RaveAsymptoteCroft beautifully captures the distinct quality of Tokarczuk’s prose: the lightness, the playful curiosity, the lyricism ... the novel moves among a sprawling cast of characters, each with their own wonderfully idiosyncratic set of concerns and interests ... Is this, then, the story of a prophet or a cult leader, a charlatan? The novel dances tantalizingly around this question, becoming an extended meditation on the nature of history that dazzlingly blends fact, fiction, and fantasy—and showing us how history itself always combines these elements, often at a terrible human cost. Although this novel is deeply rooted in the intricacies of Poland’s past, particularly the troubled relationship between Jews and Catholics, its thoughtful portrayal of the diverse and multicultural milieu of the eighteenth century is a forceful rejoinder to the sanitized visions of the past that are increasingly central to the struggles over historical politics happening across the globe ... This is an unflinching and nuanced examination of what \'civilization\' really means.
