/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17379140]

>Literatures you are getting to know now and want to know better.

In my case, Polish literature.

I recently discovered Wislawa Szymborska's poetry, which, in my eyes, is one of the greatest of the 20th century. This also led me to find Czeslaw Milosz and Zbigniew Herbert, and I loved their work too.

I started reading now - in English translations, because I don't understand Polish - the work of Boleslaw Lésmian, which is also impressive.

Add to that Olga Tokarczuk's books, and I can't help thinking that I ran into a gold mine. Polish polish is really glorious, and I would like to know more about it.

Suggestions from authors from Poland? What are favorite Polish writers?

[Anonymous No.17379468]

Herbert > Miłosz >>>> shit >>>> Szymborska desu, but Tadeusz Różewicz is superior to all of them. Leśmian is good. Our 20th century poetry is generally speaking very good but also very underrated. In terms of literature we pale in comparison to the west, but the most essential works you could read are:

Jan Potocki - The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
Bolesław Prus - The Doll
(wouldn't really suggest starting with either of those two, order is chronological)
Bruno Schulz - Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass (exceptional, oniric piece, influenced by Kafka, but more poetic)
Witold Gombrowicz - Ferdydurke (imo the best Polish novel of all time)
Marek Hłasko - any collection of short stories or novel of his that you can find in English, not too many of them (great prose, often times humorous but ultimately always gray and depressing. The reality of common people in Poland shortly after WW2. Also, his life was pure kino)
Stanisław Lem - Solaris (the ultimate sci-fi classic, also great if you don't have any interest in the genre)

Tokarczuk is a hack pretending she has anything say, tryharding to make every sentence ""beautiful"" and it's painfully obvious (I might even take a guess that translators of her shitty books do better job regarding prose than she does, it would be hard not to). But yeah I guess 40yo single women from big cities fall for that thinking it has something to do with high literature. Stay away.

[Anonymous No.17379484]

>>17379468
oh and Joseph Conrad was Polish too, so he technically counts;))

[Anonymous No.17379502]

>>17379140
>Suggestions from authors from Poland? What are favorite Polish writers?

Mickiewicz, Krasicki, Kraszewski, Prus and Potocki.
Tokarczuk is a cunt

[Anonymous No.17379525]

Read this earlier this month
Very compelling

[Anonymous No.17379562]

>>17379140

BEAUTIFUL SCENES OF GLORIOUS EMOTION

Right well first off I'm obviously going to say you try your best to learn the language, not only because then your reading the original, and because several great writers who's writing so distinctly uses the Polish language that I would genuinely say a translation of them is an impossibility, Leśmian and Norwid are the first two that came into my head with regards to that, and also because there's a tremendous amount of great literature that just does not have an available translation into English at all.

Anyways read Mickiewicz, Słowacki and Kraśinski collectively known as The Three Bards, read Kochanowski who is I think generally seen as the first real 'great' of Polish lit, read Witkiewicz, Gombrowicz, Schulz, Sienkiewicz, Prus, Reymont, I'm personally especially fond of the work of the Skamander group, especially Tuwim, Iwaszkiewicz and Słonimski work from that period, if you're particularly into your Futurism and avant-garde poetry look into Jaśienski, Peiper, Przyboś and Młodożeniec. Read Lem, Żeromski, Fredro, Wyspiański, Czechowski, Herling-Grudziński, especially reccomend reading Poświatowska since her poetry is written with quite simple language most of the time, so you'd think quite easy to translate well, whilst still being incredibly good, read Dąbrowska, Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, Iłłakowiczówna. I personally don't like Miłosz's poetry too much, but Zagórski and Rymkiewicz are two poets from a similar scene who I both like more. Gałczyński, Ansyk, Staff, Borowski, Ważyk, Morsztyn, Broniewski, Orkan, Szaniawski, Kraszewski, Hłasko and Żeleński-Boy are another few I'll finish off with.

And don't read Tokarczuk, you'd better off reading fuckin Pan Kleks than her.

[Anonymous No.17379580]

>>17379562
Best post ITT
>And don't read Tokarczuk, you'd better off reading fuckin Pan Kleks than her.

kek

[Anonymous No.17379596]

>>17379140
That's the Indonesian flag, OP

[Anonymous No.17379635]

>>17379140
Here's some books I'd recommend.

