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Giungla polacca
Questi reportage polacchi di Kapuściński hanno tutti per oggetto campagne, cittadine, piccoli villaggi a casa del diavolo. Descrivono una realtà che appare ancora più esotica di quella del terzo mondo di altri suoi libri: quella ora scomparsa della stabilizzazione comunista dopo lo sfacelo della guerra. Protagonista ne è gente per lo più umile: due vecchie tedesche fuggite da una casa per anziani che tornano in quelle che erano le loro terre; uno zatteriere che trasporta legname su un lago; lavoratori che vivono alla giornata e cambiano mestiere di continuo. Ma ci sono anche professionisti, ingegneri, professori, un campione del mondo di lancio del disco, dei soldati di leva. Kapuściński esamina briciole di esistenza, dettagli di vita quotidiana, rintracciando l'elemento eternamente presente a ogni latitudine: il desiderio di una vita migliore, la ricerca dell'amore, la speranza di cambiare il mondo, di lasciare una traccia di sé, nonché l'immutata presenza del male. Il brano che dà il nome alla raccolta si svolge in Ghana: qui il reporter tenta di spiegare sé e la Polonia ad alcuni indigeni. Ecco la chiave del suo sguardo giornalistico sul mondo: la descrizione delle cose deve contenerne anche una spiegazione, in un linguaggio comprensibile per tutti, capace di trasmettere concetti e immagini a individui cresciuti in culture completamente differenti.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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1136 people want to read
About the author
Ryszard Kapuściński
112 books1,977 followersRyszard Kapuściński debuted as a poet in Dziś i jutro at the age of 17 and has been a journalist, writer, and publicist. In 1964 he was appointed to the Polish Press Agency and began traveling around the developing world and reporting on wars, coups and revolutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe; he lived through twenty-seven revolutions and coups, was jailed forty times, and survived four death sentences. During some of this time he also worked for the Polish Secret Service, although little is known of his role.
See also Ryszard Kapuściński Prize
See also Ryszard Kapuściński Prize
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
September 11, 2019
Per la mia storia politica personale ho sviluppato nel tempo un notevole interesse per l'Europa nordorientale. E' una terra strana, dinamica, che non conosce pace: i confini nazionali che altrove sembrano immutabili nei secoli qui si dividono, si spostano e ritornano come prima, come il segno delle onde sul bagnasciuga.
Nazioni compaiono e scompaiono digerite da sanguinose spartizioni: mentre i fiumi si tingono di rosso e cittadinanze e identità nazionali vanno perse, sempre nuovi orrori vengono messi in scena in questo immenso palcoscenico.
Polonia, Estonia, Lettonia, Lituania, Prussia, Bielorussia: paesi come bolle d' aria in un magma ribollente che si aprono e si chiudono trascinando via con sè le persone che ci finiscono dentro.
Vitebsk, Bobruijsk, Orsa, Vjazma, Konigsberg, Gdansk e la seconda guerra mondiale da una parte; Majdanek, Sobibor, Birkenau, Kaunas, Vilnius, Chelmno, Treblinka dall'altra sono nere filastrocche che fanno da corollario ad una storia senza pace: persino Kostantin Rokossovskij, trionfatore della grande guerra patriottica alla testa del secondo fronte bielorusso dell'Armata rossa, commmenterà amaramente "sono troppo polacco per essere russo; troppo russo per essere polacco".
Poi all'improvviso con l'armata rossa arriva la Pax Sovietica che sembra congelare tutto in un tempo sospeso. E da qui prende le mosse Kapuscinski, gradissimo reporter di Pinsk (Bielorussia, un tempo Polonia! Proprio al centro del nero palcoscenico) che ci racconta che tracce ha lasciato questo magma congelato, cos'è la vita sotto quel misterioso socialismo che la cortina di ferro ci ha per tanti anni nascosto, come certe passioni si siano assopite ma non addormentate.
Questa raccolta di piccoli reportage ha un valore colossale. Perchè il coraggioso giornalista riesce nel suo peregrinare a cogliere figure umane indimenticabili ed a trasmetterli sulla carta con una prosa vivace e leggera e con un immaginario molto forte ma soprattutto (cosa che un giornalista forse non dovrebbe fare) si lascia coinvolgere lasciando sulla pagina una traccia della propria anima.
Queste figure molto belle (la maestra divenuta suora di clausura cui la chiesa cattolica polacca persiste nel distruggere la vita, i giovani boy scout strappati ad una vita di delinquenza, le vecchie sorelle prussiane tagliate fuori dal collasso del terzo reich che vagano in miseria, i non troppo entusiasti soldati dell'esercito polacco e tante altre) sono un campione variegato e vitale di umanità, ma in particolare riescono a raccontare agli uomini dell'ovest cosa era la vita durante la guerra fredda al di là del muro.
Alcune pagine sembrano illustrare un occidente alla rovescia. Lo stesso incubo nucleare evocato dagli "assassini americani", che infettano i campi di grano con armi chimiche introdotte ad arte, l'avvento della televisione, la conquista dello spazio nella quale lo Sputnik e Gagarin fanno da contraltare alle missioni apollo, la lotta conttro l'analfabetismo e la fame...
Non mancano di sorgere invece spaccati di vita spiccatamente locali, e sono le pagine più interessanti di tutto il libro: il difficile rapporto tra le varie etnie che nel continuo spostarsi dei confini hanno perso con l'identità nazionale anche le sane regole di convivenza, e soprattutto il socialismo sovietico.
Che si manifesta nel suo lato positivo con i continui sforzi della collettività di sollevare le sorti dei più poveri ma che non riesce a nascondere il veleno che goccia a goccia instilla nelle anime. Quello del fatalismo e della rassegnazione soprattutto. L'uomo socialista vede tutta la sua vita organizzata dallo stato, e tutti i suoi problemi affrontati e risolti dallo stato. Se le scelte fatte al posto tuo non ti piacciono, se la soluzione ai tuoi problemi non ti convince, se la casa che ti è toccata in sorte non va bene, è solo un problema tuo e qualsiasi spirito di iniziativa è un reato contro la collettività. Di qui la mancanza assoluta delle persone anziane di condurre una qualsiasi lotta per migliorare la propria condizione, ma anche la feroce e patetica voglia di violenza dei più giovani, sempre alla ricerca di una rissa in cui buttarsi (non importano le ragioni) per sfogare le energie che l'ideologia comunista non riesce a canalizzare in obiettivi di progresso personale.
