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The Argonauts
Eliza Orzeszko was a 19th century Polish writer. At sixteen she married a nobleman and was exiled to Siberia after the 1863 Uprising. Her works describe the social conditions in her country. The Argunauts was published in 1899. From the introduction "The winning of money on an immense scale to the neglect of all other objects, to the neglect even of the nearest duties, is the sin of one Argonaut; the utter neglect of money and the proper means of living is the ruin of the other.' An excerpt from the book reads, "He was forced to be absent from his family for long months, sometimes for whole years, and even when living under the same roof with the members of it he was a rare guest, never a real confiding companion. For permanence, intimacy, tender feeling in relations, with even those who were nearest him, Darvid had not the time, just as he had not the time to concentrate his thoughts on any subject whatever unless it was connected with his lines, dates, and figures, or with the meshes of that net in which he enclosed his thoughts and his iron labor."
- GenresPolish Literature
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 4, 2009
9 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Eliza Orzeszkowa
147 books42 followersEliza Orzeszkowa was a Polish novelist and a leading writer of the Positivism movement during foreign Partitions of Poland. In 1905, together with Henryk Sienkiewicz she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 4, 2026
To jest Orzeszkowa w najlepszym wydaniu.
To jest Orzeszkowa dojrzała, refleksyjna, najbardziej realistyczna, bo zrzucająca z siebie pozytywistyczne naiwności i niebojąca się już prozy poetyzować i uplastyczniać.
To jest Orzeszkowa, którą uwielbiam za "Melancholików" i "Dwa bieguny".
(za każdym razem gdy sięgam po Orzeszkową to mnie krew zalewa, że ten głupi Sienkiewicz zgarnął jej tego Nobla sprzed nosa🙄)
To jest Orzeszkowa dojrzała, refleksyjna, najbardziej realistyczna, bo zrzucająca z siebie pozytywistyczne naiwności i niebojąca się już prozy poetyzować i uplastyczniać.
To jest Orzeszkowa, którą uwielbiam za "Melancholików" i "Dwa bieguny".
(za każdym razem gdy sięgam po Orzeszkową to mnie krew zalewa, że ten głupi Sienkiewicz zgarnął jej tego Nobla sprzed nosa🙄)
December 25, 2022
This book is naming sad trutgh that ofthen gifted and rich are unhappy in Love.
-Boredom as a condition of exaltation - exaggerated expression of one's feelings and emotions, not necessarily adequate to the situation.
- Simple cause, complicated (and unpredictable) effects
- Dissonance, is harmony Divergence, incompatibility of views, opinions, perspectives. Isolation from everyone.
- Egoism, is altruism therefore isolating from others to help yourself.
---
Maryan Darwid and Baron visited many countries and capitals. And in England, to investigate the Salvation Army, he joined its ranks for a while, in Germany he joined the almost legendary religious-political sect, Fahrende Leute... The longest he was in Paris, where with theosophists, inchorents, cursed poets, in the club of hashishists he experienced dreams and visions, on drugs.
What is not me, and a handful like me - this is communal(gminne), what is communal must be not mine. It was not a family pride, nor a financial one, one could call it mentally nervous. Other acommunal mental heights and other nerve requirements...
Gmina is the basic deriving unit of the basic three-stage territorial division of the state. The self-government community (residents of the commune) and the territorial territory
In reality projects for left wing communes are workplaces and educational establishments with poor quality, that imprisone attendents and teach propaganda.
-Boredom as a condition of exaltation - exaggerated expression of one's feelings and emotions, not necessarily adequate to the situation.
- Simple cause, complicated (and unpredictable) effects
- Dissonance, is harmony Divergence, incompatibility of views, opinions, perspectives. Isolation from everyone.
- Egoism, is altruism therefore isolating from others to help yourself.
---
Maryan Darwid and Baron visited many countries and capitals. And in England, to investigate the Salvation Army, he joined its ranks for a while, in Germany he joined the almost legendary religious-political sect, Fahrende Leute... The longest he was in Paris, where with theosophists, inchorents, cursed poets, in the club of hashishists he experienced dreams and visions, on drugs.
What is not me, and a handful like me - this is communal(gminne), what is communal must be not mine. It was not a family pride, nor a financial one, one could call it mentally nervous. Other acommunal mental heights and other nerve requirements...
