@@catacombeaperte saying its his best is an understatement-having read The Joke, all of his other books seem to fall into oblivion under its power. A truly magical ending which, primarily in its style, reminds me of the whole Fathers and Sons by Turgenev.
One of my favorite Polish authors. I read Kosmos around the time I was doing "research" with psychedelic mushrooms. Cold war, psychoanalytic, absurdism...right up my alley.
So happy to see Gombrowicz on your channel! I’d really recommend reading "Cosmos", I find it to be his best novel, certainly the darkest and most complex. The film by Zulawski is amazing as well, however, it gets soo much better once you've read the novel, adds layers over layers of meanings.
I'm from Poland so I'm really happy you've reviewed polish book! now I'm just ashamed I haven't read it myself. Time to change it. By the way I was wondering if you've seen polish movie "Cold War"? Looking at your movie recommendations I have a feeling you would really enjoy it.
Great! I lived for many years with quotes from Gombrowitz's Journals throbbing in my brain , sustaining me more than food. They are incredible. A pity that Kundera, in the English.speaking sphere, seems to be mostly known for the Unbearable Lightness of Being , which is good, of course, but I think 'The Book of Laughter and Forgetting' might be better as an introduction. It was my first Kundera, and after that I have read everything, everything by him. He is in a way deceptively 'easy' to read, but with depth.
I read Ferdydurke twice and a half. I really need to read again Cosmos and Pornografia. I remember when I read this last one: early 2000s I went regularly to public library and picked books of Henry Miller, Céline and Gombrowicz. Reading like a possesed instead of studying what I supposed to.
11:01. Piñera was part of Gombrowicz’s circle in Argentina. Gombrowicz thanked him (and others) in the preface to the first Spanish translation of the ‘Ferdydurke’. As an interesting side note, that first translation is quite unique in that Gombrowicz directed it despite he had a very limited knowledge of Spanish, and despite all the people helping him with it (Piñera included) didn’t know a word of Polish. Also, he wasn’t really a fan of Borges and his circle.
ahhh speaking of Zielowski, his [semi-unfinished] film On the Silver Globe is an adaptation of his grandfather's (?) trilogy of scifi novels. An excellent film if you haven't seen it yet. I loved it. Have a Zielowski night ;)
... give his diary a go. It's a collection of articles he wrote for the emigre papers. They are thought provoking and sobering. Especially when all aspects of identity have become politicized as they are today. This is one title of his I have yet to read but all and all, Gombrowicz is one of my favorite writers from back home. Ferdydurke and Kosmos are great. Trans-Atlantyk makes more sense if you are Polish. It's a critique of being stuck in a national identity that does no service to Poland and above all, no service to the individual. And it's a call to question the labels people apply to us, their definitions, and who controls the definitions. The latter is a reoccurring theme in his work. ... fun fact, The first person to ever translate Gombrowicz was Pinera. I don't think W.G. ever wrote anything in Spanish for publication. But I could be mistaken. If you're into Schwob, etc. you might like another cat with a very Polish name: Bruno Schulz.
Another stellar review! Just finished Pornografia a couple hours ago. It was such an experience. Gombowicz wades into some deeply strange, subtle psychological waters.
I've just finished Cosmos today and was glad to find this review, I guess it's not that easy to talk about his work, but it seems you really manage to find the right words. Cosmos is very similar in terms of its magic, endless wandering of thoughts, and perversive attention to detail; that intricate world of sensuality and fantasy is just so mesmerizing.. I like it how he constantly juxtaposes desire, disgust, and death tangling them as if it's one matter and this is what really constitutes our life. I've never read anything similar to his work, I agree with Nabokov and Bataille references, yet Gombrowicz is definitely something else and significantly stands out from all kinds of groups.
I just finished "Pornografia" this morning & I couldn't wait to hear your thoughts on it. It was a difficult read for me but it makes more sense after hearing your review. I find I watch your reviews in two parts: Part 1 is hearing your initial thoughts on the book (I pause to order the book & avoid possible "spoilers") Part 2 is hearing your review & thoughts! 😁
Just finished reading this myself and wanted to listen to a considered opinion about it to chew over, as the book is certainly a dense one! Fantastic review, really enjoyed your style and thoughts about it.
The Only book I've ever read by Gombrowicz is' Bacacay'(short stories). Good rewiew.I also suggest you to read another polish:Czeslaw Milosz and his book 'The captive Mind'.
Great review, it's pleasure to listen to you. Gombrowicz is one of my favourites authors and I liked "Pornografia" most from his works. Regards from Poland 🙂
Huh,I mean it's nothing of the same gravity,at least I hope not,but as a chinese who is in Italy while the coronavirus broke loose and is currently stuck in Rome because her flights constantly got canceled,I feel funny hearing you sum up Gombrowicz's bio at the beginning.Well, I guess on the bright side my Italian is improving and maybe I would be able to read Calvino when I leave.