Rappresentando personaggi molto umani e molto realistici Kapuscinski ci mostra il tenebroso acido che sin dagli anni del dopoguerra ha corroso goccia a goccia il socialismo, fino al crollo che si sarebbe verificato trent'anni dopo, e che nessuno avrebbe potuto prevedere. In questo sta la sua grandezza.
L'ultimo racconto ci mostra un Ryszard Kapuscinski che ha cominciato a girare il mondo, e che ha cominciato a raccontare l'Africa nera. Lo sguardo sbigottito degli anziani del villaggio di fronte a questo uomo bianco che parla di stati bianchi senza colonie, anzi loro stessi colonizzati chiude il libro e sembra fare da collegamento tra l'inizio dei reportage africani e la chiusura dello stupendo racconto di questa altrettanto spietata, selvaggia e violentata "giungla polacca"
Nazioni compaiono e scompaiono digerite da sanguinose spartizioni: mentre i fiumi si tingono di rosso e cittadinanze e identità nazionali vanno perse, sempre nuovi orrori vengono messi in scena in questo immenso palcoscenico.
Polonia, Estonia, Lettonia, Lituania, Prussia, Bielorussia: paesi come bolle d' aria in un magma ribollente che si aprono e si chiudono trascinando via con sè le persone che ci finiscono dentro.
Vitebsk, Bobruijsk, Orsa, Vjazma, Konigsberg, Gdansk e la seconda guerra mondiale da una parte; Majdanek, Sobibor, Birkenau, Kaunas, Vilnius, Chelmno, Treblinka dall'altra sono nere filastrocche che fanno da corollario ad una storia senza pace: persino Kostantin Rokossovskij, trionfatore della grande guerra patriottica alla testa del secondo fronte bielorusso dell'Armata rossa, commmenterà amaramente "sono troppo polacco per essere russo; troppo russo per essere polacco".
Poi all'improvviso con l'armata rossa arriva la Pax Sovietica che sembra congelare tutto in un tempo sospeso. E da qui prende le mosse Kapuscinski, gradissimo reporter di Pinsk (Bielorussia, un tempo Polonia! Proprio al centro del nero palcoscenico) che ci racconta che tracce ha lasciato questo magma congelato, cos'è la vita sotto quel misterioso socialismo che la cortina di ferro ci ha per tanti anni nascosto, come certe passioni si siano assopite ma non addormentate.
Questa raccolta di piccoli reportage ha un valore colossale. Perchè il coraggioso giornalista riesce nel suo peregrinare a cogliere figure umane indimenticabili ed a trasmetterli sulla carta con una prosa vivace e leggera e con un immaginario molto forte ma soprattutto (cosa che un giornalista forse non dovrebbe fare) si lascia coinvolgere lasciando sulla pagina una traccia della propria anima.
Queste figure molto belle (la maestra divenuta suora di clausura cui la chiesa cattolica polacca persiste nel distruggere la vita, i giovani boy scout strappati ad una vita di delinquenza, le vecchie sorelle prussiane tagliate fuori dal collasso del terzo reich che vagano in miseria, i non troppo entusiasti soldati dell'esercito polacco e tante altre) sono un campione variegato e vitale di umanità, ma in particolare riescono a raccontare agli uomini dell'ovest cosa era la vita durante la guerra fredda al di là del muro.
Alcune pagine sembrano illustrare un occidente alla rovescia. Lo stesso incubo nucleare evocato dagli "assassini americani", che infettano i campi di grano con armi chimiche introdotte ad arte, l'avvento della televisione, la conquista dello spazio nella quale lo Sputnik e Gagarin fanno da contraltare alle missioni apollo, la lotta conttro l'analfabetismo e la fame...
Non mancano di sorgere invece spaccati di vita spiccatamente locali, e sono le pagine più interessanti di tutto il libro: il difficile rapporto tra le varie etnie che nel continuo spostarsi dei confini hanno perso con l'identità nazionale anche le sane regole di convivenza, e soprattutto il socialismo sovietico.
Che si manifesta nel suo lato positivo con i continui sforzi della collettività di sollevare le sorti dei più poveri ma che non riesce a nascondere il veleno che goccia a goccia instilla nelle anime. Quello del fatalismo e della rassegnazione soprattutto. L'uomo socialista vede tutta la sua vita organizzata dallo stato, e tutti i suoi problemi affrontati e risolti dallo stato. Se le scelte fatte al posto tuo non ti piacciono, se la soluzione ai tuoi problemi non ti convince, se la casa che ti è toccata in sorte non va bene, è solo un problema tuo e qualsiasi spirito di iniziativa è un reato contro la collettività. Di qui la mancanza assoluta delle persone anziane di condurre una qualsiasi lotta per migliorare la propria condizione, ma anche la feroce e patetica voglia di violenza dei più giovani, sempre alla ricerca di una rissa in cui buttarsi (non importano le ragioni) per sfogare le energie che l'ideologia comunista non riesce a canalizzare in obiettivi di progresso personale.
Rappresentando personaggi molto umani e molto realistici Kapuscinski ci mostra il tenebroso acido che sin dagli anni del dopoguerra ha corroso goccia a goccia il socialismo, fino al crollo che si sarebbe verificato trent'anni dopo, e che nessuno avrebbe potuto prevedere. In questo sta la sua grandezza.
L'ultimo racconto ci mostra un Ryszard Kapuscinski che ha cominciato a girare il mondo, e che ha cominciato a raccontare l'Africa nera. Lo sguardo sbigottito degli anziani del villaggio di fronte a questo uomo bianco che parla di stati bianchi senza colonie, anzi loro stessi colonizzati chiude il libro e sembra fare da collegamento tra l'inizio dei reportage africani e la chiusura dello stupendo racconto di questa altrettanto spietata, selvaggia e violentata "giungla polacca"
February 7, 2020
A great selection of short reportages set in Poland of the late 1950's. It is terrific in conveying the general feel and new face of a country which emerged after WW2, as well as the mindset of its people. Instead of enumerating or analyzing facts, the book creates an atmosphere which absorbs the reader; he leaves with a conviction that far from knowing what happened, he knows how it felt. A large part of that is on account of the writing style which fits the situations and characters described rather than showcasing the author's literary prowess at every opportunity - a dose of the latter is featured too though.
August 13, 2020
Coś pięknego. Można się popłakać, pośmiać, poprzytakiwać, a na pewno podziwiać obserwacje codzienności.
