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Cardinal Pölätüo

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Devenez les fidèles pratiquants du pölätüonisme, une doctrine dont le livre culte était épuisé depuis plus de 20 ans.Vraie fausse biographie du père anonyme de Guillaume Apollinaire, un ecclésiaste passionné de poésie qui proclame la Réalité de l'Âme et de l'Oignon et prêche le pölätüonisme, Le Cardinal Pölätüo est une oeuvre aussi scandaleuse que drôle. Tel un funambule en équilibre sur la corde sensible du blasphème et de l'humour loufoque, Themerson détourne le genre biographique en une fiction subversive d'une intelligence rare et d'un humour décapant. Au détour des pages, on croise les frères Goncourt, Karl Marx, Anatole France ou encore Berkeley. Que du beau monde ! Entre les formules mathématiques prouvant l'existence de trois réalités, des sophismes à en perdre la tête, les chants d'un ivrogne ou la mystérieuse Règle de la Main Droite, quand il est question d'absurde, il y en pour tous les goûts !

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

18 people want to read

About the author

Stefan Themerson

49 books35 followers
Stefan Themerson was a Polish, later British poet, novelist, film-maker, composer and philosopher.

Stefan Themerson was born in Plock (Poland) in 1910, the son of a doctor. He studied physics at the University of Warsaw and architecture at the Warsaw Polytechnic. In his twenties, Stefan became well-known in Poland as an author of children’s books.

Stefan got married in 1931 to Franciszka. Between 1931 and 1937, the Themersons made several experimental films and Stefan invented new techniques for photograms. 'Adventures of a Good Citizen' (1937) was the fifth and the last of their pre-war films and the only one that has survived.

The Themersons played a major role in the history of independent, experimental and pre-war cinema in Poland, their significance for the development of the Polish avant-garde film is enormous.

The Themersons moved to Paris in 1937, to be at the heart of the art world. Two days after the start of the Second World War Stefan and Franciszka volunteered for the Polish army. In 1940 Franciszka escaped by moving to London. Stefan served in the Polish army in France, ending up in a Polish Red Cross hostel in Voiron, 1940-42.

At this time Stefan wrote his first novel, Professor Mmaa’s Lecture. After two years of separation Stefan and Franciszka were reunited in London in 1942. They made two more films, 1942-44.

In 1948 the Themersons founded a publishing house: the Gaberbocchus Press. In 31 years they published over sixty titles, including works by Alfred Jarry, Kurt Schwitters and Bertrand Russell.

In 1953 Stefan’s Professor Mmaa’s Lecture was first published. It is still a classic in Poland.

Through the 60s and 70s, Stefan’s books were published by Gaberbocchus Press, for example philosophical novels, children’s books, poetry, essays and a libretto and music for an opera.

His books have been translated in eight languages.

He invented 'semantic poetry' which first appeared in his novel Bayamus (1949). It is a sort of poetry that prefers the matter-of-fact meanings of words in dictionary definitions to the romantic euphemism of poetic conventions.

Ethics, language, freedom, human dignity and the importance of good manners are the topics Stefan wrote about most.

His novels range from elaborate allegories to satirical thrillers. The humanitarian philosophy that underpins them all was crystallised in The Chair of Decency, a talk given as the Huizinga lecture in Leyden in 1981. It contrasted the innate sense of good with which man is born, with the impassioned pursuit of belief and causes by which he is subsequently deluded.

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Displaying 1 of 1 review
Profile Image for Lukáš Palán.
Author 10 books234 followers
August 1, 2017
Tak!

Říkal jsem si, že když jsem dočetl intelektuální blázinec Terasa v Římě od Pascala Quignarda, též od Rubata, tak už můj mozek ustojí naprosto cokoliv, což jsem si následně potvrdil několika slovenskými reality show a kýblem Becherovky. Inu, to jsem nevěděl co mě čeká, když jsem kupoval Kardinála Poluce.

Kardinála Poluceho jsem rozečetl jako frajer, třicet stránek za chvilku a ještě jsem se bláhově usmíval, že to docela jde a je to i vtipný, to když se kardinál dozvěděl, že má syna básníka. Následuje ovšem několik desítek stran, kde se odehrálo něco, o čem si moc nejsem jistý, co to bylo. Respektive se tam odehrály všechny možný historicko-filozoficky-technicky-abstrakní události všech dob, který můj mozek odmítl pobrat. Představuji si, že takhle se asi cítil Spacák od nás z vesnice, když dojel poprvé do Brna. Od dob studování maďarských WC Ducků se mi nestalo, že bych nerozuměl tomu co čtu, tentokrát jsem ale vůbec neměl šajnu, co to sakra má bejt. Bohužel se vytratil i humor (možná ne, ale nedokázal jsem ho pochopit) a já tak pomalu došel na konec s vědomím, že na tohle nemám. Zkusím to za 40 let znovu, až si přečtu všechny dokumenty vytištěné v Evropě od 17.století dál, pak mi to možná docvakne.
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