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He was a junior officer in the Red Army, until he deserted and formed the AWP. He is a truly charismatic leader, inspiring his men to do unbelievable things, even sacrificing their lives for the "higher cause". For the freedom of his country he is capable of killing everyone standing in his way, including women, children and even his own men, calling this a "sacrifice for a better future". He is seen as a terrorist by the
Soviets and as a romantic, tragic hero in the West. In the
474:, and its Soviet control is based on a strategy of "shoot first, ask questions later". Various partisan groups in an uneasy truce one another are scattered throughout the area and engaged in battles against small Soviet garrisons. German troops make occasional raids across the Polish border to test Soviet defences, and the Soviets retaliate in kind. Meanwhile, China's forces advance toward the
522:- US news reporter sent by the network to film Xavras' actions. Because of his Polish descent and linguistic abilities, he is the network's natural choice after the previous reporter attached to Wyżryn was killed in action. Raised in a democratic country, he has moral doubts about Xavras and considers his brutal methods no better than the Soviet ones. The story is told from his point of view.
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is the commander of the AWP or Armia
Wyzwolenia Polski (Polish Liberation Army), a considerable guerrilla force fighting the Soviet army in the European War Zone. His past is a mystery. He was born within the "Atomic Triangle" and has a visible mutation - the skin on his hands is red, as if burned.
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quotes printed on their T-shirts, because he does not know their real names and they look like twin brothers: "Another Horse Came Out, a Fiery Red One" (Revelation 6:4) and "The Sea Gave Up the Dead" (Revelation 20:13). Their fighting skills are exceptional and they are Xavras' most trusted
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to Moscow along with hardened veterans of Polish forces, he will experience the horror of war in which there is no good and evil side. He also expect to find himself in the midst of the most reckless of Wyżryn's campaigns in which the Polish forces capture a Soviet
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force, commanded his troops with uncommon charisma and valour and fought the
Soviets on their own ground. His legend quickly spread around the world, and his victories inspired other nations to fight against the Soviets. Many local conflicts started, when
402:. People living inside the "Atomic Triangle" became hardened nearly soulless creatures, balanced on the edge of death and became numb because of the great suffering of the whole nation. Meanwhile, the Soviets had some minor border conflicts with China,
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The main character of the novel, Xavras Wyżryn, is a character referring to Polish 19th-century romantic national liberation traditions, but at the same time, a terrorist using nuclear weapons, described as "the ayatollah of
Catholic jihad".
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The
Bolshevik War ended with the Treaties of Berlin, which were signed on Prussian territory. The Soviet Union and the League of Nations agreed to stop the bloodshed. Still, the countries taken by force in 1920 remained Soviet republics.
594:. Other threads of the work that received literary commentaries concern, among others, national and religious symbolism, the morality of terrorism and the role of the media in shaping public opinion. The novel has also been described as
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movie about him, entitled "Uncatchable". A major US news network signed a contract with Wyżryn, offering him $ 250 million for exclusive interviews and footage from battlefields. Xavras understands the importance of media and
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was far enough to ignore
European problems but supported those armies conflict with the Soviet forces. Those conflicts were relatively minor and were mostly only "border engagements", as the media called them.
450:. In the east, China took the opportunity to attack the weakened Soviets and started yet another conflict. The whole Central-Eastern Europe was now known the European War Zone (EWZ), and reached as far as
387:. The area between the three bombed cities became known as the "Atomic Triangle". Children born there died at a young age from radiation sickness, and the few who survived were consumed by mutations.
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against the Soviet regime. His task includes interviewing the charimastic leader of Polish
Freedom Army, Colonel Xavras Wyżryn. Smith does not realize that during his long trip from Ukrainian
251:) and was this time accompanied by the following three short stories: "Sprawa Rudryka Z." ("The Case of Rudryk Z."), "Przyjaciel prawdy" ("Friend of the Truth") and "Gotyk" ("Gothic").
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After Stalin's death at the end of 1981, the Soviet regime in Poland eased up slightly, but the
Soviets still maintained a huge garrison force there since they remembered all the
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Map of Europe in "Xavras Wyżryn". Dark red is USSR, light red is
European War Zone (EWZ), black is Germany. Yellow dotted lines describe borders of Atomic Triangle.
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Critics debate whether the story is patriotic or antipatriotic. As in the
Chechen conflict, neither side holds a moral high ground since both commit horrible
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by ending in a decisive Soviet victory. The actual story takes place in the 1990s and is told from the point of view of an American reporter, who is an
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in modern warfare, so he censors the footage before it is sent to the network and makes himself a television celebrity.