March 12, 2020
Walczę ostatnio z reader's blockiem, sięgając po pozycje, które już czytałam, często wiele razy, głównie klasykę. Padło zatem i na Kapuścińskiego, chociaż pierwotnie planowałam czytać zupełnie inną jego książkę. Ale nie żałuję. Choć "Busz" nie jest według mnie najlepszym, co Kapuściński napisał (lekko mówiąc), to niektóre teksty z tego zbioru są naprawdę dobre i zapadają w pamięć, czego dowodem jest to, że ja, człowiek, który nie pamięta niczego, co było dawniej niż wczoraj, doskonale pamiętał reportaż o paście do zębów - zresztą chyba najbardziej interesujący z całego "Buszu".
Moja ocena może pozostaje nieszczególnie wysoka, bo nie wszystkie teksty mi tu podchodzą (po prostu nie wzbudzają mojego zainteresowania), niektóre są trochę problematyczne, a do tego czuć momentami, że to wczesne reportaże autora, ale to mimo wszystko ciekawa pozycja, zupełnie inna niż późniejsze książki Kapuścisńkiego.
Moja ocena może pozostaje nieszczególnie wysoka, bo nie wszystkie teksty mi tu podchodzą (po prostu nie wzbudzają mojego zainteresowania), niektóre są trochę problematyczne, a do tego czuć momentami, że to wczesne reportaże autora, ale to mimo wszystko ciekawa pozycja, zupełnie inna niż późniejsze książki Kapuścisńkiego.
August 26, 2019
No es lo peor que he leído pero se acerca mucho, aburrido, reportajes vagos. Qué droga estaría consumiendo al escribir esto? Al menos a mí su escritura me pareció la de un yonqui sin ningún proposito en la vida más que drogarse.
November 14, 2021
“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed everything else is public relations” - George Orwell
Often times, the most memorable reportage has at its apotheosis, the discovery of voices that are otherwise drowned in a sea of obscurity, and relegated to the confines of oblivion. More likely than not, such voices are the preserve of the commoner, the man on the streets whose plaid and prosaic existence is beyond the remit of glamour and outside the responsibility of conspicuousness. The late Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński almost made it his credo to invert the pyramid of journalism. Daring to venture into uncharted territories with an iconoclastic attitude - which at first glance, might seem to many as the synonym of downright recklessness - Kapuściński took great delight in making acquaintance with, and assimilating the perseverance and perspective of the neglected “Other”. His works reveal the “Chutzpah” possessed by the underprivileged and ignored. An impudence that allows its possessor to buck trends, and face adversity with a novel combination of parody and patience. This ingrained bravura almost cost this famed reporter his life, on more occasions than one. Detained 40 times and giving death sentence a slip on four different occasions, Kapuściński pursued his craft with the single minded dedication usually reserved for the possessed.
Kapuściński’ was greatly inspired by the Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. Forced to be sequestered in the Trobriand Islands on account of World War I, Malinowski seized this opportunity accorded by isolation to live amongst the aboriginal tribes in New Guinea and Melanesia. This extraordinary stint of ethnography led to the publication of his seminal work, Argonauts of the Western Pacific. This stupendous work not only established Malinowski’s position as one of Europe’s most formidable anthropologists, but also underscored with great emphasis the need for proximity towards any subject of research. “To judge something, you have to be there”, insisted Malinowski. This became a gospel for Kapuściński’. He was there in the dangerous climes of Liberia, and the chaotic power struggle of Ethiopia. He traversed the paths taken by pilgrims in India and merchants in China and mercenaries in Russia. In the true spirit of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise SS, he boldly went where no man had gone before.
In Nobody Leaves: Impressions of Poland, Kapuściński’, wanders the length and breadth of his own nation, Poland to glean from her children their woes, wisdom and vicissitudes. An ambivalent Poland which in the middle and late part of the 20th century was racked by confusion, confabulation and confoundment. Just when the nation was rejoicing the defeat of Germany in the bloodiest war in history and the regaining of lost territories, this territorial joy was short lived as the spectre of Soviet style Communist/Central Planning firmly took Poland in a vice like grip. So off sets Kapuściński’ to places far and wide, away from the comforts of the capital Warsaw. From the thinly populated village of Bachotek, in the administrative district of Gmina Zbiczno, to the even more bleak province of Platki in Elk county, Kapuściński’ wanders like a purposeful nomad. An itinerant Bedouin armed with paper and pen. A perpetual chronicler of poverty, depravity, despair and yet, hope.
In “The Taking of Elzbieta”, Kapuściński’ comes across a set of most unfortunate parents. Enslaved by chronic illness (the mother’s lungs are ravaged by tuberculosis, while the father is rendered fragile by two heart attacks), the couple go to Herculean efforts to provide the best education to their daughter, Elzbieta. However, just on the threshold of University, the daughter coming under the thrall of the Order of the Church, abandons both education and family before withdrawing herself into the robes of the Church and the confines of its architecture. The screams and wails of a mentally assailed mother plagues the villagers every night. Repeated letters imploring the daughter to return home are an exercise in futility as the Mother Superior ensures that the letters are never read by their newest recruit. Even a plea to see her frail father in the hospital is met with a steely stone hearted resolve by the Church. Two representatives are dispatched to the hospital to ascertain the veracity of the parents’ claim. When Kapuściński’ finally meets Elzbieta, he tells her that he has brought along with him “the screams of her mother”.
“A Survivor on a Raft” has two destitute University Professors taking extreme pride and joy in indulging a rustic raftsman in absorbing conversation. The raftsman, Mister Jagielski, is a single link in a long chain of raftsmen. The twenty segments making up the raft are lashed together and stretch for over 200 meters. Assembled in the forest of Ilawa, this serpentine raft has to float to Drweca before finally being chopped and shaped in a sawmill. This journey takes 120 kilometres, and several raftsmen guide the raft by taking turns.
“Danka”, the darkest story in the collection revolves around the imagined notions of erosion of faith. A sculptor and his female companion, who happens to be his model, occupy the rectory in a small village. The sculptor has promised to produce a statue of the Virgin Mary for the local Church. But he has some unfinished business of his own and hence is occupied with studying the model. The woman who is the model, in a brazen show of liberty appears scantily clad in public and sun tans herself in the most inconvenient of manner (to the rest of the village). When the priest at the Church gets bewitched by her beauty and forces the sculptor to carve Mother Mary’s statue with the exact contours of the model’s stunning face, all hell breaks loose. Under the impotent gaze of a semi-literate police officer and the helpless intransigence of the local party boss, a bunch of outraged and infuriated elderly women, end up lynching the poor model.
A recurring theme in all of Kapuściński’’s tales in Nobody Leaves, is an uncontrollable and repressed urge to ‘escape’. People who are stuck in villages wish to escape to the hustle and bustle of city life and all the pleasures that it promises, while city dwellers bashed in by the uncompromising exactitude of a mundane but tiring existence seek to unshackle themselves from the prison of repetition and flee to the tranquility offered by a ‘proto-beatnik’ style of living. A Kerouacian desire, in short.
