While in school one is forced to read many lectures. Some of those are interesting, some not. It’s a problem that happens with everything – if someone forces you to like what he likes, or what he thinks is good for you – you’ll always rebel, if but a little. “Lalka” (“The Doll”) by Bolesław Prus is a school lecture, and because of that, many pupils hate it. It’s presented to those pupils, while they are at their peak interest of celebrity pop stars, engaging TV shows with special effects and action, and when their biggest concert is if they will have enough money to party all the time.

And there’s another kind of readers – those who treat this book as one of their all time favourites. I count among those. It’s not just that. I also thing this is the best Polish novel ever written.

Just some explanations regarding pronounciation – there will be a lot of Polish names in the text below. Ł (dashed L) in “Stanisław” whould be read like English W (and “W” is V) so “Stanisław” is “Staniswav” and “Wokulski” is “Vokulski”. RZ and Ż (dotted Z) are like French “J” (Jean-Baptiste e.g.), so “Rzecki” is “Jaecki”.  “Ą and Ę are nasal vowels, very hard for English speakers, but natural for French and Japanese. “Ą” is like on in the French pronounciation of  “mon”,  and “Ę” like the pronounciation of French department of Ain.  “C” is like “TS” so “Łęcka”  is “Waintskah” (“A” is alsways “AH”). “SZ” is like English “SH”: “Szuman” is “Shuman”. Masculine and feminine forms of names is something completely exotic for an English-speaker, but know that if Rzecki had a wife she would be named Rzecka, and  analogically Starski would be married to Starska and Mincel to Minclowa,and Łęcka’s father is Łęcki 🙂 If you want to dig deeper , be prepared for a hard time :). One last thing – ski and -cki suffixes are the same location based naming patterns as “von” in German, “van” in Dutch, “de” in French and of in English, but made distinct adjectives. Wokulski = “of Wokulsk”. 

There are some spoilers in the text below, but these should not affect the joy of reading, if you haven’t done so already.

The story takes place around year 1872 and follows the lives of two main protagonists – Stanisław Wokulski, a nobleman from an impoverished family, with interests in science,  and Ignacy Rzecki, an old-timer, remembering the People’s Spring in which he fought. Wokulski was also a freedom-fighter. You must know, that in 19th century Poland was partitioned between 3 occupants – Russia, Prussia and Austria, and effectively, it dissapeared from the maps. But Poles never accepted it, and from time to time, an uprising started to fight agains the occupants. Stanisław fought in 1863 January Uprising , then he was captured and sent to a labor camps of Siberia. Strong and intelligent, he returned, but with frostbitten, reddish hands, betraying his fate and frowned upon in salons of greater aristocracy. Wokulski is a product of two epochs, romanticism ending and slowly starting modernism, which in Poland was called positivism . This is the first (of many…) tragical conflic our main protagonist has.

We learn of Ignacy Rzecki, the subject shopkeeper, from his diaries mostly. The awkward old man, with an unfashionable green jacket and old trousers, the perfectionist shop manager is a true romantic, deeply in his heart. He has a dog and play the guitar while being alone, he imbibes from time to time with several friends, remembering old times. He uses to play with the toys in the shop he governs And he’s deeply sentimental about the Mincel (polonized, from German  “Minzel”) family, the original owners of the shop, who raised him, taught him all he knows about his trade, and changed his life forever. Ignacy believes strongly that all pains will be resolved by one of the Napoleon’s dynasty, a theory much ridiculed by cynical and realistic people.

After Wokulski returns from his imprisonment he is employed in the Mincel shop and its owner –  an old lady, Małgorzata Minclowa (a form of “Mincel” name, Polish is a hard language.. :)) fells deeply in love with Stanisław. He’s so powerless and has a chronical depression at the time, he agrees to marry her. Not from greed, but because he feels he owes her for taking care of him. This marriage, forced upon himself, is a hellish prison for him, especially while Małgorzata starts to be psychotically jelous of him. But he never does anything improper nor antyhing to hurt her. When Małgorzata dies, she leaves him all her wealth and the shop. Stanisław is indifferent to that fact, but soon something lifechanging for him happens.

Stanisław meets Izabela Łęcka, of an aristocrat Łęcki family, a beauty of the high circles, and he insanely, madly falls in love with her. Suddenly, he finds an unbelievable power reserves in himself and, to win her over, he starts amassing wealth. He builds a network of trade contacts, even participates in weapon trade, and soon he’s the owner of the most known shopping mall in Warsaw,  with a lot of money for other investments. He is also considered as a main president of the joint venture aristocracy wants to invest in. Friends warn him that aristocracy is capricious and will never treat him as one of his own, but he’s blind the warnings. For him its one step closer towards Izabela.

But, on his mad chase for Izabela, the femme fatale (who secretly despises him but, knowing her father has business with Wokulski, never does anything to stop Stanisław’s worship) he never forgets who he is – a deeply moral and commpassionate romantic. Wokulski embodies the Polish idea of “praca u podstaw” (“the work at the basis”) which is philantropy, educating the uneducated, creating the jobs to revitalize the society and spend energy for the needing, so they could take care after themselves. He helps a lot of people in the book, he helps Ignacy Ochocki, the aristocrat- inventor, to pursue his dream of the flying machines, he helps an ex-prostitute to become a profiting seamstress, he helps the driver Wysocki when his horse dies, and then his brother the train conductor, when he loses his job, he helps the sculptor and a jack-of-all-trades Węgiełek to build his own workshop. Overwhelmed by his feelings towards toxic Izabela Łęcka, he’s ignorant to the fact of how many people genuinely love him and worship him as their benefactor. He builts up an army of devoted common people around him.

Then another woman appears in his life, Helena Stawska, a struggling woman, a mother of a child taking care of her own mother as well. I think Prus unknowingly and accidentaly was one of the first writers to actually invent moe and its effects. Because Stawska is like a perfect moe girl, in all those chauvinistic aspects. She perceives Wokulski as a demigod, a man above all men, especially after Wokulski helps her to resolve the matter of her missing husband and after helping her while she was wrongly accused of stealing by baroness Krzeszowska. She’s beautiful, willing and insanely in love with Wokulski, which is empowered by the fact Wokulski genuinely likes her daughter and likes to spend time with Stawska’s family – he, the rich genleman, in her eyes far above her in social standing.

But Wokulski is drawn towards Łęcka, like a moth towards the candle flame. He doesn’t want to listen to Rzecki’s words, he doesn’t want to listen to Dr Szuman, a Jewish physician and his friend, btw, a brilliant guy and my favourite character, the cynical man who learned all there is to learn about humanity, or even Ochocki – real friends who want to warn him and save him from the devious lady. Nothing helps him elevate his social standing really, even the help of the high aristocrat, an ex lover of his late uncle, countess Zasławska.

The aristocracy mocks him when he’s not listening. He’s even challenged to a duel which he wins, much to amazement of aristocracy that a “mere shopkeeper can shoot like that”.

Then another woman appears – a young widow Kazimiera Wąsowska, an aristocrat. Oh how I love that character. In fact, Kazimiera shaped a view of the perfect woman in my eyes. She’s rebellious, strong, a beautiful  feminist using and mocking men. Intelligent, cultural, declassing all aristocrats, shining very brightly. The ultimate moe for me. She’s flirtatious, knows her feminine strengths, but finding Wokulski  intelligent and resistant, deeply moral and hopelessly in love, she falls in love with him. In true love, she tries to help him to win over Izabela, while hurting at the same time. One of the last dialogues between Wokulski and Wąskowska is my favourite part of the book 🙂

While wrting this text I did a quick sanity check on myself and I can see that majority of women of my life were femme fatales (because they either were real femme fatales or I was immature or egoistic at times – depends) – my failures while trying to find another Wąsowska 🙂

Then the fateful moment comes, when Łęcka, wrongly assuming Wokulski knows French and Russian but doesn’t know English, flirts with Starski and denigrates Wokulski on the train while all three are sitting in the same compartment. Wokulski learned English as yet another skill required to concquer the heart of the sarcastic and arrogant Łęcka, he leaves the train, telling Izabela “Farewell, Miss Iza” in English and then he attempts to commit suicide by laying down on the railway. Just in time to be saved by the conductor Wysocki, the brother of the driver Wysocki, and one of those people Wokulski helped before.

The last pages of the book are a material to ponder on a lot. No more spoilers, but know there’s a discussion around it for tens of years now, generally divided on interpretation of Wokulski’s fate (it’s curious…). But it’s not the only thing that makes one ponder. The author outrun his own epoch, for sure. Well, Bolesław Prus was known as a weird man that tested the first velocipeds (an early form of bicycle) in Łazienki Royal Palace Garden in Warsaw,  when these were just an oddity. Just imagine lords and ladies having a walk and a gentleman pedalling between them and shouting at them to move aside 🙂 Completely outrageous. There’s a science-fiction element to the book as well – two subjects intertwine in “Lalka” – the search for metal lighter than the air, and the flying machines. Wokulski, as a chemist himself, funds the research on the subject and is a big fan of baloon rides. He often meets wich Ochocki to discuss science and inventions.

So, apart from a perfect painting of the social strata of 19th century Europe, in which an average, but famous celebrity musician (like Molinari in the book) can access the aristocracy’s higher salons, but an impoverished nobleman has their door shut and barred for him, Prus painted also another views: middle class and the poorest: their daily lives, their problems and lifestyle in the epoch of mercantilism and imperialism.  The insecurity of the working class, the struggle for employment and the power of money – it’s all in the book.

And then there’s a socio-political element  in the book also.  The book features characters of many nationalities (Poles, Germans, Russians, French, English, Italian..), focusing several beautifully created Jewish charactes as well. Prus, through dr Szuman, a mentor-thinker type, analyses the rising anti-semitism with a horrendous accuracy. In fact, the author wanted to warn people of the possible holocaust, 70 years before it actually happened, and step by step – shows a pattern how humanity can reach that lowest of the stages.  Then there’s a family of Szlangbaum, a merchant. The young Szlangbaum is Wokulski’s friend, while the old one is a seasoned trader and businessman. These examples show the unity and intelligence of Jews, who are able to survive among not so friendly environment, but, as Szuman warns: the artificial antisemitism, fueled by Russian occupants by giving Jews better business and living condition than the Poles, will have a backlash (pogroms will follow…) will take its toll on Jews as well, promoting those who are ruthless, surviving businessmen.

The patriotic element is there, of course, as well. In fact, majority of the Polish literature has this element. This nation was in so many wars and struggled through so many occupations, way of Polish thinking is… Spartan. Combat, patriotism, sacrifice, defiance – these are Polish words, one might say. But Prus shows futility and destructivness of some patriotic actions, shows how stupid sometimes it is to fight, which leads only to destruction at times. Yet, as in the fairy tale about the tortoise and the scorpion, one cannot change one’s own nature. So, the echoes and the toll of Napoleon campaigns, Uprisings (1831 and 1863) and the Spring of Nations (1846-48) are visible in the book.

There were two TV series/movie adaptations (here and here) of “Lalka”. Both are critically acclaimed, but my favourite is the TV series with Jerzy Kamas as Wokulski and Małgorzata Braunek as Izabela Łecka. A brilliant show.

Like I said, this is the best Polish novel ever written. And that’s said by a guy who thinks Marcel Proust’s work as one of the best novels ever written on the globe. That tells a lot. If you are in the market for the slice of life, 19th century style, food-for-thoughts – search no longer.

 

The world knows J.R.R Tolkien’s “Hobbit” very well at this point. The story depicting how Bilbo Baggins travels with the dwarves and the wizard to defeat the malicious dragon and finds the One Ring in the process is deeply rooted in popculture. There were movies showing it to the wider audience, and a lot of people has read the book. In many schools reading “The Hobbit” was mandatory. From the tolkienist’s (myself being one) point of view the book is no longer a children fantasy book, but of course fits to the greater picture of the whole Arda saga (with “The Silmarillion”, “The Lord of the Rings” “The unfinished tales” and “The lost tales”). I have often heard an opinion it being the “ultimate fantasy book for children” wich always puts a grin on my face. As much as I love Tolkien’s works, I know better literature than “The Hobbit” .  For example Tove Jannson’s “The Moomintrolls”, but I wanted to show you something different today.

“The kidnapping of Baltazar Gąbka” by Stanisław Pagaczewski is the first book of the trilogy. And it is a masterpiece, far exceeding “The Hobbit” and the other similar works. Althought a different setting, there are similarities allowing the comparison of those books. While “The Hobbit” uses the germanic legends as the basis of its storytelling (with all the  post-Burgundian clumsiness of the Nibelungenlied and epic-like approach of the Norse sagas), “The Kidnapping of Balthazar Gąbka” (I will shorten both to “H” and “BG” in this text) focuses on the Lesser Poland’s legends surrounding the royal city of Kraków. Both books feature dragons  =- there’s Smaug in the “H” and Smok Wawelski (The Wawel Hill Dragon) in the “BG” but their role is completely different. There’s a journey “back and there again” in both books – it’s Bilbo Baggins who travels to Erebor in the “H” while Smok Wawelski goes to adventure of releasing professor Gąbka from the custody of the Raindwellers. Both Bilbo and Smok are acompanied by skilled companions, some recruited along the way. Both feature different “literary biomes” as I tend to call them – multiple areas or “zones” (a gaming term) with distinct literary characteristics (“H”‘s Mirkwood and Misty Mountains, “BG”‘s lands of the Sundwellers and Raindwellers)- a typical mythological approach. There’s far more similarities. But there are some distinctive differences too.