So nice to meet some more & more polish autors here... maybe some words ab Ryszard Kapuściński, Kąkolewski, Bruno Schulz, Andrzej Sapkowski, Rawicz "The Way Back", Kosiński, Stanisław Witkiewicz, Miłosz or Iwaszkiewicz :-)
Hey! i just finished Death to the bullshit artists of south Texas, and was looking for other punk lit kinda stuff. I got pointed to Luc Sante, anyone know where to start with him? or anyone got any better recommendations in the same vein?
I just discovered your channel, nice job! I'm from Sonora, México and i think your book selection is great, cuz almost all of them are unusual titles. Have you read "The life & opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman"? I think there's a great chance you love it.
Hey great video, as always! Can you read "the unbearable lightness of being", I am curious to hear your opinion on it. I read it and didn't like it and found it to be quite mediocre piece ( maybe because it's so hyped that I expected more or something completely different than it was ).
You must read The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. Both of them are masterpieces and Kundera, alongside Marias, is one of my favourite authors.
Do you think a translation is like a reflection in a dusty old mirror? Only a shadow of the original? A shadow of a shadow of a shadow in the shade of an oak tree's branches and leaves of a shadow like?
Its so funny to me, as a Polish person, how Polish authors are found to be interesting, when they are distinguished by not being catholic or being leftist. It creates a hilarious vision of Polish society in the world, as a religious fanatic and conservative country. (Which is mostly true)
I am the 666th like. Would you consider doing a review of something by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal (whom I have not read)? I loved the movies Closely Watched Trains and I Served the King of England based on novels by Hrabal
sorry spilled my coffee, wait, wait.... you have not read, ULofB? ... seriously, not ok (obviously I would say that given its one of my very favorites, and I also used it for my bachelor thesis, well the thesis was based on that one together with Nietzsches idea of the eternal return (which of course the books mentions).
@@paperbike6279 did u even read my cautionary note concerning my reaction. The question marks are meant to express my surprise, but I am sure he just did an 'in the moment error', given that he is talking about a polish author. So finally, chill! :)
You should really check out The Master and Margarita if you haven't already. It's my favourite novel, and I think that it's one of those books that strikes the perfect balance between thematic significance and a story that's just plain old fun. In the same way, Dr. Strangelove is my favourite movie. I don't really want to spoil it, but I'd give it my highest recommendation.
How can he be a leftist and be banned by the communist party? what kind of leftist was he? Also, for someone that diliked socio economic classes, the focus on particular strata is ironic
Aaaaa, I didn't expect Gombrowicz here. Lots of love from Poland!
Milan Kundera is Czech (and looks like Javier Marias is not a big fan of him...)
Yup, you're right, my mistake, thanks for catching that.
@@BetterThanFoodBookReviews You should definitely read The Joke-his best work in my opinion.
@@andrejjovicevic7433 I was about to suggest the same title of his! Definitely his best, would 100% recommend.
@@catacombeaperte saying its his best is an understatement-having read The Joke, all of his other books seem to fall into oblivion under its power. A truly magical ending which, primarily in its style, reminds me of the whole Fathers and Sons by Turgenev.
Yeah, but a Czech is a type of Polack, right?
One of my favorite Polish authors. I read Kosmos around the time I was doing "research" with psychedelic mushrooms. Cold war, psychoanalytic, absurdism...right up my alley.
So happy to see Gombrowicz on your channel! I’d really recommend reading "Cosmos", I find it to be his best novel, certainly the darkest and most complex. The film by Zulawski is amazing as well, however, it gets soo much better once you've read the novel, adds layers over layers of meanings.
"anticlerical bisexual" I'm sold!!
and being anticlerical in Poland (at the time and still now) is a pretty hardcore level of rebellious
@@doelette7400 Już bez przesady, teraz to jest nawet modne.
Mateusz Znajdek no ale chyba nie w tych czasach, kiedy żył XD
I'm from Poland so I'm really happy you've reviewed polish book! now I'm just ashamed I haven't read it myself. Time to change it. By the way I was wondering if you've seen polish movie "Cold War"? Looking at your movie recommendations I have a feeling you would really enjoy it.
Great! I lived for many years with quotes from Gombrowitz's Journals throbbing in my brain , sustaining me more than food. They are incredible.
A pity that Kundera, in the English.speaking sphere, seems to be mostly known for the Unbearable Lightness of Being , which is good, of course, but I think 'The Book of Laughter and Forgetting' might be better as an introduction. It was my first Kundera, and after that I have read everything, everything by him. He is in a way deceptively 'easy' to read, but with depth.