In “A Farmer at Grunwald Field”, Kapuściński’ accosts a farmer, who is absolutely indifferent to, and uncomplainingly ignorant of the fact that the site of his field happens to be seeped in rich history. The seminal battle of Grunwald that signified the victory of the Polish Commonwealth over the Teutonic Knights in 1410, represents a memorable bookend in Polish history. The perplexed farmer, however, could not care a jot whether the battle was a mere footnote or an immortal event. All that he is concerned about is the health (or the lack of it) of his crops.
Nobody Leaves is an ‘unputdownable’ conflation of cynicism and candour. A cynicism that has at its nub, innumerable lessons. Lessons of, for and by the downtrodden. Candour supplements these lessons by being a perfect foil, a true handmaiden of the cynic. There is neither exaggeration nor muted fervour. The stories are narrated as they occur and for what they are. No judgment is made, and no decrees are delivered. The “Others” are introduced to the reader and the rest is up to her to either continue with the acquaintance or abandon it without remorse or regret.
Often times, the most memorable reportage has at its apotheosis, the discovery of voices that are otherwise drowned in a sea of obscurity, and relegated to the confines of oblivion. More likely than not, such voices are the preserve of the commoner, the man on the streets whose plaid and prosaic existence is beyond the remit of glamour and outside the responsibility of conspicuousness. The late Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuściński almost made it his credo to invert the pyramid of journalism. Daring to venture into uncharted territories with an iconoclastic attitude - which at first glance, might seem to many as the synonym of downright recklessness - Kapuściński took great delight in making acquaintance with, and assimilating the perseverance and perspective of the neglected “Other”. His works reveal the “Chutzpah” possessed by the underprivileged and ignored. An impudence that allows its possessor to buck trends, and face adversity with a novel combination of parody and patience. This ingrained bravura almost cost this famed reporter his life, on more occasions than one. Detained 40 times and giving death sentence a slip on four different occasions, Kapuściński pursued his craft with the single minded dedication usually reserved for the possessed.
Kapuściński’ was greatly inspired by the Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. Forced to be sequestered in the Trobriand Islands on account of World War I, Malinowski seized this opportunity accorded by isolation to live amongst the aboriginal tribes in New Guinea and Melanesia. This extraordinary stint of ethnography led to the publication of his seminal work, Argonauts of the Western Pacific. This stupendous work not only established Malinowski’s position as one of Europe’s most formidable anthropologists, but also underscored with great emphasis the need for proximity towards any subject of research. “To judge something, you have to be there”, insisted Malinowski. This became a gospel for Kapuściński’. He was there in the dangerous climes of Liberia, and the chaotic power struggle of Ethiopia. He traversed the paths taken by pilgrims in India and merchants in China and mercenaries in Russia. In the true spirit of Captain Kirk and the Enterprise SS, he boldly went where no man had gone before.
In Nobody Leaves: Impressions of Poland, Kapuściński’, wanders the length and breadth of his own nation, Poland to glean from her children their woes, wisdom and vicissitudes. An ambivalent Poland which in the middle and late part of the 20th century was racked by confusion, confabulation and confoundment. Just when the nation was rejoicing the defeat of Germany in the bloodiest war in history and the regaining of lost territories, this territorial joy was short lived as the spectre of Soviet style Communist/Central Planning firmly took Poland in a vice like grip. So off sets Kapuściński’ to places far and wide, away from the comforts of the capital Warsaw. From the thinly populated village of Bachotek, in the administrative district of Gmina Zbiczno, to the even more bleak province of Platki in Elk county, Kapuściński’ wanders like a purposeful nomad. An itinerant Bedouin armed with paper and pen. A perpetual chronicler of poverty, depravity, despair and yet, hope.
In “The Taking of Elzbieta”, Kapuściński’ comes across a set of most unfortunate parents. Enslaved by chronic illness (the mother’s lungs are ravaged by tuberculosis, while the father is rendered fragile by two heart attacks), the couple go to Herculean efforts to provide the best education to their daughter, Elzbieta. However, just on the threshold of University, the daughter coming under the thrall of the Order of the Church, abandons both education and family before withdrawing herself into the robes of the Church and the confines of its architecture. The screams and wails of a mentally assailed mother plagues the villagers every night. Repeated letters imploring the daughter to return home are an exercise in futility as the Mother Superior ensures that the letters are never read by their newest recruit. Even a plea to see her frail father in the hospital is met with a steely stone hearted resolve by the Church. Two representatives are dispatched to the hospital to ascertain the veracity of the parents’ claim. When Kapuściński’ finally meets Elzbieta, he tells her that he has brought along with him “the screams of her mother”.
“A Survivor on a Raft” has two destitute University Professors taking extreme pride and joy in indulging a rustic raftsman in absorbing conversation. The raftsman, Mister Jagielski, is a single link in a long chain of raftsmen. The twenty segments making up the raft are lashed together and stretch for over 200 meters. Assembled in the forest of Ilawa, this serpentine raft has to float to Drweca before finally being chopped and shaped in a sawmill. This journey takes 120 kilometres, and several raftsmen guide the raft by taking turns.
“Danka”, the darkest story in the collection revolves around the imagined notions of erosion of faith. A sculptor and his female companion, who happens to be his model, occupy the rectory in a small village. The sculptor has promised to produce a statue of the Virgin Mary for the local Church. But he has some unfinished business of his own and hence is occupied with studying the model. The woman who is the model, in a brazen show of liberty appears scantily clad in public and sun tans herself in the most inconvenient of manner (to the rest of the village). When the priest at the Church gets bewitched by her beauty and forces the sculptor to carve Mother Mary’s statue with the exact contours of the model’s stunning face, all hell breaks loose. Under the impotent gaze of a semi-literate police officer and the helpless intransigence of the local party boss, a bunch of outraged and infuriated elderly women, end up lynching the poor model.
A recurring theme in all of Kapuściński’’s tales in Nobody Leaves, is an uncontrollable and repressed urge to ‘escape’. People who are stuck in villages wish to escape to the hustle and bustle of city life and all the pleasures that it promises, while city dwellers bashed in by the uncompromising exactitude of a mundane but tiring existence seek to unshackle themselves from the prison of repetition and flee to the tranquility offered by a ‘proto-beatnik’ style of living. A Kerouacian desire, in short.
In “A Farmer at Grunwald Field”, Kapuściński’ accosts a farmer, who is absolutely indifferent to, and uncomplainingly ignorant of the fact that the site of his field happens to be seeped in rich history. The seminal battle of Grunwald that signified the victory of the Polish Commonwealth over the Teutonic Knights in 1410, represents a memorable bookend in Polish history. The perplexed farmer, however, could not care a jot whether the battle was a mere footnote or an immortal event. All that he is concerned about is the health (or the lack of it) of his crops.
Nobody Leaves is an ‘unputdownable’ conflation of cynicism and candour. A cynicism that has at its nub, innumerable lessons. Lessons of, for and by the downtrodden. Candour supplements these lessons by being a perfect foil, a true handmaiden of the cynic. There is neither exaggeration nor muted fervour. The stories are narrated as they occur and for what they are. No judgment is made, and no decrees are delivered. The “Others” are introduced to the reader and the rest is up to her to either continue with the acquaintance or abandon it without remorse or regret.
November 28, 2017
This short collection of pieces by Ryszard Kapuscinski is beautiful collection. Each one reads like an imaginatively created fiction and I had to keep reminding myself that these stories are snapshots of Polish life from six decades ago. Kapuscinski has a knack for turning the mundane and shocking into lovingly crafted colourful word pictures. The atmosphere created with just a few words over a few pages is incredible. I've only just started plouging my way through Kapuscinskis work and really don't know why I've neglected him for so long. I can't recomend this book enough.
August 8, 2019
Z Kapuścińskim mam problem, trochę jak z Mickiewiczem, wielkim reporterem był i basta. Tyle że albo ja za głupi jestem albo większość tych historii nie jest tak wybitna jak mi się próbuje opowiadać. Mają swój urok, pokazują pewne aspekty życia na które bym normalnie nie zwrócił uwagi, jedne ciekawsze, inne mniej, ale do zachwytów które nieustannie słyszę na temat autora czegoś mi brakuje.
Może jestem za bardzo dzieckiem swoich czasów, może te teksty zestarzały się bardziej niż ktokolwiek chce przyznać... Nie wiem, na wszelki wypadek dam jeszcze szansę i spróbuję czegoś innego.
Może jestem za bardzo dzieckiem swoich czasów, może te teksty zestarzały się bardziej niż ktokolwiek chce przyznać... Nie wiem, na wszelki wypadek dam jeszcze szansę i spróbuję czegoś innego.
January 26, 2025
Όταν ο Ρισαρντ Καπισίνσκι συνάντησε τον Βέρνερ Χέρτζογκ σε ένα χωράφι στη Πολωνία
Μερικοί άνθρωποι αν και ακολουθούν ένα επάγγελμα θέλουν να προχωρήσουν παραπέρα σε αυτό που κάνουν. Θέλουν να μεταβούν απο το επάγγελμα στην εμπειρία, απο την εμπειρία στην καταγραφή και απο εκεί στο μεταίχμιο μεταξύ δημοσιογραφικού καθήκοντος και τέχνης.
Νομίζω πως δεν θα μπορούσα να γράψω πιο αντιπροσωπευτικά λόγια για τον Καπισίνσκι και ίσως ο τελευταίος να είναι και η μοναδική περίπτωση που βρίσκεται στο σύνορο που προαναφέρθηκε. Στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1960, ο Καπισίνσκι ανέλαβε ως δημοσιογράφος να ταξιδέψει σε όλη τη Πολωνία και να καταγράψει προβληματισμούς, ανθρώπους, απόψεις και απλά καθημερινά προβλήματα. Σύμφωνα με την εισαγωγή του βιβλίου, ο ρόλος των Πολωνών δημοσιογράφων ήταν να λειτουργούν ως αντικειμενικοί (όσο αυτό ήταν δυνατόν) μάρτυρες των ελλείψεων και να ασκούν κριτική στην κυβέρνηση. Για την ακρίβεια, όχι κριτική αλλά μάλλον ενήμερωση προκειμένου να αντιμετωπιστούν τα προβλήματα του πληθυσμού.
Έτσι λοιπόν, ο Καπισίνσκι γύρισε όλη τη χώρα. Πήγε απο βαλτώδεις περιοχές και ημισπαρμένα χώραφια, σε ερήμους και τοπικές κοινότητες σχεδόν ξεχασμένες και απο τον Θεό και απο την ίδια την Πολωνία. Μίλησε με μικρά παιδιά, γέρους ανθρώπους, χωρικούς, φαντάρους, τοπικούς αξιωματούχους. Ακολούθησε μια οικογένεια στην αναζήτηση της για το χαμένο σπίτι της που βρίσκεται πλέον επι γερμανικού εδάφους. Απόρησε με μια τεράστια διαφήμιση για οδοντόπαστα σε ένα μέρος που κανείς δεν γνωρίζει πως πρέπει να πλένει τα δόντια του. Είδε παλιούς συμμαθητές και σκέφτηκε τα διαφορετικά μονοπάτια της ζωής. Ταυτίστηκε με την αγωνία του δισκοβόλου να γίνει καλύτερος. Κουβάλησε με άλλους ανθρακωρύχους το φέρετρο ενός συναδέλφου τους για χιλιόμετρα με τα πόδια. Κατέγραψε την οργή ενός χωριού απέναντι σε μια κοπέλα μου τη θεώρησαν μόνο και μόνο βλάσφημη επειδή ήταν μοντέλο για ένα άγαλμα της Παναγίας.
Και τέλος, κατέγραψε με όρους ιμπρεσιονιστικούς αυτές τις εμπειρίες και τις δημοσίευσε στην εφημερίδα που δούλευε. Ευτυχώς για μας, ήταν μόνο η αρχή μια μοναδικής καριέρας, ενός ακόμη πιο μοναδικού δημοσιογράφου.
Μερικοί άνθρωποι αν και ακολουθούν ένα επάγγελμα θέλουν να προχωρήσουν παραπέρα σε αυτό που κάνουν. Θέλουν να μεταβούν απο το επάγγελμα στην εμπειρία, απο την εμπειρία στην καταγραφή και απο εκεί στο μεταίχμιο μεταξύ δημοσιογραφικού καθήκοντος και τέχνης.
