Peter Pi拧钮anek (Author of Rivers of Babylon)

Peter Pi拧钮anek鈥檚 Followers (18)

Peter Pi拧钮anek

Born

in Dev铆nska Nov谩 Ves, Slovakia

April 28, 1960

Died

March 22, 2015

Website

Genre

Humor

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Pi拧钮anek is a prose writer who managed to come out with a new type of prose at the beginning of the 1990's. He began publishing at the end of the 1980's in Slovensk茅 poh木ady, the best literary magazine in those years. His novelistic debut, Rivers of Babylon was an unusual success with the readers as well as the critics. The author describes what was then a non-traditional topic for the Slovak literature - the Bratislava underground - using very expressive language and a variety of stylistic levels. The characters that fill his novel are small-time crooks and bigime entrepreneurs-privatizers as well as prostitutes. The only ambition of these people is to make their life more pleasant which, in their understanding, means to cheat, exploit, or Pi拧钮anek is a prose writer who managed to come out with a new type of prose at the beginning of the 1990's. He began publishing at the end of the 1980's in Slovensk茅 poh木ady, the best literary magazine in those years. His novelistic debut, Rivers of Babylon was an unusual success with the readers as well as the critics. The author describes what was then a non-traditional topic for the Slovak literature - the Bratislava underground - using very expressive language and a variety of stylistic levels. The characters that fill his novel are small-time crooks and bigime entrepreneurs-privatizers as well as prostitutes. The only ambition of these people is to make their life more pleasant which, in their understanding, means to cheat, exploit, or destroy the others. In this world, one person manages to make his way to the top, a man from the village, the main character Racz, due to his unswerving pursuit of power and money. Somewhere in the background of these activities, the revolutionary changes of 1989 (the break-up of the Soviet Empire, the liberation of Eastern Europe) unfold. Inspiration for this novel comes from the para-literature and Pi拧钮anek stresses the rectilinear narrative and fast-paced plot. While he presents the situation in an impersonal, laconic manner, he is precise in his analysis of the actual situation, even though the subject of his work may be rather bizarre and grotesque. The Young D么n膷 is a collection of three long short stories: Debutante, The Young D么n膷, and Music. In the story The Young D么n膷 we encounter the topic of the degeneration of the D么n膷 family caused not only by alcoholism of all its members, but also by its accompanying feature: the total ignorance and disinterest in anything that goes on outside the territory of their own home. The author parodies here some texts of previous periods, nevertheless, his irony is aimed at the present. Even his story Music, with its grotesque elements, is a precise sociological probe of the "normalized" life of the Seventies. Pi拧钮anek followed-up his successful novel by publishing Rivers of Babylon 2, or Wooden Village, and Rivers of Babylon 3, or Fredy's End. This trilogy is so unusual, provocative and controversial that it will take Slovak criticism and literature in general some time to come to terms with it. One should also not overlook his fascinating The Tales of Vlado the Great and The New Tales of Vlado the Great. These are satirical tales that combine the charm of Hassidic fairy tales, Sufi instructional tales, and Slovak folktales with Buddhist koans in
a transcendent manner, so that even the intended target was said to have enjoined reading them.

Rivers of Babylon (1991), The Young D么n膷 (Mlad媒 D么n膷, 1993), Rivers of Babylon 2, or Wooden Village (Rivers of Babylon 2, alebo Dreven谩 dedina, 1994), The Tales of Vlado the Great (Skazky o Vladovi, 1995), The New Tales of Vlado the Great (Nov茅 skazky o Vladovi, 1998), Rivers of Babylon 3, or Fredy's End (Rivers of Babylon 3, alebo Fredyho koniec, 1999) ...more

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Average rating: 4.06 · 1,706 ratings · 178 reviews · 23 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	Rivers of Babylon (Rivers of Babylon, #1) by Peter Pi拧钮anek, Peter Petro (Translator), Olga Stawi艅ska (Translator) 4.25 avg rating — 749 ratings — published 1991 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wooden Village (Rivers of Babylon, #2) by Peter Pi拧钮anek, Donald Rayfield (Editor), Peter Petro (Translator) 3.78 avg rating — 193 ratings — published 1994 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mlad媒 D么n膷 4.09 avg rating — 175 ratings — published 1993 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	搁耻办辞箩别尘苍铆办 4.29 avg rating — 147 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sekerou a no啪om. Poviedky 1981 - 1999 by Peter Pi拧钮anek, Du拧an Taragel 3.80 avg rating — 113 ratings — published 1999 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The End of Freddy (Rivers of Babylon, #3) by Peter Pi拧钮anek, Donald Rayfield (Editor), Peter Petro (Translator) 3.46 avg rating — 93 ratings — published 2008 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Neva 3.52 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Muzika by Peter Pi拧钮anek, Krist媒na Zelinsk谩 (Translator), Miroslav Zelinsk媒 (Translator) 4.48 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	P谩n Hronu by Peter Pi拧钮anek, Du拧an Taragel 4.25 avg rating — 24 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Traktoristi a buzeranti 4.04 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Peter Pi拧钮anek…