Gmina is the basic deriving unit of the basic three-stage territorial division of the state. The self-government community (residents of the commune) and the territorial territory
In reality projects for left wing communes are workplaces and educational establishments with poor quality, that imprisone attendents and teach propaganda.
September 23, 2017
I loved this book. It's difficult to talk about what I loved about this book without spoiling it, but I do think it should be more read. The issue of the purpose of life and why we live and what we live for are often themes that are only for the big epic stories. Ibsen was one of those writers who talked about it not when it came to die for king and country, but to live in your ordinary, day to day life. Orzeszkowa does the same. It's all about the issue with "the painted pots".
December 12, 2024
Как раз под Рождество впору прочитать и задуматься об истинных ценностях. Хотя от слов «крашеные горшки» у меня сплошной скрежет уже 😁
August 20, 2015
Faute de pouvoir donner cinq étrons, je lui donne une étoile.
Given how little Polish literature is available in translation, it is very sad that this incompetently written novel should be one of the few to be have been translated. Eliza Orzeszkowa was one of the Polish writers of the second half of the nineteenth century who deserves to be better known in the English speaking world than is the case. In particular, On the Niemen is an excellent novel that provides an excellent introduction both to Orzeszkowa and the Polish Positivist movement of which she was a leading figure.
The Argonauts has a strong Balzacian character. It is about a single-minded real estate promoter who in his single-minded pursuit of success destroys the lives of all those around him. Unfortunately, published in 1900, the Argonauts was 50 years out of date by the time it was published. Moreover, it is totally unconvincing as a portrayal of the new class of speculators and financiers that emerged in Europe in the nineteenth century. In On the Niemen, Orzeszkowa gives a detailed and credible description of the challenges of Polish Nobles in managing their rural properties under a Tsarist regime that that was trying to ruin them. In the Argonauts, however, she is simply talking about a subject of which she knows absolutely nothing.
To add to the problems which arise from an ignorance of the subject matter, Orzeszkowa compounds the problem which poorly developed characters who behave inconsistently. The plot is clumsy and melodramatic and the resolution is totally unsatisfying.
It is surprising that a writer of Orzeszkowa's quality should have written something this awful. Fortunately, two much better works are available. My favourite is On the Nieman which has been available in English for just over a year and which can be purchased on-line for under five dollars. Anyone interested in Jewish issues might should also read Meir Ezofowicz which gives a profoundly sympathetic description a progressive young Jewish man grappling with the issue of whether or not and how Jews ought to integrate themselves into Polish society.
Given how little Polish literature is available in translation, it is very sad that this incompetently written novel should be one of the few to be have been translated. Eliza Orzeszkowa was one of the Polish writers of the second half of the nineteenth century who deserves to be better known in the English speaking world than is the case. In particular, On the Niemen is an excellent novel that provides an excellent introduction both to Orzeszkowa and the Polish Positivist movement of which she was a leading figure.
The Argonauts has a strong Balzacian character. It is about a single-minded real estate promoter who in his single-minded pursuit of success destroys the lives of all those around him. Unfortunately, published in 1900, the Argonauts was 50 years out of date by the time it was published. Moreover, it is totally unconvincing as a portrayal of the new class of speculators and financiers that emerged in Europe in the nineteenth century. In On the Niemen, Orzeszkowa gives a detailed and credible description of the challenges of Polish Nobles in managing their rural properties under a Tsarist regime that that was trying to ruin them. In the Argonauts, however, she is simply talking about a subject of which she knows absolutely nothing.
To add to the problems which arise from an ignorance of the subject matter, Orzeszkowa compounds the problem which poorly developed characters who behave inconsistently. The plot is clumsy and melodramatic and the resolution is totally unsatisfying.
It is surprising that a writer of Orzeszkowa's quality should have written something this awful. Fortunately, two much better works are available. My favourite is On the Nieman which has been available in English for just over a year and which can be purchased on-line for under five dollars. Anyone interested in Jewish issues might should also read Meir Ezofowicz which gives a profoundly sympathetic description a progressive young Jewish man grappling with the issue of whether or not and how Jews ought to integrate themselves into Polish society.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews