With this historical tragedy at its core, A Mass for Arras explores the personal and political consequences of fear, fanaticism, and fascism in the story of Jan, a young member of the intelligentsia. Arrogantly pious and full of revolutionary zeal, Jan wholeheartedly participates in the torments inflicted on the "outsiders" in the name of moral and political righteousness. Yet when faced with escalating violence and, ultimately, his own downfall, he must choose between sincere commitment to the isolated village that adopted him and horror at a society gone mad.
A Mass for Arras addresses themes of freedom and responsibility, individualism and conformity, and memory and loss. It is a moving account of a young man's coming-of-age in a time of disease and death, a profound political allegory of life in an emergent totalitarian state, a chilling indictment of government-sponsored repression and societal complicity, and a cautionary tale about the tendency of history to repeat itself, whether in fifteenth-century France, postwar Poland, or somewhere still closer to our own time and place.
"[Szczypiorski's] resonant story is a timely meditation on crimes committed in the name of religion and on the misplaced faith the ruled place in their rulers. The translation preserves the pungent medieval atmosphere, evoking a mindset that, the author implies, is very much alive today." Publishers Weekly
"A thought-provoking meditation on the human tendency to find meaning in suffering by blaming others and to pervert ideals to base means. . . Simply, elegantly, and yet with great power, Szczypiorski lays out the dangers of a worldview clearly reminiscent of Eastern Europe before the fall of communism." Library Journal
ANDRZEJ SZCZYPIORSKI was born in 1924 in Warsaw, where he still resides. He fought in the Resistance Movement during the German Occupation of Poland, took part in the Warsaw uprising of 1944, and survived time
Tristan, a beautiful, successful, financial guru who s emotionally bankrupt: Men call me a bitch! Because when it comes to business, I m a man-eater.
Mekka, the bold, sexy, exotic dancer, and a single-mother of two: Some people call me a hoe...because I strip for niggas and hustle for cash.
Shawn, an Afrocentric, neurotic, neo-soul goddess who s an elementary school teacher with substance abuse issues: Some people call me desperate. The truth is, I m a basket case, a borderline alcoholic I hate being by myself...
Melanie, the cool, sassy, hardcore round-the-way girl with a sexual identity crisis: I can see that he s trying to figure out whether I m a girl or a guy. It s not easy to tell.
AND GOD CREATED WOMAN is a groundbreaking tale of perseverance, filled with many moral messages. Taking readers on an emotional journey with enticing plots, twists and turns, Tristan, Mekka, Shawn and Melanie are forced to realize the true essence and beauty of a woman.
Amy Mandelker, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, is the author of Framing Anna Karenina: Tolstoy, the Woman Question, and the Victorian Novel and coeditor of Approaches to Teaching Anna Karenina.