Series by Peter Pi拧钮anek

Rivers of Babylon (3 books)
by

Peter Pi拧钮anek,

Donald Rayfield (Editor),

Peter Petro (Translator)

4.09 avg rating — 1,035 ratings

Quotes by Peter Pi拧钮anek (?)

“Peter je zo svojho ka啪dodenn茅ho 啪ivota zvyknut媒 dos钮膷asu tr谩vi钮 s谩m, a tak mu to vyhovuje. Raz za 膷as sa skr谩tka potrebuje zamyslie钮 a zasn铆va钮. Ak t煤 mo啪nos钮 dlhodobo nem谩, 膷o sa mu stane prv媒 raz pr谩ve tu v letnom t谩bore, za膷n煤 sa ho zmoc艌ova钮 chm煤rne my拧lienky a 煤zkos钮. Potrebuje samotu, aby unikol osamelosti. Osamelos钮 toti啪 nevznik谩 t媒m, 啪e by 膷lovek nemal okolo seba 木ud铆, ale t媒m, 啪e s nimi nem么啪e zdie木a钮 veci, ktor茅 ho bavia a ktor茅 sa mu javia ako d么le啪it茅. A naopak, ke膹 on pova啪uje za nezmyseln茅 veci, ktor茅 pre ostatn媒ch hraj煤 z谩sadn煤煤lohu. V takom pr铆pade je potom u啪 lep拧ia naozajstn谩, fyzick谩 samota, ke膹 si m么啪e 膷lovek tr谩vi钮膷as celkom po svojom.”
― Peter Pi拧钮anek, 搁耻办辞箩别尘苍铆办

tags: samota, solitude

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“Na swoj膮 obron臋 mog臋 tylko powiedzie膰, 偶e mam paskudny charakter.”
― Peter Pi拧钮anek, Rivers of Babylon

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“Bufet谩r kedysi p谩tral po 煤spe拧nom sp么sobe, ako sa zbavi钮 dotierav媒ch a otravn媒ch z谩kazn铆kov. Na拧iel ho; prestal objedn谩va钮 tovar. Na v拧etky ot谩zky odpovedal bu膹 ml膷an铆m, alebo slovom nem谩me. Z谩kazn铆ci postupne prestali do bufetu doch谩dza钮 a bufet谩r si mohol kr谩tieva钮 dlh茅 chv铆le h谩dzan铆m 拧铆pok do ter膷a, hran铆m biliardu a ma木ovan铆m krajiniek. Nik ho u啪 neob钮a啪oval. Potom v拧ak bufet谩rovi svitla mo啪nos钮 prevzia钮 bufet do ak茅hosi pren谩jmu a situ谩cia sa zmenila. Dovtedy poberal bufet谩r n铆zky plat, ani rodinu si nemohol zalo啪i钮. N谩hle sa pred n铆m otvorila mo啪nos钮 vysok茅ho z谩robku vo vlastnom podniku. Siahol po tejto mo啪nosti, sp铆sal so skl谩r艌ou zmluvu a stal sa vlastn媒m p谩nom. Naobjedn谩val tovar, bufet dal vyma木ova钮 a na steny rozve拧al vlastnoru膷ne nama木ovan茅 vkusn茅 obrazy. Neuvedomil si, 啪e u啪 d谩vno si v拧etci odvykli k nemu chodieva钮 a ni膷 na tom nezmenila ani krik木av谩 reklamn谩 tabu木a nad vchodom. Odvtedy sa bufet谩r usiluje z铆ska钮 z谩kazn铆kov sp盲钮 a nedar铆 sa mu to ani pomocou najvyberanej拧铆ch lah么dok a najjemnej拧铆ch n谩pojov, ktor茅 naobjedn谩val. Bufet z铆va pr谩zdnotou a bufet谩r si mus铆 privyr谩ba钮 drobn媒mi l煤pe啪n媒mi vra啪dami v no膷nej fabrike.”
― Peter Pi拧钮anek, Mlad媒 D么n膷

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Peter Pi拧钮anek鈥檚 Followers (18)

Peter Pi拧钮anek

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Combine Editions
Peter Pi拧钮anek鈥檚 books