SOURCE: "The Polish Complex," in The Polish Review, Vol. XXV, No. 1, 1980, pp. 98-110.

In the following review, Krzyzanowski discusses The Polish Complex in the context of Konwicki's canon, describing common themes, techniques, and contemporary and historical allusions.

Tadeusz Konwicki, whose works only recently entered the American book market, hardly needs an introduction to his Polish readers but a few words about his literary career might be helpful to those who have not read his novels in the original language. As the author of many contemporary novels, producer and director of well-known movies, a winner of many international prizes and readers' plebiscites in Poland, Konwicki was among those writers whose names had been mentioned often enough to make him well known to many readers, viewers, and radio-listeners. He had been—and the past perfect tense used here is fully justified, since he had been in the limelight until 1976 but...