Peter Pišťanek’s 1991 literary debut,

(the original Slovak title is in English) is widely considered the most influential Slovak novel of the post-Communist period. It is a revolutionary novel in a number of ways: first, in its original poetics, unheard-of in Slovak literature; secondly, the fact that it was written at the time of the 1989 Velvet Revolution; and, finally, that it thematised that period of radical social change almost before it happened. By the standards of Slovak fiction, it had relative success in reaching English readers: Peter Petro’s English translation was praised by the

, the

, the

and the

, where Pišťanek was described as a worthy heir to the legacy of Rabelais, Balzac and Gogol.

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Citation: Darovec, Peter. "Rivers of Babylon". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 November 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39458, accessed 23 November 2024.]