Tag: Poland

Book: Raphaël Lucas “The History of The Witcher”

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The Witcher is one of the few Eastern European franchises to achieve worldwide fame and recognition. In his book, Raphaël Lucas set out to tell the story of how this franchise came to be.

I know that many fans of both the games and Andrzej Sapkowski’s literary original were thrilled when this book was announced. It quickly became a coveted gift for any occasion. I’ve read the main saga (except for the later novel that stands somewhat apart) and played through all three games in the series adapted by CD Projekt RED. My feelings toward the books are lukewarm, which has earned me the disapproval of some of my more fervent fan friends. Among the games, I especially highlight the third one, where the developers clearly sold their souls to the devil (and I say this with firsthand knowledge of what it takes to create games).

That said, I’m always interested in reading about how such iconic products come to life, especially from industry peers, so it didn’t take long for me to pick up the book—luckily, it’s not very long.

While expecting a comprehensive overview of the franchise, I knew this wouldn’t just be about the games (even though the cover prominently features a poster from the third installment). However, the author started from an even earlier point.

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Songs: Andrius Klimka & Wargaming

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At one point, I was in charge of the audio design service department at Wargaming and even got to participate in a field recording of real tanks in Jordan. Officially, I was in charge of the entire trip, but in reality, I was mostly getting in everyone’s way 😉

A bit later, we decided to restructure the team, but I still maintained (and continue to maintain) good relationships with many of the guys. I remember when a new guy, Andrey, joined the Minsk team—now widely known as Andrius Klimka, the creator of many iconic tracks from the game World of Tanks as well as its promo videos.

Andrey truly crafted some legendary tracks, and a couple of them have found a permanent place in my playlist. Those are the ones I want to share today.

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Book: Boris Akunin “The Destruction and Resurrection of the Empire”

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Originally, when planning his series on the history of the Russian state, Boris Akunin intended to stop at 1917, with the fall of the Romanov dynasty, as he believed that beyond this point, it was no longer the history of the Russian state but of an entirely different country.

However, some time after completing the series, he unexpectedly announced the release of the 10th volume covering the Lenin-Stalin era. Moreover, this volume became the first that was not published in Russia, as when the book was almost ready for print, Boris Akunin was declared a terrorist in Russia, closing off access to publishing in his homeland. So the book was printed abroad.

While the revolution and the last tsar always felt distant to me, despite having lived during the Soviet Union, the events of the Soviet state itself were always closer. I studied this history in school and believed that I lived in the best country in the world. Therefore, I was very eager to see how Boris Akunin would recount this period.

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Book: Art Spiegelman “Maus”

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A comic book about the genocide of Jews? Sounds unusual, but why not? The important thing is to convey knowledge, and the method is secondary. Some people read books, some only watch movies, and some consume information exclusively through comics. And it’s long been foolish to think that comics are just for kids or the unintelligent. As the history of manga shows (see my review of Frederik L. Schodt’s “Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics”), sometimes comics can convey more knowledge than a specialized encyclopedia.

So the existence of such a comic didn’t surprise me at all. What did make me slightly wary, though, was the prestigious award it received. I have this odd quirk—I tend not to trust overly hyped or award-winning works. It seems to me that these awards often follow their own internal logic, which doesn’t always correlate with actual quality.

Maus by Art Spiegelman is “the only comic book to win a Pulitzer Prize,” as proudly stated on the cover. And it tells the story of a Polish Jew, Vladek Spiegelman, who struggled to survive after Nazi has occupied Poland but ultimately ended up in a concentration camp with his wife.

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Auschwitz: A History in Photographs

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auschwitz

In 2013, my wife and I took a road trip through Poland. One specific stop on our itinerary was Auschwitz, not the town, but the museum located on the site of the former concentration camp. This was a place I absolutely wanted to visit. The genocide of the Jews is part of my family’s history.

I won’t talk about the museum itself right now, that’s a subject for another conversation. But before leaving, I bought a photo album titled Auschwitz: A History in Photographs from the shop near the exit. It’s one of the few books I took with me when we moved to another country. However, for some reason, I only started to study it in detail five years later. I don’t quite know how to write about this book, but I still want to.

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Andrzej Sapkowski “The Witcher”

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I had wanted to read the book for many years but, for some reason, always hesitated to start. Finally, riding the wave of the well-known game about Geralt the Witcher, I decided to give it a go.

Honestly, I expected much more. The saga starts as a collection of short stories about various contracts of the witcher, a monster hunter. Then, the author decides to turn it into a full-fledged epic saga. And this is where the tension started to weaken. The witcher gradually stops being a witcher, essentially losing all the traits that defined him (at the very least, he doesn’t use them at all). The intrigue keeps building and building, often interspersed with frankly tedious and unnecessary lyrical digressions that don’t add much to the main plot. Book after book, but the saga feels very uneven. Sometimes you fly through the pages, unable to put it down, and other times you want to skip entire chapters. And finally… it ends with a whimper. With nothing. There’s no clear understanding of what it was all for, and the “deus ex machina” feels contrived and unconvincing in terms of the characters’ logic. Even after that, there are a few more chapters that don’t give a sense of closure.

However, overall, I think the character of Geralt the Witcher far outshines the quality of the book itself.

My rating: 3/5