The Spring to Come
The Polish novel Przedwiośnie was written by the leading Polish neoromantic writer Stefan Żeromski, and first published in 1925, the year he died. The book has been translated and published in the U.S. as the Coming Spring in 2007.
The novel consists of three parts: Szklane Domy, Nawłoć, and Wiatr od wschodu. It is set between 1914–1924, before and during the reconstitution of Poland as the Second Polish Republic, including the Polish-Soviet war. As the Russian Revolution breaks out, the main character, Cezary Baryka, escapes from Baku with his father, a Polish political exile from Siberia. The father dies en route to the newly formed Polish state. Cezary enters Poland alone, the country of his parents, having never been there before. The novel tells of his disillusionment as the Poland he discovers does not resemble that of which his father told him; a feeling only magnified by the Baryka's deep suspicion of the Bolshevik solutions about the poor.
A live action version was released in two formats in Poland on 2 March 2001, adapted and directed by Filip Bajon, produced by Dariusz Jabłoński, and featuring Mateusz Damięcki as Cezary Baryka. A five-hour miniseries version was broadcast on Polish television, and a 138-minute cut distributed to theatres.