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fortifies its borders to defend against presumed Soviet or a Chinese attack, the latter of which is more feared.
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and Ukraine also started their own revolutions against Soviet occupants. In the south, the power of the
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to stop the Soviet armies. Millions were killed in the explosions, and many more died of
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In 1935, however, the "Great Bolshevik War" had the Soviets attempt to take control over
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lasted until 1988, when Xavras Wyżryn appeared. He quickly organised a considerable
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The story has had two editions. It was first published in 1997, in a book entitled
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In 1996, a young American reporter, Ian Smith, is sent by his news network to the
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quickly took the chair of first secretary, and his regime tried to eradicate the
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in the Middle East. The US government secretly finances the guerrillas, and
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Poland. Meanwhile, another power rose in the south since the followers of
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in the east. Battles took place mostly on radiated polluted territory.
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645:"Użyteczna czy bezużyteczna? Bomba atomowa w twórczości Jacka Dukaja"
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The plot of the novel starts in 1996. The whole European War Zone is
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fighting against Soviet forces resemble Chechens battling with the
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725:(in Polish). Katowice : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego.
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in the 19th century. Thousands of Polish civilians were sent to
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542:- Three trusted companions of Xavras, who took their names (
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150 (counted excluding other novels printed within the same
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soon signed treaties with the Soviets that allowed them to
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in the north, the border with Prussia in the west and the
748:"Citizens of the Universe – Poles in Jacek Dukaj's Prose"
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managed to regain its freedom but not for long since the
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in 2001, a story about terrorists calling themselves "
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increased under the command of a figure known only as
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815:- Jacek Dukaj's official website, English version
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722:Lord Dukaj albo fantasta wobec "mainstreamu"
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243:In 2004, the story was reprinted in
592:nuclear weapon motif in literature
284:was lost in 1920. Poland became a
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783:Orliński, Wojciech (2001-10-26).
689:Zagadnienia Rodzajów Literackich
613:to reach their goals. After the
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162:[ˈksävräsˈvɨ̞ʐrɨ̞̃n]
988:1997 science fiction novels
446:the Russian Empire and the
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326:national symbols of Poland
657:10.5604/01.3001.0009.9230
328:was punishable by death.
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16:1997 novel by Jacek Dukaj
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993:Novels set in the 1990s
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173:science fiction writer
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1008:Novels set in Ukraine
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1003:Novels set in Russia
998:Novels set in Poland
898:Perfect Imperfection
785:"Władza leży między"
615:September 11 attacks
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400:partitions of Poland
505:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
385:radiation poisoning
206:embedded journalist
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963:1997 Polish novels
556:Henryk Sienkiewicz
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200:is set during the
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813:"Stronice Dukaja"
732:978-83-226-2028-1
580:First Chechen War
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333:Republic of China
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202:Polish–Soviet War
167:alternate history
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1023:Jacek Dukaj
890:Other Songs
851:Jacek Dukaj
791:(in Polish)
789:wyborcza.pl
695:(2 (118)).
582:; Xavras's
509:blockbuster
440:Middle East
349:Middle East
320:. Speaking
274:World War I
226:atomic bomb
179:martyrology
175:Jacek Dukaj
38:Jacek Dukaj
957:Categories
795:2022-08-02
625:References
611:war crimes
584:guerrillas
514:propaganda
411:status quo
849:Works by
770:2353-5164
701:0084-4446
665:0033-2194
569:soldiers.
530:Balaclava
520:Ian Smith
466:Main plot
415:guerrilla
373:Leningrad
296:. In the
260:Backstory
183:terrorism
120:paperback
108:Paperback
83:SuperNOVA
78:Published
574:Analysis
566:biblical
436:Muhammad
292:and the
232:Editions
148:39273390
54:Language
914:Wroniec
882:Extensa
548:Andrzej
526:Jewriej
456:Finland
424:Balkans
420:Hungary
318:Siberia
290:Ukraine
255:Summary
221:steppes
193:genre.
925:(2015)
917:(2009)
909:(2007)
901:(2004)
893:(2003)
885:(2002)
877:(2001)
869:(1997)
858:Novels
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544:Michał
422:, the
404:Sweden
381:Warsaw
365:Allied
351:. The
322:Polish
278:Poland
272:After
171:Polish
165:is an
98:Poland
81:1997 (
58:Polish
34:Author
933:Other
480:jihad
345:Islam
341:annex
115:Pages
64:Genre
766:ISSN
727:ISBN
697:ISSN
661:ISSN
550:and
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379:and
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