Νομίζω πως δεν θα μπορούσα να γράψω πιο αντιπροσωπευτικά λόγια για τον Καπισίνσκι και ίσως ο τελευταίος να είναι και η μοναδική περίπτωση που βρίσκεται στο σύνορο που προαναφέρθηκε. Στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του 1960, ο Καπισίνσκι ανέλαβε ως δημοσιογράφος να ταξιδέψει σε όλη τη Πολωνία και να καταγράψει προβληματισμούς, ανθρώπους, απόψεις και απλά καθημερινά προβλήματα. Σύμφωνα με την εισαγωγή του βιβλίου, ο ρόλος των Πολωνών δημοσιογράφων ήταν να λειτουργούν ως αντικειμενικοί (όσο αυτό ήταν δυνατόν) μάρτυρες των ελλείψεων και να ασκούν κριτική στην κυβέρνηση. Για την ακρίβεια, όχι κριτική αλλά μάλλον ενήμερωση προκειμένου να αντιμετωπιστούν τα προβλήματα του πληθυσμού.
Έτσι λοιπόν, ο Καπισίνσκι γύρισε όλη τη χώρα. Πήγε απο βαλτώδεις περιοχές και ημισπαρμένα χώραφια, σε ερήμους και τοπικές κοινότητες σχεδόν ξεχασμένες και απο τον Θεό και απο την ίδια την Πολωνία. Μίλησε με μικρά παιδιά, γέρους ανθρώπους, χωρικούς, φαντάρους, τοπικούς αξιωματούχους. Ακολούθησε μια οικογένεια στην αναζήτηση της για το χαμένο σπίτι της που βρίσκεται πλέον επι γερμανικού εδάφους. Απόρησε με μια τεράστια διαφήμιση για οδοντόπαστα σε ένα μέρος που κανείς δεν γνωρίζει πως πρέπει να πλένει τα δόντια του. Είδε παλιούς συμμαθητές και σκέφτηκε τα διαφορετικά μονοπάτια της ζωής. Ταυτίστηκε με την αγωνία του δισκοβόλου να γίνει καλύτερος. Κουβάλησε με άλλους ανθρακωρύχους το φέρετρο ενός συναδέλφου τους για χιλιόμετρα με τα πόδια. Κατέγραψε την οργή ενός χωριού απέναντι σε μια κοπέλα μου τη θεώρησαν μόνο και μόνο βλάσφημη επειδή ήταν μοντέλο για ένα άγαλμα της Παναγίας.
Και τέλος, κατέγραψε με όρους ιμπρεσιονιστικούς αυτές τις εμπειρίες και τις δημοσίευσε στην εφημερίδα που δούλευε. Ευτυχώς για μας, ήταν μόνο η αρχή μια μοναδικής καριέρας, ενός ακόμη πιο μοναδικού δημοσιογράφου.
June 24, 2021
A dance sinks into oblivion like a stone in the lake and the waters of time close over it.
Nobody Leaves: Impressions of Poland is an artfully constructed collection of 17 short stories about 1950s-60s Poland by the yet to be famous reporter Ryszard Kapuscinski. The collection reads more like literary reportage than a mere collection of snapshots, each word so delicious one can feel Kapuscinski's mind caressing them while penning them down. It resembles a pond or a lake, the seemingly still and reflective surface hiding its own depths.
This is Poland in the wake of its post-war, post-Stalin Communist landscape. The people are, for the most part, still tied to their land - land poses as a sub-textual character in the books - far from the rush of the cities. They appear cocooned in their own little lives, keeping their heads down, working working, as if trying to shake off the unpleasant aftertaste of its recent past. They try to hold on viciously to their traditions and there are even some innocent attempts to revert back to living life the way it was before the war. It is as if time is in a depth less slumber in these parts and the people are in no hurry to wake it up.
A sense of decay pervades the book, a palpable taste of the last remnants of an era dying in its transition phase before something new is born. Because despite all the aura of a dying age, there are mentions, casual insertions, of the world moving; the conception of a new time, a new age, quietly settling in amid the humdrum of the old: a bustling life in the cities somewhere beyond, the movies, new washing machines, company brand names. It serves to point how life goes on, even at the staggering point of a broken wheel. That even a still pond is capable of having ripples.
As far as the vivid portraits of the subjects are concerned, they remind of only one modern-day equivalent of drawing out the core of people's complicated lives, and that is Brandon Stanton's Humans Of New York. Like Stanton, Kapuscinski has people laid bare and stripped naked at their most vulnerable, confused and disoriented, their ugliest and most ordinary. There is no pretense or attempt to sensationalise - merely a desire to report humanity as is.
If you liked my review, do feel free to stop by my Instagram here!
January 5, 2018
This book explores a post-Stalin Communist Poland through encounters with common folk far away from Cities.
First book I checked out by Ryszard and will definitely check others out.
The book is split up into 17 short stories. Some I enjoyed more than others.
These short stories have characters in them that are incredibly interesting and could easily be mistaken for fiction. The dialogue is witty and funny, the situations sad or inspiring.
Only issue with the book is that the short stories are too short and they seem to end at the best part.
First book I checked out by Ryszard and will definitely check others out.
The book is split up into 17 short stories. Some I enjoyed more than others.
These short stories have characters in them that are incredibly interesting and could easily be mistaken for fiction. The dialogue is witty and funny, the situations sad or inspiring.
Only issue with the book is that the short stories are too short and they seem to end at the best part.
May 15, 2019
They're all bound together for the long run (...). There's a lot (...) like that, (he) tells me. Mostly among the elderly. And he repeats, pensively: Yes, a lot of them. Mostly among the young. (p.81)
One would think Poland has changed a lot since Kapuscinski wrote these impressions. And, of course, it did. But living in Poland for more than two years myself, sixty years later, I don't feel the gap in time. As if this country is crawling back into the clothes he just recently tried to shake off so persistently. It gives these little stories a certain sadness.
One would think Poland has changed a lot since Kapuscinski wrote these impressions. And, of course, it did. But living in Poland for more than two years myself, sixty years later, I don't feel the gap in time. As if this country is crawling back into the clothes he just recently tried to shake off so persistently. It gives these little stories a certain sadness.
November 25, 2020
Kapuściński writes gorgeously textured prose which delightfully blurs the line between journalism and literature. His work brings humanity and depth to a subject often characterised by grand narratives and conflict. I do not think its beyond the pale to describe Poland as a nation with a chip on both shoulders, caught fatally in the crossroads of Europe's empires. Nobody Leaves is a breath of fresh air, capturing a sense of the pride and the despair of the Poles in the mid-twentieth century, without beating the reader over the head with painful ideological fervour. These essays about life in the forgotten corners of Poland in the early 1960s are beautiful pieces of literature in their own right. For someone with an interest in the historical complexities of the era, they have even more to give.
July 23, 2022
Es difícil decir algo malo del gran Kapuściński, uno de los grandes periodistas del siglo XX.
