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Kosmos is a 1965 novel by the Polish author Witold Gombrowicz. The narrative revolves around two young men who seek the solitude of the country; their peace is disturbed when a set of random occurrences suggest to their susceptible minds a pattern with sinister meanings. The humour arises, as it often does in Gombrowicz's work, in the extremity of paranoia and confusion exhibited by the protagonist.
Themes appearing in this work that are also common in the author's oeuvre are the search for form and meaning in a chaotic existence, and the fragile nature of the human mind.[citation needed] The novel was awarded the 1967 International Prize for Literature.[1]
Free download or read online Ferdydurke pdf (ePUB) book. The first edition of this novel was published in 1937, and was written by Witold Gombrowicz. The book was published in multiple languages including English language, consists of 320 pages and is available in Paperback format. The main characters of this fiction, european literature story are,.
The 1967 English translation was from the French and German translations rather than the Polish original. In 2004 Danuta Borchardt received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to enable her to prepare a revised translation directly from the Polish, a translation published by Yale University Press in 2005[2] and praised for its better renderings of Gombrowicz's complex language.[3]
A film adaptation with the same title directed by Andrzej Żuławskiwon the Best Director award at the 68th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in 2015.[4][5]
Characters[edit]
- Witold – the narrator, who's had undefined troubles with his parents back in Warsaw
- Fuks – his 'carroty' 'fish-like' companion, escaping his oppressive work environment and his boss, Drozdowski, who for unknown reasons can't stand him
- Leon Wojtys – retired banker and pater familias; the family live on the outskirts of Zakopane, after moving from Drohobych, then Pułtusk, then Kielce
- Mrs. Wojtys, or 'Roly-Poly' – his wife, from a slightly lower social class than her husband's
- Lena – their daughter, a teacher of foreign languages
- Ludwik – their son-in-law (he married Lena two months before the events in the novel), architect
- Katasia – Mrs. Wojtys's niece (from a peasant family in Grójec) and housekeeper, whose deformed upper lip is the result of an accident
- Lulu and Lukie, Tolo and Venomie Tolek- two newly married couples who accompany the rest on a trip to the country
References[edit]
- ^'Converses de Formentor', conference brochure, 2008 (In Spanish)Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^Holmberg, David Thomas (2007). 'Rev. of Cosmos (trans. Borchardt)'. Rocky Mountain Review. 61 (1): 145–47. JSTOR20058167.
- ^Illakowicz, Krystyna Lipinska (2006). 'Rev. of Gombrowicz, Bacacay (trans. Johnston) and Cosmos (trans. Borchardt)'. The Slavic and East European Journal. 50 (4): 716–18. doi:10.2307/20459386. JSTOR20459386.
- ^'Żuławski wins best director at Locarno film festival'. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
- ^Lemercier, Fabien (2015-01-09). 'Andrzej Zulawski's Cosmos in post-production'. Cineuropa. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cosmos_(Gombrowicz_novel)&oldid=795318470'
Subjects
A 'creatively captivating and intellectually challenging' existential mystery from the great Polish author—'sly, funny, and . . . lovingly translated' (The New York Times).
Winner of the 1967 International Prize for Literature
Milan Kundera called Witold Gombrowicz 'one of the great novelists of our century.' Now his most famous novel, Cosmos, is available in a critically acclaimed translation by the award-winning translator Danuta Borchardt.
Cosmos is a metaphysical noir thriller narrated by Witold, a seedy, pathetic, and witty student, who is charming and appalling by turns. In need of a quiet place to study, Witold and his melancholy friend Fuks head to a boarding house in the mountains. Along the way, they discover a dead bird hanging from a string. Is this a strange but meaningless occurrence or is it the first clue to a sinister mystery?
As the young men become embroiled in the Chekhovian travails of the family that runs the boarding house, Grombrowicz creates a gripping narrative where the reader questions who is sane and who is safe.
'Probably the most important 20th-century novelist most Western readers have never heard of.' —Benjamin Paloff, Words Without Borders
Winner of the 1967 International Prize for Literature
Milan Kundera called Witold Gombrowicz 'one of the great novelists of our century.' Now his most famous novel, Cosmos, is available in a critically acclaimed translation by the award-winning translator Danuta Borchardt.
Cosmos is a metaphysical noir thriller narrated by Witold, a seedy, pathetic, and witty student, who is charming and appalling by turns. In need of a quiet place to study, Witold and his melancholy friend Fuks head to a boarding house in the mountains. Along the way, they discover a dead bird hanging from a string. Is this a strange but meaningless occurrence or is it the first clue to a sinister mystery?
As the young men become embroiled in the Chekhovian travails of the family that runs the boarding house, Grombrowicz creates a gripping narrative where the reader questions who is sane and who is safe.
'Probably the most important 20th-century novelist most Western readers have never heard of.' —Benjamin Paloff, Words Without Borders
Publication Details
- Publisher:
- Grove Atlantic
- Imprint:
- Grove Press
- Publication Date:
- 2011
Format
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- Adobe PDF eBook 748.9 KB
- Adobe EPUB eBook 242.9 KB
Witold Gombrowicz (Author)
The renowned Polish author, Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969) lived, virtually unknown, in Argentina, writing novels, stories, and plays for twenty-five years before taking up residence in France. He wrote four novels, Trans-Atlantyk, Cosmos, Pornogra...