The Invincible by Stanisław Lem (if you like sci-fi and space adventure)
The Mighty Angel by Jerzy Pilch (if you're interested in books about alcoholics and romantics, where love can beat the addiction)
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (it's a book about the persecution of Christians in Ancient Rome under Neron's rule, it's probably one of the best books in that setting and the knowledge and amount of detail about Ancient Rome that Sienkiewicz has is amazing)
Blinded by The Lights by Jakub Żulczyk (it's about a depressed drug dealer and his struggles with life in modern Warsaw)
From poets I'd recommend Edward Stachura, Hanna Poświatowska and Jarosław Borszewicz (he also has a good existential book about obsession with death but I doubt it's available in any other language than Polish)

[Anonymous No.17379660]

>>17379580
>literally just listing all the names you can remember from high school without saying anything about most of them
>best post
very helpful indeed, OP is surely just gonna go with all of them

[Anonymous No.17379682]

I'm studying Polish and I've read the following books in Polish last year:
Prawiek i inne czasy - Olga Tokarczuk. I'd say the writing was a 6/10, the difficulty of the language was a 5/10 or so, very doable.
Krótkie, ale całe historie - Sławomir Mrożek. 7.5/10 writing, 8/10 language difficulty.
Quo Vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz. 7/10 writing 9/10 language difficulty. Took me almost 7 months to finish, probably would've enjoyed it more if the language didn't break my brain.

Currently reading:
Eden - Stanisław Lem. 8/10 writing and 7/10 language difficulty so far
Do you fellas have any recs based on these reads and ratings?

[Anonymous No.17379698]

>>17379660
I didn't even go to school in Poland. From the age of five I've been a dirty foreigner so you've embarrassed yourself there mate.

[Anonymous No.17379727]

>>17379682
Anon here also learning polish. What is your level and routine? How do i grind these sentences so they make sense

[Anonymous No.17379953]

>>17379682
>>17379727
Why are you learning Polish?

[Anonymous No.17380024]

>>17379727
My Polish reading skills are fairly high, at an upper B2 or maybe lower C1 level, my listening skills are a bit worse, at a lower-to-middle B2 level, my writing is pretty pretty poor at Upper-B1 to Lower-B2 and my speaking skills are abysmal, maybe at B1 level on a very good day.
As for the routine? Haven't really got one. I've just kind of done whatever in the last 4 years, grinding words in anki, memorising declension charts, talking to people on language exchange apps, playing the Witcher 3 etc.
Idk what works for you, drilling wise, although I recommend making your own flashcard deck instead of nicking someone elses.


>>17379562
Also follow this anon's suggestion on reading Pan Kleks, it's a nice book to start out with and really comfy.

>>17379953
I don't fully know myself but the fact that I'm unironically autistic might be part of it.

[Anonymous No.17380097]

He's been mentioned several times ITT, but Sienkiewicz is a good place to start, especially if you enjoy Historical Fiction. I read the Trilogy last year (Ogniem i Mieczem, Potop, Pan Wolodyjowski) and its some of the most fun I've ever had reading. They aren't """High Literature"""" (the books have a ton of problems), but the way Sienkiewicz describes battles, the landscape, the duels...its simply wonderful.

Also, Pan Zagloba is probably my favorite literary character. He makes me happy every time he appears.

[Anonymous No.17380249]

>>17380024
Our language has the best curses in the world (pic rel), so good kurwa luck anon. I can't imagine how hard it must be to learn our language as a foreigner.

[Anonymous No.17380515]

>>17379140
Neat. I wanted to get into Polish Romanticism, is Poland an underrated /lit/ culture?

[Anonymous No.17380550]

Did anyone of you read Nahacz? If so, did you enjoy?

[Anonymous No.17380766]

>>17380515
Absolutely

[Anonymous No.17380828]

>>17379140
Česlovas Milošas*
>>17379502
Mickevičius, Krasickas, Kraševskis, Potockis*

[Anonymous No.17380923]

>>17380249
Kek, what book is that?

[Anonymous No.17381260]

>>17380515
Absolutely.
Polish Romanticism actually has a pretty interesting relationship with Romanticism of the English, German, and French strains; Pan Tadeusz is openly critical of Romanticism, despite being a work of Romanticism itself. In the work, the Count--the most openly Romantic character in the poem--is so insufferable that, while Tadeusz gets happily married, the Count's beloved gets fed up with him and marries another man.

This is weirdly common--Walter Scott's Waverly is also critical of Romanticism, but is widely considered to be the first Romantic Historical Novel.

[Anonymous No.17381273]

>>17379682
The little bit of Lem's nonfiction I've read (in English) was very good. It might be worth looking into that side of his work.

[Anonymous No.17381289]

>>17379562
>Poświatowska

She was also a 10/10

[Anonymous No.17381426]

>>17380828
kys żmudzin

[Anonymous No.17381813]

bump

[Anonymous No.17382228]

Orzeszkowa, Witkacy and Schulz are the only three you really need. Mickiewicz and Sienkiewicz are nice too though.

[Anonymous No.17382275]

>>17382228
>orzeszkowa

[Anonymous No.17382346]

>>17382228
>Orzeszkowa
How is she? I've had Nad Niemnem on my list for a while, but I've heard mixed things about it. Seems like it could be the comfiest book ever written, or the most boring.

[Anonymous No.17382460]

>>17382346
It's the latter. There are far better realist novels by Polish authors from around that time, with "The Doll" and "The Peasants" being the finest examples.

