Letters from Prison and Other Essays

Society and Culture in East-Central Europe

by Adam Michnik

Among the voices that speak to us from Poland today, the most important may be that of Adam Michnik.  Michnik now sits in a jail belonging to the totalitarian regime, yet his first concern--and herein lies one of the keys to his thinking, and one should add, to his character--is with the quality of his own conduct, which, together with teh conduct of other victims of the present situation, will, he is sure, one day set the tone for whatever political system follows the totalitarian debacle. His essays are the most valuable guide we have to the origins of the revolution, and, more particularly, to its innovative practices. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Essays, Philosophy

400 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 1986

About the author

Adam Michnik, a leading force in the Solidarity trade union movement against communist totalitarianism, is the founder and editor in chief of the largest Polish daily newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, where he sometimes writes under the pen-names of Andrzej Zagozda or Andrzej Jagodziński. In 1966–1989 he was one of the leading organisers of the illegal, democratic opposition in Poland. A historian, essayist and political commentator, he is the recipient of many awards, including Knight of the Legion of Honour and European of the Year.

Reviews

[Andrés · Rating 4 out of 5]

Either Michnik is a boring writer or Latynski is a poor translator. Practically all the essays are plodding and some contain serious editorial gaffes. However, though the style leaves much to be desired, the substance, maintaining objectivity in the search for truth and living in truth under oppression, is highly satisfying.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Provides a good understanding of Poland, such as it "is" ("is" being a now anachronistic 1980-1984 essentially, because it is quite an old book by now, with a Poland then, underpinned by the Solidarity movement, standing on the threshold of yet another entry into yet another new era), and Poland as it "was" ("was" being many of the political currents, to be understood within the framework of Russian [Tsarist] domination up through the First World War; and more of those same as well as different currents subsequently in the WWI - WWII period, the period of a Republic of its own, only to be followed later, post-WWII, by more Russian [Soviet] domination. (And not political thought alone, as the conflicted history of Russian Orthodoxy and Polish Roman Catholicism are threads that run throughout the tapestry also...) Complicated...! As he has apparently never ceased writing *something*, I may pick up something of his to read from the newest era. ...

[Socrate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demnitatea.
Neputinţa în faţa răului înarmat e poate cea mai teribilă dintre umilinţele la care e supus omul. Când şase haidamaci dau cu tine de pământ, eşti complet neajutorat. Dar în acelaşi timp nu vrei să renunţi la dreptul tău natural la demnitate: nu vei ajunge la nici o înţelegere cu ticăloşii, nu vei semna nici un fel de angajament. Atunci când te iau cu forţa din casă, când dau în tine cu toată puterea lor brutală, când îţi ard ochii cu gaze lacrimogene, când îţi sparg uşa cu o rangă şi îţi fac ţăndări mobila, de faţă fiind întreaga familie, când, în mijloc de noapte, te duc în cătuşe la poliţie, ca să te facă să semnezi, atunci instinctul tău normal de auto-protecţie şi instinctul fundamental al demnităţii umane te vor face să spui NU.

[Naveen · Rating 3 out of 5]

gh

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series of letters and essays by Polish dissident Adam Michnik. He is truly an inspiring individual, and his stirring resolve comes through in this book.
Also you can read the letters independently, and I will admit I only read about 1/3.

[Leonardo]

En 1987 el aspecto más llamativo de la situación polaca era la propia impotencia del partido y de sus órganos. Sin enfrentarse realmente a ninguna amenaza visible a su monopolio del poder, el Partido Obrero Unificado Polaco estaba convirtiéndose poco a poco en algo irrelevante. La «contrasociedad» teorizada por Adam Michnik y otros autores durante la década anterior estaba surgiendo de facto como una fuente de autoridad y de iniciativa. Después de 1986, el debate dentro de la oposición polaca no se centraba ya en el deseo de enseñar a la sociedad a ser libre, sino en hasta qué punto debía la oposición negociar con el régimen y con qué fines.

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