Psovka

by Janko Polić Kamov

The Croatian writer Janko Polić Kamov died in Barcelona in 1910 aged 23. He left behind a small but potent collection of short stories, plays, poems and one novel which have been labelled as proto-modernist, avant-garde, absurdist, existentialist, futurist and even surrealist in nature. Most of his work didn’t see the light of day until long after his death. He has been compared to Camus, Kafka and Joyce. This is a collection of his poems which was published in 1907 under the title of ‘Psovka’ (‘The Curse’), a collection of aphorisms published in Italy after his death plus two essays painstakingly translated by Martin Mayhew from Croatian into English in the hope that his work is appreciated outside of his native country and in doing so also creating a unique glossary of Kamov's vocabulary. Many of the themes in Kamov's writings would reflect his real-life experiences and are written in the first person or as his alter ego. During his short life, he struggled to be accepted and published as a professional poet, dramatist and novelist. He is considered to be a highly original writer for the period, despising bourgeois hypocrisy, injustice, ridiculing the social norms and niceties of the day. His work also deals with the darker side of the human psyche, madness, violence, sexual excess, alcohol, religious duality, the class system, poverty and the overall human condition. This book has been produced in the hope of funding for the translation of more of this outstanding author's work.

Genres: Poetry

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Rebellious by nature, he was expelled from Rijeka high school and dropped out of the school in Zagreb. Because of his participation in the demonstration against the Hungarian governor in Croatia, Khuen-Héderváry, he was sentenced to three months in prison in 1903. Headstrong and temperamental, he called himself Kamov, after Ham (or Kam) from the Old Testament, who saw his father Noah naked but unlike his siblings Shem and Japhet did not cover his nakedness, thus issuing a curse. Kamov probably saw himself as a revealer of bourgeoise hypocrisy and wrote to his brother Vladimir in 1910 - "Kamov to me is a literary program..."
His literary work was small, but very significant, because in his poems and plays he expressed his anger and displeasure over hypocrisy and injustice of his contemporaries in a way unprecedented in Croatian literature. His masterwork is a modernist novel Isušena kaljuža (1906-1909) saturated with psychosexual and spiritual conflicts of the iconoclastic first-person narrator and later described as a proto-existentialist prose, written decades before the literary movement's appearance. Kamov's novel, invariably described as the premier Croatian avant-garde major prose work, was printed for the first time in 1956. Because of that he earned reputation as one of the greatest rebels and iconoclasts in history of Croatian culture.
He died at the age of 24 in Barcelona and was buried at the hospital cemetery near Hospital de la Santa Creu.

Reviews

[Hákon Gunnarsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the The Curse there is a translation of one of the Croatian writer Janko Polic Komov's poetry books that was published when he was 20 years old, aphorisms that were published after his death, and two essays, both published the year he died at the age of 24.

I have to admit, the poetry really isn't my cup of tea, but there is no denying that it shows talent. He is dealing with sex, religion, death, and the hypocrisy of the bourgeois. A lot of it is actually strong stuff.

Kamov's essay on Edgar Allen Poe, doesn't really add much to my knowledge of Poe, but it gives me some inside into Kamov himself. Reading the poetry and the essay makes it quite clear that he must have been under some influences from that American poet / writer. They share an interest in the darkness, and death. I'm not saying Komov is copying Poe. Not at all. Kamov seems have stood quite well on his own two artistic feet. But there is a clear connection between the two.

My favourite part of this book comes at the very end, the essay "Beneath the Aeroplane (impressions)". I thought that showed that Kamov had a way with words. He is writing about planes, and his writing just goes flying into the air. It's really a cool piece of writing. Listen to this:

Behold man: he has left his dirty and tyrannical footsteps of desecration everywhere: in the forest, on the field, in the mountains, in the earth … Now a craving is driving him into the air … But there at least he will leave no trace.

Even though this is an essay, it really is in parts just plain poetry. Now, I don't quite agree with Kamov about man not leaving any trace in the air by flying, but this is still such a cool piece of writing in my view. This was published 1910, the year he died, and seems to be so clear that he was on his way of becoming a great writer. It's interesting to think what would have happened if he had lived a longer life.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly vivid and intense, often uncomfortable, always packed with emotion. Kamov wrote this at 18 and I can’t stop thinking about a boy who at such a young age knew that he was dying and decided to live life to the extreme, in all its fullness and scorned everyone who wouldn’t do the same. No matter how uncomfortable some of his words made me I just wish he had more time to write what he wanted and maybe find some good in life.

[Martin Mayhew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a collection of his poems which was published in 1907 under the title of ‘Psovka’, a collection of aphorisms published in Italy after his death plus two essays - 'Poe' an article about Edgar Allan Poe and 'Beneath the Aeroplane' painstakingly translated from Croatian into English in the hope that his work is appreciated outside of his native country. An important piece of Croatian literature by a writer who has been labelled as avant-garde, absurdist, existentialist and futurist before these genres were recognised.

[Stipe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pljuvačka, krv, suze. Kamov je jedan od naših najboljih pjesnika, a Psovka to i dokazuje.

[Anairë · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Tih gimnazijskih dana, u listopadu 1900. godine, osniva u podrumu Gimnazije s kolegama revolucionarno-anarhističku skupinu Cefas, koja je ujedno bila i literarno i političko udruženje, s namjerom da nabave oružje, podignu bunu i revoluciju te dinamitom i bombama dignu u zrak čitavu Hrvatsku."

neironično ja
++neironično jedan od najboljih hrvatskih pisaca ikad.

[Ivanko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ostavlja snažan utisak, svaki stih ima težinu, pjesnik ima što za reći. Bravo Kamov.