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La terra del vello d'oro. Viaggio in Georgia
La Repubblica della Georgia, durante la scorsa estate, è stata per alcuni giorni sulle prime pagine di tutti i giornali, oscurando le notizie delle Olimpiadi. La crisi con la Russia per il controllo delle piccole regioni dell'Abkhazia e dell'Ossezia non si è ancora risolta. Proprio in quelle settimane, il trentottenne polacco Wojciech Górecki, oggi tra i maggiori esperti del Caucaso, terminava di scrivere questo reportage. Un libro introduttivo a un paese antichissimo, affascinante e straordinariamente disgraziato (noto quasi soltanto per aver dato i natali a Stalin).
141 pages, Paperback
Published February 19, 2009
52 people want to read
About the author
Wojciech Górecki
19 books36 followersWojciech Górecki, ur. w 1970 roku w Łodzi. Zadebiutował w 1986 roku na łamach "Sztandaru Młodych". Współpracował m.in. z "Gazetą Wyborczą", "Życiem Warszawy", "Rzeczpospolitą", "Więzią", "Res Publicą Nową" i "Tygodnikiem Powszechnym". Członek zespołu redakcyjnego "Tygla Kultury", stały współpracownik "Nowej Europy Wschodniej". Współautor filmu dokumentalnego Boskość Stalina w świetle najnowszych badań (TVP 1998).
Autor książek: Łódź przeżyła katharsis (1998), Planeta Kaukaz (2002), La terra del vello d'oro. Viaggi in Georgia (2009) oraz Toast za przodków (2010). Tłumaczony na język włoski, uhonorowany Nagrodą Giuseppe Mazzottiego. W latach 2002–2007 pierwszy sekretarz, a następnie radca w Ambasadzie RP w Baku. Był ekspertem misji UE badającej okoliczności wojny w Gruzji w 2008 roku. Pracuje w Ośrodku Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia, członek zarządu Fundacji Solidarności Międzynarodowej. W 2011 roku był finalistą Nagrody im. Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego oraz został nominowany do nagrody Nike 2011.
Autor książek: Łódź przeżyła katharsis (1998), Planeta Kaukaz (2002), La terra del vello d'oro. Viaggi in Georgia (2009) oraz Toast za przodków (2010). Tłumaczony na język włoski, uhonorowany Nagrodą Giuseppe Mazzottiego. W latach 2002–2007 pierwszy sekretarz, a następnie radca w Ambasadzie RP w Baku. Był ekspertem misji UE badającej okoliczności wojny w Gruzji w 2008 roku. Pracuje w Ośrodku Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia, członek zarządu Fundacji Solidarności Międzynarodowej. W 2011 roku był finalistą Nagrody im. Ryszarda Kapuścińskiego oraz został nominowany do nagrody Nike 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 24, 2025
Probabilmente il miglior reportage della trilogia sul Caucaso di Górecki, dopo Abcasia e Pianeta Caucaso.
Sintetico ma appassionato, precisissimo ma vivido e dettagliato senza mancare un colpo. Górecki è davvero l'erede di Kapuściński per la maestria - anche se il loro stile, i tempi e la visione delle cose è abbastanza diversa - e conosce il Caucaso come le sue tasche, lo si coglie dalla naturalezza con cui parla di una delle regioni più complesse, diversificate e stratificate al mondo.
È la migliore introduzione alla Georgia che possiate trovare, purtroppo nella traduzione datata e piena di refusi di Vera Verdiani, e fuori catalogo per Bollati Boringhieri. Si trova usato o nelle biblioteche. In ogni caso, consigliatissimo.
Sintetico ma appassionato, precisissimo ma vivido e dettagliato senza mancare un colpo. Górecki è davvero l'erede di Kapuściński per la maestria - anche se il loro stile, i tempi e la visione delle cose è abbastanza diversa - e conosce il Caucaso come le sue tasche, lo si coglie dalla naturalezza con cui parla di una delle regioni più complesse, diversificate e stratificate al mondo.
È la migliore introduzione alla Georgia che possiate trovare, purtroppo nella traduzione datata e piena di refusi di Vera Verdiani, e fuori catalogo per Bollati Boringhieri. Si trova usato o nelle biblioteche. In ogni caso, consigliatissimo.
July 25, 2013
Interessante. I capitoli sono tra loro un po' slegati (del resto l'origine del libro consiste in alcuni viaggi fatti dall'autore in Georgia) ma rendono bene l'idea di un popolo fiero, combattivo e ospitale. Vedremo ;)
September 17, 2014
Over the last five years I became a great fan of Polish journalism so that every time I skim through bookshelves labelled 'travels' or 'reportages' I hunt for that bunch of authors I know or for any Polish sounding surname. That's how I 'discovered' Tochman and Stasiuk, for instance. And that's how Wojciech Górecki showed up with two books he wrote, one about Caucasus as a whole and this one about Georgia.
