About the work
Glisono kilpa, the first novel of Kunčinas, was published in 1992 in Kaunas. Lithuanian critics described the novel as being a type of “anti-novel,” testing the limits of traditional narrative structure with a main protaganist gradually being “lost” by the trials and perils of writing, alcoholism and sex.
Structure and plot
The novel, written in first person, is the story of the dissapearance of the German philology student, Jeronimas Jaras. Jaras is a bohemian character – homeless and alcoholic – whose fate is a mystery, for in the course of the novel he is described as either having died “in strange circumtances” or having dissapeared without a trace. The story is set in Vilnius of the 1960-70s, with elements of reality overlaying grotesque and phantasmagorical descriptions of the place. The narrator/protaganist depicts the repressive, gloomy mood of the period, while at the same time, portraying a memorable set of colourful Vilnius characters: students, artists, alcoholics, drug addicts, homeless, cops, members of the Soviet security apparatus, criminals, etc. Although the life-story of the narrator is well plotted, it is marked by a sense of drifting meaningless. One day Jaras meets a “foxy” enchantress, who changes the course of his life. After meeting her, Jaras loses consciousness and wakes up in a forest hut outside the city, leaving the earthly life behind