Witold is the name of my father. I miss him like crazy.
Milan Kundera was an author from Czech Republic, not Poland
Ey! Good morning from NYC. Good to see Gombrowicz here.
I read Ferdydurke twice and a half. I really need to read again Cosmos and Pornografia. I remember when I read this last one: early 2000s I went regularly to public library and picked books of Henry Miller, Céline and Gombrowicz. Reading like a possesed instead of studying what I supposed to.
Excellent review! I read Gombrowicz when I was a kid. Also recommended Ferdydurke and Trans-Atlantic.
Trans-Atlantyk petarda
11:01. Piñera was part of Gombrowicz’s circle in Argentina. Gombrowicz thanked him (and others) in the preface to the first Spanish translation of the ‘Ferdydurke’. As an interesting side note, that first translation is quite unique in that Gombrowicz directed it despite he had a very limited knowledge of Spanish, and despite all the people helping him with it (Piñera included) didn’t know a word of Polish. Also, he wasn’t really a fan of Borges and his circle.
ahhh speaking of Zielowski, his [semi-unfinished] film On the Silver Globe is an adaptation of his grandfather's (?) trilogy of scifi novels. An excellent film if you haven't seen it yet. I loved it. Have a Zielowski night ;)
"Pornografia" is a good one, though "Cosmos" is a lot better!
I like how you pronounce "Gombrowicz". It's very correct. Good review. One of the greatest polish authors.
... give his diary a go. It's a collection of articles he wrote for the emigre papers. They are thought provoking and sobering. Especially when all aspects of identity have become politicized as they are today. This is one title of his I have yet to read but all and all, Gombrowicz is one of my favorite writers from back home.
Ferdydurke and Kosmos are great. Trans-Atlantyk makes more sense if you are Polish. It's a critique of being stuck in a national identity that does no service to Poland and above all, no service to the individual. And it's a call to question the labels people apply to us, their definitions, and who controls the definitions. The latter is a reoccurring theme in his work.
... fun fact, The first person to ever translate Gombrowicz was Pinera. I don't think W.G. ever wrote anything in Spanish for publication. But I could be mistaken.
If you're into Schwob, etc. you might like another cat with a very Polish name: Bruno Schulz.
Awesome! imma get this book. Also , Can u read Justina sometime by the Marquis De Sade and do a review?.. I'm reading it right now and so far its cool
Another stellar review! Just finished Pornografia a couple hours ago. It was such an experience. Gombowicz wades into some deeply strange, subtle psychological waters.
I've just finished Cosmos today and was glad to find this review, I guess it's not that easy to talk about his work, but it seems you really manage to find the right words. Cosmos is very similar in terms of its magic, endless wandering of thoughts, and perversive attention to detail; that intricate world of sensuality and fantasy is just so mesmerizing.. I like it how he constantly juxtaposes desire, disgust, and death tangling them as if it's one matter and this is what really constitutes our life.
I've never read anything similar to his work, I agree with Nabokov and Bataille references, yet Gombrowicz is definitely something else and significantly stands out from all kinds of groups.
I know it's too much at once, but would you review Zola's Germinal? Love your channel!
I just finished "Pornografia" this morning & I couldn't wait to hear your thoughts on it. It was a difficult read for me but it makes more sense after hearing your review.
I find I watch your reviews in two parts:
Part 1 is hearing your initial thoughts on the book (I pause to order the book & avoid possible "spoilers")
Part 2 is hearing your review & thoughts! 😁
Just finished reading this myself and wanted to listen to a considered opinion about it to chew over, as the book is certainly a dense one! Fantastic review, really enjoyed your style and thoughts about it.
The Only book I've ever read by Gombrowicz is' Bacacay'(short stories). Good rewiew.I also suggest you to read another polish:Czeslaw Milosz and his book 'The captive Mind'.
Just when I abandoned all hope for amusement, Better Than Food releases another video. About time.
Please review Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. One of the most controversial book. It was banned one point in time.
Gombrowicz is the best
Great review, it's pleasure to listen to you. Gombrowicz is one of my favourites authors and I liked "Pornografia" most from his works.
Regards from Poland 🙂
Huh,I mean it's nothing of the same gravity,at least I hope not,but as a chinese who is in Italy while the coronavirus broke loose and is currently stuck in Rome because her flights constantly got canceled,I feel funny hearing you sum up Gombrowicz's bio at the beginning.Well, I guess on the bright side my Italian is improving and maybe I would be able to read Calvino when I leave.
I was waiting for your new video but I was not expecting that. Awesome!
What kind of camera do you use to shoot your videos? I love your aesthetic.
So nice to meet some more & more polish autors here... maybe some words ab Ryszard Kapuściński, Kąkolewski, Bruno Schulz, Andrzej Sapkowski, Rawicz "The Way Back", Kosiński, Stanisław Witkiewicz, Miłosz or Iwaszkiewicz :-)
Perfect Valentine's day read!
