Radek Rak’s novel “A Tale of a Serpent’s Heart or a Second Word About Jakób Szela” will be the topic of our next event of the Book Discussion Club.

 Additional information about the author (in English)

Additional information about the book (in Polish)

 Participants of the event are invited to read the book, which they can receive as follows:

– visiting the IP library (Mondays 8-16 or Fridays 8-13:30)

– receiving an e-book

If you are interested, please contact me us by e-mail at: telaviv.librarian@instytutpolski.pl

  The number of books is limited!

  The meeting will be held in Polish language on January 20^th (Friday) at 11:00 am in the Library of the Polish Institute in Tel Aviv

Rothshchild 3, Beit Psagot, 22nd floor. 

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Who has access to the supernatural world? Do the historical facts known to us hide secrets? Did the national heroes we met in our school days also have dark sides? These and many other questions were asked by the audience on January 20 during the Discussion Book Club at the Polish Institute’s Library dedicated to Radek Rak’s novel “A fairy tale about a serpent’s heart or a second word about Jakub Szela”.

 Awarded with the Nike Literary Award in 2020, the book tells a colorful story about the leader of the peasant uprising in 1846, Jakub Szela. Immersed in magical realism, the novel exposes the hero idealized in the pages of history, while adding more legends and myths about his character. Reading prompted numerous readers to a lively discussion both about historical facts, social divisions in the second half of the 19th century Galicja described in the book, and about Radek Rak’s characteristic language referring to fantasy literature.

The Discussion Book Club is an initiative of the IP Library in Tel Aviv, the aim of which is to promote literary culture and reading, and to revive circles interested in literature. Reading meetings have been held regularly since 2019, keeping readers in constant contact with Polish contemporary literature. Each meeting is devoted to a specific book that book club members are asked to read. The moderator of the event, one of the readers, leads the discussion, suggesting threads for the group to talk about.