Pravomil, or the Deafening Statute of Limitations

God's mills sometimes grind shamefully slow.

It is hard to imagine a better guide to our 20th century history than Pravomil Raichl, the title hero of Petr Stančík's new prose. A child of the First Republic who grew up in the hell of the Second World War and had to leave his beloved homeland due to disagreements with the communist regime, only to return to it after almost half a century in the name of righteous revenge. This historical novel by the author of The Mummy Mill and The Angel's Egg offers not only an engaging story in a period setting, but also a good portion of absurdist humour that spices up and lightens the narrative. However, even a number of funny moments and ridiculous motifs do not hide the tragic fate of people marked by war and totalitarianism, who, in the words of the protagonist, "only care about food anymore, and will follow whoever promises them a bigger portion".

Petr Stančík's new novel is (un)admittedly inspired by the fate of the infamous communist judge and prosecutor Karel Vác.