‘What can a survivor do with their history? Can you be loyal to the friends you left behind? Andrzej Tichý turns this wretched reality into something poignant. His polyphonic novel has a rough, rhythmic melody and a ferocious rage.’
August Prize Judges
‘Post-political, that’s what I want to call Andrzej Tichý’s arrestingly acute writing. […] A terrifying and hard story that doesn’t forget to occasionally burst out into something gripping and beautiful.’
Jonas Thente, Dagens Nyheter
‘Tichý writes a delirious, detailed prose, studded with Malmö slang and contemporary verve. The language pours forth over the pages like a contaminated river, full of filth, despair and anxiety, an associative flow of long, disjointed, almost endless sentences.’
Eva Johansson, Svenska Dagbladet
‘In virtuosically rendered language; full of the poetry of spoken word, the innovation of contemporary slang, and the philosophical verve of great literature, Tichý gives a voice to the lost “brothers” of his youth. To follow this frantic, mournful, bamboozling, pleading, smart, childish, would-be hard, bragging, desperate and despairing collective memory is to “hear” a whole forsaken generation. Despite the embracing of darkness, despite the absence of hope and faith, it is a magnificent elegy, teeming with life.’
Pia Bergström, Aftonbladet
‘In terms of ambition, few contemporary Swedish authors can compete with Tichý. The same goes for linguistic intensity. His prose rushes forward, roaring with, if you will, dark poetry, hurling its rage at an indifferent present. Wretchedness is a furious novel.’
Ann Lingebrandt, Sydsvenska Dagbladet
‘Authors like Tichý are needed to keep our literature alive. He is drilling frenetically, refusing to neglect the suffering and succeeds in lighting a spark with a linguistic tinder.’
Nils Schwartz, Expressen
‘In spite of its slimness, this is a huge novel Tichý has written.’
Viktor Malm, Expressen
‘Andrzej Tichý is an author who, time after time, in language that sings, says something important about contemporary Sweden. Read him.’
Stefan Eklund, Borås Tidning
‘This is literature. Powerful and moving. And a lament for people with few opportunities to escape “that place” fate has decided for them.’
Inger Dahlman, Motala Tidning
‘The darkness Tichý evokes has an epic, radiant energy. The frenzy in the narrator’s flashbacks forces its way up through the narrative like volcanic continents, full of ruin, tragedy, wretchedness, and a rare, raging and destructive power. It is magnificent, across the board, magnificent.’
Jan-Olov Nyström, Skånska Dagbladet