Now, the only Górecki I knew was the composer Henryk whose Third Symphony became an unusual worldwide hit in the mid 1990s. The unexpected success for the Polish composer came thanks to the British trip hop band Lamb who sampled a tiny bit of it in their aptly titled song Górecki back in 1996.
(I didn't like that song as well as the symphony).
Wojciech Górecki is not related to Henryk.
The Italian edition I bought calls Górecki 'the heir of Ryszard Kapuscinski' and Wojciech himself dedicates
'La terra del vello d'oro' ('The Land of the Golden Fleece') to the great Polish reporter.
Are there similarities in writing style and reporting approach between Kapuscinski and Górecki? To be honest I couldn't find many. The dean of Polish reportage liked to write about his own personal daily experiences living in foreign countries and stressing out his fascination for everything local and his distaste for the spoiled reporters gossiping from their five starred resorts. The young dauphin prefers to draw sketches of what he sees around him keeping himself as humble as Kapuscinski, but standing more in the background than him.
The Georgia portrayed and narrated by Górecki in the early 2000s was not at war, for the time being. This state of temporary, if apparent, serenity let the Polish reporter tell the reader about the country's turbulent history, its unique traditions, its multi-layered character. For someone like me who didn't know much about Georgia having read only a single book marginally dealing with it and dating back to the 1960s ('Journey into Russia' by Laurens Van der Post), Górecki's book brought a gust of fresh and precious knowledge.
Even though forty years have passed from Van der Post being invited to a lavish Georgian banquet and writing about its peculiar etiquette, I was happy to read that Górecki experienced the same hospitality and jotted down similar observations. The pages regarding the towerhouses dating back to the 13th century that are still inhabited in some remote and beautiful regions of Georgia are excellent and reminded me of the Albanian towerhouses depicted by Kadare in his novels. Which was a delightful deja-vu.
Whereas the book is thin and somewhat disjointed, it is also very informative and a pleasure to read. My only criticism is that the last chapter might have been placed at the beginning of 'La terra del vello d'oro' as it's extremely helpful in contextualize Georgia and its debated regions such as Abkhazia, South and North Ossetia. But this is only a minor detail.
Even though I'd be more careful to call Wojciech Górecki the heir of Ryszard Kapuscinski, I'm certainly eager to read that second book by him that I bought for he knows his topics well and is a brilliant reporter.
*Please note that my review refers to the Italian edition of the book. Unfortunately, it looks like this book is not yet available in English translation.
Now, the only Górecki I knew was the composer Henryk whose Third Symphony became an unusual worldwide hit in the mid 1990s. The unexpected success for the Polish composer came thanks to the British trip hop band Lamb who sampled a tiny bit of it in their aptly titled song Górecki back in 1996.
(I didn't like that song as well as the symphony).
Wojciech Górecki is not related to Henryk.
The Italian edition I bought calls Górecki 'the heir of Ryszard Kapuscinski' and Wojciech himself dedicates
'La terra del vello d'oro' ('The Land of the Golden Fleece') to the great Polish reporter.
Are there similarities in writing style and reporting approach between Kapuscinski and Górecki? To be honest I couldn't find many. The dean of Polish reportage liked to write about his own personal daily experiences living in foreign countries and stressing out his fascination for everything local and his distaste for the spoiled reporters gossiping from their five starred resorts. The young dauphin prefers to draw sketches of what he sees around him keeping himself as humble as Kapuscinski, but standing more in the background than him.
The Georgia portrayed and narrated by Górecki in the early 2000s was not at war, for the time being. This state of temporary, if apparent, serenity let the Polish reporter tell the reader about the country's turbulent history, its unique traditions, its multi-layered character. For someone like me who didn't know much about Georgia having read only a single book marginally dealing with it and dating back to the 1960s ('Journey into Russia' by Laurens Van der Post), Górecki's book brought a gust of fresh and precious knowledge.
Even though forty years have passed from Van der Post being invited to a lavish Georgian banquet and writing about its peculiar etiquette, I was happy to read that Górecki experienced the same hospitality and jotted down similar observations. The pages regarding the towerhouses dating back to the 13th century that are still inhabited in some remote and beautiful regions of Georgia are excellent and reminded me of the Albanian towerhouses depicted by Kadare in his novels. Which was a delightful deja-vu.
Whereas the book is thin and somewhat disjointed, it is also very informative and a pleasure to read. My only criticism is that the last chapter might have been placed at the beginning of 'La terra del vello d'oro' as it's extremely helpful in contextualize Georgia and its debated regions such as Abkhazia, South and North Ossetia. But this is only a minor detail.
Even though I'd be more careful to call Wojciech Górecki the heir of Ryszard Kapuscinski, I'm certainly eager to read that second book by him that I bought for he knows his topics well and is a brilliant reporter.
*Please note that my review refers to the Italian edition of the book. Unfortunately, it looks like this book is not yet available in English translation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews