In college and kind of throughout my life I’ve focused on Eastern European, Russian and Jewish writers. Throughout my classes and personal reading choices, this book, Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz, has been mentioned as a classic example of writing from “the Other Europe” and hailed as an unknown masterpiece. The author is a Polish nobleman whose work has been compared to Bruno Schulz and Franz Kafka.
I was enthralled by this book, and read it in about two days. It reeks of phantasmagoria and strange philosophy. The protagonist is aged younger, experiences vindictive love, and witnesses the symbolic destruction of his family’s power. I hate to use words like “unknown genius” but I am afraid it applies to Gombrowicz. I wish that instead of being mentioned in my European Literature classes, we had actually read Ferdydurke. I would sincerely love to hear other thoughts about what I thought was an amazing book. Though the elements of plot and character are commonplace, what sets Ferdydurke apart from other books is the incredibly unique world view the author has, and the way he manages to let the reader know his brain’s exact parameters.
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