Alaksiej Karpiuk in the eyes of Vasil Bykau: the autobiographical novel 'The Long Way Home'

Abstract

This article analyses the memories of one of the most outstanding Belarusian prose writers Wasyl Bykow about Aleksy Karpiuk included in the book 'Long Way Home' ‘Długa droga do domu’ (2003). Particular attention is paid to the writer's life in Grodno and his friendship with Aleksy Karpiuk, an artist born in Straszewo in the Bialystok region. W. Bykow truly describes twenty-two years shared with his friend in Grodno, in a period unfavorable for rebellious writers. The writer shows the personality of A. Karpiuk, and mentions situations that are both widely known and those that few people knew about. W. Bykow, on the occasion of describing the problems with which the literary milieu struggled, gives his own assessment of the socio-political situation in Belarus.