Check out Kosmos by the same author
Hey! i just finished Death to the bullshit artists of south Texas, and was looking for other punk lit kinda stuff. I got pointed to Luc Sante, anyone know where to start with him? or anyone got any better recommendations in the same vein?
I just discovered your channel, nice job! I'm from Sonora, México and i think your book selection is great, cuz almost all of them are unusual titles.
Have you read "The life & opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman"? I think there's a great chance you love it.
Your reviews are better than food
Hey great video, as always!
Can you read "the unbearable lightness of being", I am curious to hear your opinion on it. I read it and didn't like it and found it to be quite mediocre piece ( maybe because it's so hyped that I expected more or something completely different than it was ).
You must read The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. Both of them are masterpieces and Kundera, alongside Marias, is one of my favourite authors.
Its a very good movie (one of my favorites) base on that book made by Jan Jakub Kolski from 2003 ,,Pornografia''.
Do you think a translation is like a reflection in a dusty old mirror? Only a shadow of the original? A shadow of a shadow of a shadow in the shade of an oak tree's branches and leaves of a shadow like?
No I don't...
@@halfwaytothehill2164 What do you think then...?
"The original is unfaithful to the translation." Jorge Luis Borges
@@johnemero A purrfect answer 🥺
@Misqoutebafoon when I read English translations of Hindi books... My understanding increase
Como eu queria que esse deus tivesse legenda pro português. Eu te amo mais não sei falar inglês 😢😢😢😢
Great stuff once again, thanks.
my favourite writer!
Its so funny to me, as a Polish person, how Polish authors are found to be interesting, when they are distinguished by not being catholic or being leftist. It creates a hilarious vision of Polish society in the world, as a religious fanatic and conservative country. (Which is mostly true)
Yo Cliff, you should definitely read The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Kundera is great
please read bruno schulz, another brilliant polish author.
I’m going to have to pick this book up. Thanks cliff 👍🏻
I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf for a while. Now I must read it :)
Have you read VALIS by PKD
How about 'money' by Martin amis?
didn't expect this 2 be honest, nice
Thank you for making my train ride less boring. Binge watching !! haha
The unbearable lightness of being (Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí) was written by CZECH author Milan Kundera.
Read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
How'd you get your hair like that anyhow
It’s only a matter of time before you start reviewing Hentai on this channel
I am the 666th like. Would you consider doing a review of something by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal (whom I have not read)? I loved the movies Closely Watched Trains and I Served the King of England based on novels by Hrabal
The book sounds fascinating
Ever read any James Elroy.
sorry spilled my coffee, wait, wait.... you have not read, ULofB? ... seriously, not ok (obviously I would say that given its one of my very favorites, and I also used it for my bachelor thesis, well the thesis was based on that one together with Nietzsches idea of the eternal return (which of course the books mentions).
polish??? Czech or Czech/French author.
@@paperbike6279 did u even read my cautionary note concerning my reaction. The question marks are meant to express my surprise, but I am sure he just did an 'in the moment error', given that he is talking about a polish author. So finally, chill! :)
You should really check out The Master and Margarita if you haven't already. It's my favourite novel, and I think that it's one of those books that strikes the perfect balance between thematic significance and a story that's just plain old fun. In the same way, Dr. Strangelove is my favourite movie. I don't really want to spoil it, but I'd give it my highest recommendation.
Not really pertaining to the current book per se. I just think it'd be worth your time.
It’s about damn time
Knausgaard a fan also
Review : No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.
what do you work as?
You should read city of night by John Rechy
Kundera was a czech author :)
He wasn't bisexual and he teased communists (as fascists) and hated engaged literature, but ok...............
Kundera is Czech, not Polish.
I’ve seen Cosmos without having read the book. It’s maddeningly good, but not great. It’s worth watching.
is his mustache uneven?
very
My body
Your soul
Colliding together
Like stars above us
The atmosphere
Become humid
And only the scent of your affection
Lingers through the air
Karl Giovanni Go is this from the book?
@@Autodidactz nope. I wrote it.
Great book
Yea. And ditch the moustache, too.
Hi Cliff!
Are most of your books from your friends? 😂
How can he be a leftist and be banned by the communist party? what kind of leftist was he? Also, for someone that diliked socio economic classes, the focus on particular strata is ironic
Isn't the opposition obviously God?
24 years. He made $200 sttrrreeeeaaatch.
Get back your beard please
Right after first 15 seconds I had a huge NOPE moment. I'm too conservative and close minded for this shit man.
Well that's unfortunate
Try "Ferdydurke". It's 1930's surrealism - "how can you lose".