Cafe Panika; Historyjki taksówkowe

by Roland Topor

Bohaterowie Topora wpisani są w rzeczywistość banalną, którą autor zdaje się smakować z ironicznym uśmieszkiem wyrokiem. Wszyscy a właściwie wszystko, co tę książkę wypełnia, mogłoby właściwie nieistnieć bo też i nie ma zbyt wielkiego znaczenia. Tytułowa Cafe Panika to stan umysłu, w którym niepokój zostaje zmieniony w rozkoszne na niby. Prowadzone w niej rozmowy to nie stwierdzenie jakiegoś faktu ale, przewrotnie, utwierdzenie się w fikcji (nie tylko literackiej).

Genres: Short Stories, France

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

A French illustrator, painter, writer and filmmaker, known for the surreal nature of his work. He was of Polish Jewish origin and spent the early years of his life in Savoy where his family hid him from the Nazi peril.

Roland Topor wrote the novel The Tenant (Le Locataire chimérique, 1964), which was adapted to film by Roman Polanski in 1976. The Tenant is the story of a Parisian of Polish descent, who develops an obsession regarding what has happened to his apartment's previous tenant. It is a chilling exploration of alienation and identity, asking disturbing questions about how we define ourselves. The later novel Joko's Anniversary (1969), another fable about loss of identity, is a vicious satire on social conformity. Themes Topor returned to in his later novel Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne (1978).

A new presentation of The Tenant by Roland Topor was released in October 2006. The book has Topor's original novel, a new introduction by Thomas Ligotti, a selection of short stories by Topor, a representation of Topor's artwork and an essay on the famous Roman Polanski film version. There is a working possibility of having Mr. Polanski write a new foreword to this edition.

In 2018, Atlas Press published Topor's Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne, translated and introduced by Andrew Hodgson. It was the first of Topor's novels to enter English in nearly 50 years.

Reviews

[Philippe Malzieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Topor book. In the 60th, Topor, Jodorowski and Arrabal created a group : the panique movement. It is a question of mixing absurd, humour, madness and poetry. It was in the Café de la Paix near the Opera. A twenty of year later, the title is an explicit reference. At first, the café as the place of exchange, people speak, come to light. It is not a novel stricto sensu, but suit of small narratives. Every character tells its story and the transition is done by the narrator. It is part of life funny, derisory, poetic . The smallest event takes a mythological dimension. Only the life.

A real panique book.

[Milka (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠✧⁠*⁠。 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Kasianka · Rating 4 out of 5]

śmieszne

[Piotr Ferster · Rating 4 out of 5]

zabawna rzecz

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo zabawne, krótkie historie.

[dwddtn_17 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Nate D]

Upcoming Topor translation attempt: the sole book of hisstories I've managed to lay hands on, another never-in-English. Most are quite short so perhaps this will be a better chance to hone my skills and post new translations, rather than tackling Portrait En Pied de Suzanne all at once.

[Jan Moens · Rating 5 out of 5]

8,5/10
( I read it in French)