Este libro es una colección de reportajes literarios ambientados todos en su Polonia natal. Con personajes y lugares reales, Kapuściński nos cuenta (no como periodista sino como literario) las vicisitudes de los habitantes polacos en la Polonia de la posguerra, en especial, los protagonistas son personajes de lo más bajo en el escalafón, campesinos, iletrados, etc. que deben hacer frente a una vida dura en un país que busca la paz y el modernismo pero que aún tiene muy arraigado su pasado más reciente de guerra y pobreza.
Este libro está lejos de lo que suelo leer habitualmente, pero teniendo en cuenta que en una semana me mudo a Polonia, quería leer algo ambientado allí que me permitiera conocer mejor este país. Y este libro ha hecho, sobradamente, esta función
Este libro es una colección de reportajes literarios ambientados todos en su Polonia natal. Con personajes y lugares reales, Kapuściński nos cuenta (no como periodista sino como literario) las vicisitudes de los habitantes polacos en la Polonia de la posguerra, en especial, los protagonistas son personajes de lo más bajo en el escalafón, campesinos, iletrados, etc. que deben hacer frente a una vida dura en un país que busca la paz y el modernismo pero que aún tiene muy arraigado su pasado más reciente de guerra y pobreza.
Este libro está lejos de lo que suelo leer habitualmente, pero teniendo en cuenta que en una semana me mudo a Polonia, quería leer algo ambientado allí que me permitiera conocer mejor este país. Y este libro ha hecho, sobradamente, esta función
December 20, 2025
Curious sort of journalism: no facts and figures, but glimpses of reality. So crude, so naked, stripped of all shades of illusions. Written in Poland in the '60s — it's hard to believe how free it feels. No dogma of any kind.
Kapuscinski is a student of reality and damn serious at that. Also, very gifted for words. They fall down with mathematical precision, even in translation. The author of "Travels with Herodotus", "Shah of Shahs" and "The Emperor" is born out of these pages.
Apart from this, it's hard to get more from the book. The reality changed. That Poland is no longer. To understand it, one needs an author who lives today, uses different words, conjures different images. Even though, the first witness account has merit.
Kapuscinski is a student of reality and damn serious at that. Also, very gifted for words. They fall down with mathematical precision, even in translation. The author of "Travels with Herodotus", "Shah of Shahs" and "The Emperor" is born out of these pages.
Apart from this, it's hard to get more from the book. The reality changed. That Poland is no longer. To understand it, one needs an author who lives today, uses different words, conjures different images. Even though, the first witness account has merit.
April 30, 2024
lasyka reportażu onieśmiela, nawet sam fakt, że dopiero teraz po ten zbiór sięgam. Kapuściński w swoich tekstach porusza się po polskiej prowincji lat 50. i 60. Z wszystkich tekstów wyłania się fantastyczny obraz ówczesnej Polski – powojennej, wciąż zapyziałej, zaściankowej. To w małych miasteczkach gdzieś na wschodzie, położonych daleko od Warszawy mieszkają bohaterowie tych tekstów – dwie Niemki, które uciekają z domu starców do swojego domu, który zamieszkuje już ktoś inny czy biedni rolnicy, sezonowi pracownicy, którzy snują się po kraju i wiele innych.
Ciąg dalszy: https://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot....
Ciąg dalszy: https://przeczytalamksiazke.blogspot....
September 1, 2022
started reading this in amsterdam before i left for slovakia and it didn’t feel right, i could not connect to it. finished it after coming back after three weeks and it all clicked. the small town-ness, the clinging to clergy, the gossip, the things that the west could never have on such a scale.
December 1, 2023
”If many people ask it at the same moment, then there is a revolution. But how can I explain that to this girl? In general, you shouldnt explain anything to girls, because their head ache afterwards”
haha no thanks Kapuściński
haha no thanks Kapuściński
October 15, 2025
A través dunha vintena de relatos, Kapuscinsky describe a Polonia dos anos 50. Historias que transportan a esa época oscura de posguerra onde pouco a pouco o país comezaba ver a luz. Case sempre narrando as vidas da xente que habita nos marxes da sociedade, xa sexa no rural ou na cidade. Doado de ler e moi descriptivo.
January 31, 2024
cesarz reportażu w formie
March 12, 2024
Czytając po 70 latach od pierwszego wydania jednocześnie widzę ile się w Polsce zmieniło oraz że nic się nie zmieniło.
June 13, 2023
I read this book while visiting Warsaw by myself and finished it in a day! It read like short stories and every single one of them resonated with me in some way. Poland has of course changed a lot since Kapuscinski wrote it, but the stories and people involved were so lively described that it all came alive to me! He captured a Poland of six decennia ago that's not really there anymore, but of which the remnants can still be found. Maybe my favourite Kapuscinski so far :)
gave-up
July 2, 2024I couldn't read this masterpiece. I would read but the words just seemed to pass by with no meaning. I think it simply wasn't written for me.
April 9, 2020
Llegué a este libro por casualidad, el haber vivido en Polonia y que me cuadrase el precio con el pico de un vale regalo me hicieron traerlo a casa.
Kapu(esh)(ch)i(ñ)ski -en mi precario polaco- era un reportero de una revista semanal de corte progresista (Polityka), que tras la publicación de esta su primera obra en 1962 comenzó a producir una serie de relatos, cuadernos de viaje y ensayos con una perspectiva literiaria inaudita en un periodista de un país bajo el influjo del telón de acero soviético.
Si alguien ha leído cualquiera de los libros del periodista catalán Enric González (sus historias como corresponsal en distintas ciudades) podrá hacerse una aproximación a lo que cuenta Ryszard en su compilación de reportajes. El libro tiene unos 20 capítulos de breve extensión, como la columna de un diario ligeramente desarrollada, sin recortes. Crudeza, naturalismo y sentimiento se entremezclan en un viaje a la Polonia silvestre, que si bien ahora comienza a asomar y ganar peso como país, en la época contemporánea del libro estaba sumida en dos crisis, la existencial de vivir maniatada a un régimen impuesto desde casi 3000 km y la económica tras una guerra que la devastó. Historias curiosas, valientes y casi heróicas, que la noble pluma de Kapuściński, como buen reportero, no se dedica a retocar, si no a dejar que las palabras y sentimientos de los verdaderos protagonistas hagan formar un pequeño mundo que sumerja al lector en sus relatos.
