The book is written in a mixture of first and third person perspective with the narrator being the author, Czeslaw Milosz. The author is writing from his first-hand knowledge and events of life in the Soviet bloc countries. As a writer, he understands the process that took place in other writers under a regime that suppresses literary creativity and forces a style of writing that must conform to the Method, or Party line. If a writer wants to keep working at his chosen occupation and be published, he must write in the approved manner that supports the class struggle and Party doctrine.