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Works. Volume 2. Prose

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Although Jānis Rokpelnis is mostly known as an innovator of the 20th century. the poet of the second half, who has retained an equally significant importance even after regaining independence, prose texts also occupy a noteworthy place in his creative biography. These are several novels, essays and non-fiction works that mainly focus on the treatment of regained freedom and its side effects.

The articles contain the most important prose texts of Jānis Rokpeļņas, both previously published in books and only available in the press. The book of essays "...but God is not a small child" published in 2003 has been supplemented with essays published in Diena newspaper after 2002. Most of the texts are in a new edition by the author, especially the novel "Virtual Faust".

It seems quite natural that almost the entire corpus of Rokpeļņi's prose can be read as mutually complementary works, even though the tone created in them is different - here the text screams in the voices of demons, lost in the void, here it delves into the works of artists and their journeys, here it caresses every building in Riga with eyes full of love, and here again, with self-ironic intelligence, he wonders about developments in Latvia and beyond. Even though he is a great master of language, Rokpelnis remains faithful to laconicism throughout his prose, so it is futile to look for twists and turns in it. Laconism is also his strength as a prose writer - just like a Spartan, he does not talk unnecessarily and does not burden the reader with bits of water, instead, as if playing, he tests his encyclopedic knowledge, wisdom and ability to taste the language. 

Ilze Jansone

Regular price € 20.00