A haunting novel of post-Soviet Slovakia, centering on an enigmatic
one-sided conversation.
"So, as you see, I am familiar with the case. However, we can't discuss
it unless you learn more about some other court cases, so that you can
compare your father's trial with other, more baffling cases, and see it
in the context of the madness that reigned at the time."
Ján Johanides' riveting Slovak novel immediately thrusts you into the
midst of a bewildering second-person dialogue, bestowing the reader with
the role of a silent partner in a one-sided conversation with a
mysterious archivist. As the story unfurls piece by piece, it becomes
clear that the archivist, who can't seem to stay on topic, has both a
tragic history and the key to unlocking your family's darkest secret, a
secret that may or may not involve the Czechoslovak secret police,
American and Soviet intelligence, Israeli politics, and a tire full of
dollars.
Set after the fall of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of
Czechoslovakia, But Crimes Do Punish is awash with paranoia, revealing
how the madness of the Communist era continues to bleed into the
instability of the present. Written in 1995, this haunting novel--the
first work of Slovak fiction published by Karolinum Press--evokes the
spirit of John le Carré and the style of Carlos Fuentes while
illuminating issues that still plague post-Communist Europe.