Un libro notable, que recomendaría a todo aquel que guste del columnismo y tenga interés por las secuelas de la guerra. Mi nota sería un 8/8.5
Kapu(esh)(ch)i(ñ)ski -en mi precario polaco- era un reportero de una revista semanal de corte progresista (Polityka), que tras la publicación de esta su primera obra en 1962 comenzó a producir una serie de relatos, cuadernos de viaje y ensayos con una perspectiva literiaria inaudita en un periodista de un país bajo el influjo del telón de acero soviético.
Si alguien ha leído cualquiera de los libros del periodista catalán Enric González (sus historias como corresponsal en distintas ciudades) podrá hacerse una aproximación a lo que cuenta Ryszard en su compilación de reportajes. El libro tiene unos 20 capítulos de breve extensión, como la columna de un diario ligeramente desarrollada, sin recortes. Crudeza, naturalismo y sentimiento se entremezclan en un viaje a la Polonia silvestre, que si bien ahora comienza a asomar y ganar peso como país, en la época contemporánea del libro estaba sumida en dos crisis, la existencial de vivir maniatada a un régimen impuesto desde casi 3000 km y la económica tras una guerra que la devastó. Historias curiosas, valientes y casi heróicas, que la noble pluma de Kapuściński, como buen reportero, no se dedica a retocar, si no a dejar que las palabras y sentimientos de los verdaderos protagonistas hagan formar un pequeño mundo que sumerja al lector en sus relatos.
Un libro notable, que recomendaría a todo aquel que guste del columnismo y tenga interés por las secuelas de la guerra. Mi nota sería un 8/8.5
December 15, 2023
Polish would be my grandmother-tongue if there were such a thing. This year I’ve been learning the language as well as immersing myself in Polish history and culture.
I’ve also learnt that Kapuściński is probably Poland’s most famous journalist.
So, when in the secondhand charity bookshop I saw Kapuściński’s name on the spine of this slim volume, and when I saw that this particular offering contained dispatches from within Poland, buying it was a no-brainer.
These vivid, reflective essays constitute a curious cross-section of Polish society around 1960. Looking back, I like how “A Survivor on a Raft” finds its counterpoint in “An Advertisement for Toothpaste”: the former is a portrait (through the worshipful eyes of townie lecturers) of a rural woodcutter from a bygone era, while the latter is a portrait of a village accumulating all the trappings of the modern era — all, that is, except toothpaste.
The translation is also pretty decent. The only problem I have with it is that the use of the word ‘geezer’ in “The Geezer” doesn’t adequately convey the meaning of the Polish ‘lamus’, which in its original meaning refers (I think!) to a rural outhouse used to store old things (hence “obsolescent relic”) but which can also be used as a derogatory term.
I’ve also learnt that Kapuściński is probably Poland’s most famous journalist.
So, when in the secondhand charity bookshop I saw Kapuściński’s name on the spine of this slim volume, and when I saw that this particular offering contained dispatches from within Poland, buying it was a no-brainer.
These vivid, reflective essays constitute a curious cross-section of Polish society around 1960. Looking back, I like how “A Survivor on a Raft” finds its counterpoint in “An Advertisement for Toothpaste”: the former is a portrait (through the worshipful eyes of townie lecturers) of a rural woodcutter from a bygone era, while the latter is a portrait of a village accumulating all the trappings of the modern era — all, that is, except toothpaste.
The translation is also pretty decent. The only problem I have with it is that the use of the word ‘geezer’ in “The Geezer” doesn’t adequately convey the meaning of the Polish ‘lamus’, which in its original meaning refers (I think!) to a rural outhouse used to store old things (hence “obsolescent relic”) but which can also be used as a derogatory term.
February 7, 2022
Wieś nic się nie zmieniła.
Będąc na wakacjach u wujostwa, sam widziałem, gdy ich syn 6 letni przyszedł do mnie z książkami (wielki dzień - pierwszy raz w szkolnej bibliotece), a późnej poszedł z tymi książkami do rodziców: ci na niego nakrzyczeli i zbesztali go, a ostatnim zdaniem które do mnie dotarło było: "żebyś więcej żadnych książek do domu nie przynosił!"
R. Kapuściński kiedyś napisał: "tylko czytanie rodzi myślenie".
Sah.
60% Polaków w ogóle nie czyta,
a kolejne 20% max. jedną książkę rocznie...
A później dziwić się że po 10 latach na emigracji nie znają języka autochtonów...
Pozdrawiam Freie und HH
PS. 3/4 Polaków to wtórni analfabeci. Używają w życiu codziennym ok. 500 słów i gdy da im się ambitną gazetę lub książkę, to będą czytali, ale na każdą stronę będą potrzebowali 20 minut by zrozumieć treść (jeśli w ogóle). Nie mają bladego pojęcia co to jest piękno. Taka gmina...
Będąc na wakacjach u wujostwa, sam widziałem, gdy ich syn 6 letni przyszedł do mnie z książkami (wielki dzień - pierwszy raz w szkolnej bibliotece), a późnej poszedł z tymi książkami do rodziców: ci na niego nakrzyczeli i zbesztali go, a ostatnim zdaniem które do mnie dotarło było: "żebyś więcej żadnych książek do domu nie przynosił!"
R. Kapuściński kiedyś napisał: "tylko czytanie rodzi myślenie".
Sah.
60% Polaków w ogóle nie czyta,
a kolejne 20% max. jedną książkę rocznie...
A później dziwić się że po 10 latach na emigracji nie znają języka autochtonów...
Pozdrawiam Freie und HH
PS. 3/4 Polaków to wtórni analfabeci. Używają w życiu codziennym ok. 500 słów i gdy da im się ambitną gazetę lub książkę, to będą czytali, ale na każdą stronę będą potrzebowali 20 minut by zrozumieć treść (jeśli w ogóle). Nie mają bladego pojęcia co to jest piękno. Taka gmina...
October 10, 2022
Short stories that make you think and are highly critical on society. To fully understand his reflections you do need to know when they were written, in which context - then they are very poignant and dark, it is definitively not a happy book.
In short stories Kapuscinkski writes on how instincts are all that remain when society takes the rest away, why human relations can be very strained; especially “nobody leaves” leaves no one unmoved I think.
Not all stories have the same impact, the collection however makes the sum of them stronger since they reinforce the inability to live a full life in a communist society, regardless of the angle chosen.
In short stories Kapuscinkski writes on how instincts are all that remain when society takes the rest away, why human relations can be very strained; especially “nobody leaves” leaves no one unmoved I think.
Not all stories have the same impact, the collection however makes the sum of them stronger since they reinforce the inability to live a full life in a communist society, regardless of the angle chosen.
January 2, 2009
I liked some stories in this one...
October 4, 2017
The text stutters throughout. Hope its just the translation. Many great topics, none fully realised.
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