Ryszard Æwirlej: Perhaps too much of the spiritual element enters our schools and too little of physics

Ćwirlej is regarded by critics as the creator of a new literary genre – the “neomilitary crime story”. In 2017, his book “Silence is Silver” received the Readers of Great Caliber award, and a year later “Only the Dead in Knowledge” was awarded twice: the Grand Caliber award granted by the jurors and the Great Caliber Readers award. Watch our video call.

Ryszard Ćwirlej wants us to ask if we are not too gullible

Talking about the plot of his latest detective story, it was hard not to touch on topics such as the Church, superstitions, fake news. – The truth is that perhaps too much of the spiritual element enters our schools, and too little physics, too little chemistry. Later, there are photos of a surprised man who pours boiling water on his car windows and the glass breaks, and he makes big eyes and doesn’t know why – says the writer. – We need elementary, basic knowledge, and we do not need witchcraft and beliefs, faith in miracles. This belief in miracles makes us leave some physical, chemical and mathematical experiments somewhere aside, because we don’t know anything about it, but we believe that if we pray, this window can clean itself, for example, thanks to hot water – he explains.

Among other things, that is why he called to life in the “Rainbow Valley” brother Bernard, to whom crowds come asking for miraculous healing. When a reporter from a news station became interested in him, it turns out that the man has disappeared… The journalistic investigation takes place in parallel with two other threads of the novel. This is an attempt by Ćwirleja to encourage readers to follow the criminal thread and ask themselves the following questions: what reality do we live in? Are we too gullible?

His retired character does not forget to pursue her passions

Ryszard Ćwirlej himself was a TV and radio journalist for many years. He has also recently done voice work by recording the audiobook “Tęczowa dolina”. It is a rare case that a novel is read not by a professional lector, but by the author himself. Ćwirlej does not rule out, however, that, for example, the second part of the cycle will also be available for listening to his performance. In the conversation, which can also be heard in the form of the Publio podcast “Read well, listen well”, the writer also talks about, among others, about why he created the character of a former policewoman, a retired investigator who breaks the stereotype of a grandmother.

– Retirement does not have to mean that grandma will just sit in front of the TV and watch all the series that are on TV, but she can also pursue her passions. My grandmother, grandmother Matylda, pursues her passions. She is a pensioner, she is a full-blooded police officer, and she wants to prove, maybe not to herself, maybe to the world, that she is still useful for something. That the age of over 60 does not mean that we are lazy and rest on our laurels and clean the decorations we have received during our entire service – says Ćwirlej. – Grandma works and shows young people that you can do something extraordinary, something cool, you can solve the mystery of the disappearance of a miracle worker – she adds.