[Anonymous No.17384319]

Bump

[Anonymous No.17384958]

>>17380828
THE TRUTH
>>17381426
cuck

[Anonymous No.17385203]

>>17379140
Check out Józef Ignacy Kraszewski

[Anonymous No.17385229]

>>17380923
I don't know sadly. I saved it some time ago.

[Anonymous No.17385238]

>>17379140
i can suggest Andrzej Niemojewski - Prawo Żydowskie o Gojach
good book

[Anonymous No.17385427]

I found Janusz Meissner
>inb4 ((()))
one of the best, it's more of a history really, but "Żądło Genowefy" (the sting of "genowefa") is my fav Polish book. He describes his experience as a pilot and crewman in the aircraft during WW2. He almost takes you there and there is much more (he also wrote about ships, his brother was captain), so I collect whatever I can from Meissner.

[Anonymous No.17385481]

>>17379468
this but ignore Hłasko

[Anonymous No.17385527]

>>17380828
we can talk after your flag looks european instead of african lol

[Anonymous No.17385571]

>>17379140
Joseph Conrad

[Anonymous No.17385774]

>>17382346
just read Weyssenhoff, although he's very difficult languagewise. I have no idea why noone is ever mentioning him, he's one of the most based polish authors and the only one I read as a Pole

[Anonymous No.17385861]

>>17379484
he doesnt you deluded polack

[Anonymous No.17385893]

>>17379468
potocki wrote in french and barely spoke polish at all

[Anonymous No.17385896]

>>17385774
>Weyssenhoff
t.endek

[Anonymous No.17385926]

Polish lit is too much we wuzzing

[Anonymous No.17386067]

>>17385861
>>17385893
>Suggestions from authors from Poland? What are favorite Polish writers
OP didn't specifically ask for POLISH literature

[Anonymous No.17386075]

>>17386067
then every writer from the partition period doesnt count you fucking retard

[Anonymous No.17386158]

>>17386075
If you believe that nationality = citizenship then sure

[Anonymous No.17386272]

>>17386158
a polish writer cannot write primarily in a language that's not polish

[Anonymous No.17386371]

I can’t be the only one who likes Szymborska...I really think her poetry is a great and perfect balance between a simple and prosaic language and a deeply metaphorical and inventive style. I also love her interest in modern science and her awe-inspiring wit.

[Anonymous No.17386446]

>>17379140
I'm trying to learn Polish, and while I can speak very basic and have a good understanding of genders and singular/plural/etc., I'm lacking severely in vocabulary and in short Duolingo is fucking terrible.

Any suggestions for books, poetry, entertainment that can help me learn? I also know like a dozen native speakers that can help me, too, but they don't really know how to teach me other than correcting what I say.

[Anonymous No.17387179]

btw most of these books that have been mentioned you can find there https://wolnelektury.pl for free

[Anonymous No.17388351]

>>17386272
Would Przybyszewski count as a Polish writer or German, since he wrote in both languages?

[Anonymous No.17388446]

>>17388351
he wrote primarily in polish

[Anonymous No.17389299]

>>17386272
Yes he can. You doesn't magically change your nationality/place of origin by writing in a foreign language, you dumb fuck. Their works are not a part of Polish literary canon, but they (authors) are nonetheless Polish, what's so fucking hard to understand.

[Anonymous No.17389306]

>>17386272
Yes he can. You don't magically change your nationality/place of origin by writing in a foreign language, you dumb fuck. Their works are not a part of Polish literary canon, but they (authors) are nonetheless Polish, what's so fucking hard to understand.

[Anonymous No.17389411]

>>17386446
Right well, how well can you understand this poem for children then?

Biega, krzyczy pan Hilary:
"Gdzie są moje okulary?"

Szuka w spodniach i w surducie,
W prawym bucie, w lewym bucie.

Wszystko w szafach poprzewracał,
Maca szlafrok, palto maca.

"Skandal! - krzyczy - nie do wiary!
Ktoś mi ukradł okulary!"

Pod kanapą, na kanapie,
Wszędzie szuka, parska, sapie!

Szuka w piecu i w kominie,
W mysiej dziurze i w pianinie.

Już podłogę chce odrywać,
Już policję zaczął wzywać.

Nagle zerknął do lusterka...
Nie chce wierzyć... Znowu zerka.

Znalazł! Są! Okazało się,
Że je ma na własnym nosie.

[Anonymous No.17389560]

>>17386446
I would unironically reading something like Pan Kleks, Krol Macius 1, or W Pustni i W Puszczy (if you're feeling REALLY adventurous). They're fun, comfy, relatively easy to read, and should help you brush up on your vocab (especially that last one). I would also recommend finding Polish translations of books you've read in English, since that way you can compare the two versions.

[Anonymous No.17389990]

>>17389560
>reading Polish translations
It's fucking pointless, better to buy an English translation and compare to the original in Polish