped today's Poland, from the bloody October Revolution through optimistic Solidarity to the Third Polish Republic. This is a tale of choices people have to make when faced with the absurdities and numbing feeling of a society under guard. It is a kind of morality play showing the struggle of people against the temptations of evil and nothingness, those temptations that were effectively misled by the twentieth century.
"An Imperfect Time" is an epic story depicting the fate of people involved in the grim history of the twentieth century. From the pogrom in the village near Pinsk to the reality of the Third Republic, the author leads us along winding roads, reversing the narrative, changing epochs and countries. We follow the fate of several generations of the Brok family, to whom history did not spare anything, neither suffering nor betrayal, nor crime, nor ideological asphyxiation. But you can look at the book a little differently, namely as a record and an attempt to understand the experiences that shaped today's Poland, from the bloody October Revolution through hopeful Solidarity to the futility of the Third Polish Republic. Finally, this book can be read as a kind of morality play showing the struggle of people against the temptations of evil and nothingness, those temptations that were effectively misled by the twentieth century, Prof. Ryszard Legutko, philosopher
Masterfully told the complicated stories of individual characters, their many-sided, insightful psychological portraits, excellent dialogues, intellectual scope of the problems presented in the novel, and above all, not retreating from any taboo, make Wildstein's novel an artistic and intellectual event that puts the author of "An Imperfect Time "among the most outstanding contemporary Polish writers. Prof. Wlodzimierz Bolecki, literary critic
The past, like a black crow, circulates over the heroes of this book, because history is the title imperfect time, and our contemporary times will prove to be grotesque, more often tragic, then a continuation. The present is thus constantly intertwined with history, politics and metaphysics in "An Imperfect Time".
prof. Maciej Urbanowski, literary scholar An unusual book about three generations of a family - Polish and Jewish - and the fate of Poland inscribed in the spiritual and political history of Europe.
prof. Zdzislaw Krasnodębski, philosopher, sociologist.
This is a novel with epic impetus, it is impossible to tear yourself away from it. The fate of the four generations of the Brok family is part of the turbulent history of the last century, recapitulating the difficult experience of the 20th century in our part of Europe. We have been waiting for years for Polish literature to face this challenge and here finally Wildstein attempted. It must not be overlooked.
Wanda Zwinogrodzka, theater critic