In concrete houses
Do not be tempted to read the afterword or the thanks in front of Mercy itself , it will be the easy way and treat yourself to a massive spoiler. To prepare you a bit for the encounter with this book, let me just say that it’s a kind of alternative versions of the main character’s life. This is not a “what if” exercise. Rather, questions of the genre of “what could be.”
As the title suggests, the basic thesis of the book is the lack of love – not only free and probably not only in concrete houses. However, the block of flats becomes a finite world shaped by ancient evil and good taking the form of people and demons. It is a place of eternal struggle, simulation of possible ways of life, the final shape of the universe. You can’t get out of it, maybe you don’t even need to. It is also the laboratory of the basic social unit with all its dysfunction and inconvenience.
Possible and impossible versions of the world
The perspective and the atmosphere change several times here, each of the four parts of Bezmiość is basically a different book, although with the same main character, little and then older Grzegorz. Also, the Watcher and the Coordinator, two mysterious characters taking notes on the boy in the block, shaping his developing personality and controlling his misfortunes, never disappear.
Lack of love is the most important factor in Grzegorz’s life. The boy seems to be subjected to an experiment in personality shaping through trauma, pain and neglect. All associations with Zimbardo are perfectly justified, and Bezmiość is a genre-specific kind of dystopia, cut into pieces and subjected to a certain deconstruction. Subsequent versions of the world of Sin will include a modern variation on gladiatorial fights, a medical thriller, a horror film using Romani beliefs.
Another leitmotif of Bezmiość is childhood and nostalgia. Gregory is fixated on his early experiences and the way most of us grow up to experience reality. Magical thinking is his default mode, combined with a slight paranoia, which, however, does not prevent him from trusting mythical beings. Always, in every version of himself and the world, he will try to find confirmation that demons are real and that the miracles they perform will save him from pain and violence. After all, he is the chosen one, he is subjected to observation, data is collected about him … Like the protagonist of Goodnight, Punpun , attachment to old promises will not bring Grzegorz happiness or health.
Tree growing out of gray
As always, Vesper published the book beautifully, the colors on the cover by Krzysztof Wroński are amazing, as are the end papers. However, they can confuse you a bit, because in Grzegorz’s story the gray of concrete dominates and no trees appear in it… except for an important metaphor. The illustrations inside the text are now closer to the concrete aesthetic, and can lead you to more psychological leads and readings of the Unloving . For example, I was delighted with the block on page 261; It won’t tell you anything about the content of the book, unless you read the adjacent page.
Lovelessness can challenge you by changing your mood and vision of the world. At the beginning it is read rather like a riddle than a story about a specific character, but it does not feel artificial, and the author does not forget that his characters must have personality. Zychla is not a debutant, he has several novels and a lot of short stories to his credit, which can be seen in his honest workshop and good handling of this complicated story. Read this book, but be disbelieving – the narrator is not always honest, and the protagonist is not always right. And maybe it’s not even all about these two values.