The reality of the “BG” is less fixed on the sagas and the legendary stuff and is not a literary experiment for adult professors of literature . It’s a children’s fantasy novel, so it uses the full spectrum of tools to give the engaging, intellectual, but fun, material for the younger reader. So there’s a mythical Duke Krak who’s sending Smok on a journey, but Smok is a gentleman here, not a monster, a crossover between the Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Arsene Lupin but far more positive, encompassing the gentleman virtues of the man of 1950’s. Smok is given an car and a personal cook, Bartłomiej Bartollini, an Italian maestro of cooking, who uses his barbecue spit as a weapon. The book sets boundaries for its setting but does not set any boundaries for the imagination. The younger reader, after a dozen of pages, starts to have a feeling that anything can happen and anything is possible in this book, and craves for more. The book survives also adult’s eye surprisingly well, in fact, far better than the “H” does.

Pagaczewski masterfully manipulated emotions of his readers. I rember how outraged I was as a kid, when I first learned of the attempted poisoning of the Smok that Raindweller spy, Don Pedro, attempted with the toadstool mushroom jam. Treacherous, shady character who in turn gets recruited into the company  (Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” (not in the “H”) has the same impact, although Don Pedro is far more likeable). Polish experiences of the author with various dictatorships (Nazi and communist) also added to the picture. I remember I was genuinely unsettled and I had the feeling I was being watched for a week after the section in which prof. Baltazar buys the rainmuffins in Raindweller bakery from Mżawka (eng. “Drizzle”) and then learned that Mżawka is actually Agent Mżawka reporting every action of the professor to the secret police HQ. I was genuinely scared of the Great Raindweller (remember the Great Goblin from the “H”?).

One of my favourite sections, remembered after 3 decades after reading of the book is the moment when Smok and company are in the jungle, inhabited by monkeys and okropiki (eng:”Hideousies”). You see, there was a traveler to that jungle before, who died unfortunately and both okropiki and monkeys rummaged through his rucksack. They found two books. Monkeys found the physics book while okropiki a tome of poetry.  That’s why it’s not weird when you learn the friendly monkey’s name is Interference. But’s okropiki who are greater here: I will never forget that one okropik, who, after piercing the gas tank of the Smok’s car, turns around and declares “I am as an arrow submerging in the gardens of peace!” and then “Time of the craddling comes!”. 🙂

The “BG” is in fact a trilogy. Professor Gąbka is released from custody of the Raindwellers and the Raindweller regime falls to be replaced by democratic Raindweller government of Salamandrus, Gąbka’s political co-prisoner. Mżawka and the Great Raindweller are prisoners in Kraków but they manage to escape. The hunt for them is the subject of the second book, as well as the scientific journey of Professor and Smok.

The third book is different. Our heroes, through hibernation, wake up in 1960’s Poland. The book is a very sad, deeply sentimental work, the longing for the old times. Our heroes try to fit into the new, grim and dull, reality but they somewhat fail, unable to find the charm of the lost epochs.Where Rowling ultimately failed with what she wanted to achieve with the feeling about “muggles”, Pagaczewski succeded. The book is a good-bye from the author,

There was a brilliant and very faithful animation series produced by Polish animation studios, that can still be found on YouTube (in Polish).

There’s one more book that imediately follows the “BG” as better than the “H. “Karolcia” (“The Little Caroline”) by Maria Kruger. The child fantasy following the crazy ride of a girl who finds a mysterious round, shiny bead, hunted by an evil sorceress. The bead, not unlike to the One Ring, has many powers, and Karolcia uses those powers to escape the Sorceress. The Frodo’s escape from the Ringwraiths had the same emotional power reserves as Karolcia.

So, if you are a fantasy fan, have kids, and say that “The Hobbit” is the best for you kids, think again. Read Tove Jannson, Stanisław Pagaczewski and Maria Kruger first.