Polish literature thread

I'm currently learning Polish and was wondering if you could suggest anything worthwhile to me to read. On a side note, why aren't Polish authors being talked about on this board? Seems like they've got at least 5 Nobel Prize winners.

Poland in general is a fantastically underrated country. What inspired you to learn Polish might I ask? I picked up a bit before when I dated a Polish lady and travelled there a bit, very fun language but really difficult.

Joseph Conrad is definitely my favourite Polish author but I'm not sure about his Polish language stuff. Andrzej Stasiuk has a very good reputation might be worth checking out

Polish literature is amazing. Romanticist poetry and prose are surely great, Non-divine Comedy by Krasinski is easily a masterpiece but I'm not sure if it's within your reach, the language gets kinda hard. Newer stuff, and easier to read - obviously Lalka, by Prus (but I guess you've got that figured if he's on your pic rel), Sienkiewicz, then basically entire 20th century is worth reading - the poetry gets ridiculously good (Lesmian, Czechowicz, then Herbert, Miłosz), and the duo Schultz - Gombrowicz is the pinnacle of prose really. Also Witkacy. Wyspiański.
That's the tip of an iceberg basically.

Tadeusz Konwicki

>I'm currently learning Polish
Why? It's one of the most difficult and irrelevant languages out there.
>why aren't Polish authors being talked about on this board?
They are relevant only here in Poland, some of them maybe in the former Commonwealth, that is Lithuania, Belarus, etc. Only Lem has managed to become somewhat famous as far as I'm concerned.

Keep in mind that pretty much all the books here are high school tier, but that should be enough for now. Doing your own research about Polish culture, history, etc. would most definitely help.
Joseph Conrad might be an interesting start, since he's a Polish-English author. Obviously "The Doll" by Prus is a must. If you want to take a few steps back to Polish Romanticism you need to have a dictionary nearby, because translations are scarce. If that's not a problem, read "Dziady" by Mickiewicz and "Kordian" by Słowacki. If that's still not enough, then "Pan Tadeusz" by Mickiewicz, "Non-divine Comedy" by Krasiński and Norwid's poems should be enough. If you would like to reap and tear someone's guts then The Trilogy by Sienkiewicz is for you. For symbolism read "The Wedding" by Wyspiański. From the interwar period you should read "Ferdydurke" by Gombrowicz and "The Street of Crocodiles" by Schulz (bonus points for "The Hourglass Sanatorium", it's brilliant) and poems by Tuwim. For WW2 read Baczyński's poems and "Pamiętnik z powstania warszawskiego" by Białoszewski. Later it's Lem's territory, but I would also recommend "Tango" by Mrożek, my personal favorite.
Good luck OP

>Why? It's one of the most difficult and irrelevant languages out there.
>What inspired you to learn Polish might I ask?
I'm a Russian who plans on moving to Poland.

I would echo the recommendations for Bruno Schulz and Gombrowicz, both are fantastic. Another Polish oddity whom you might like is Bruno Jasieński. I Burn Paris is probably his best work.

Polish literature doesn't exist.

Conrad never wrote anything in Polish to my knowledge. In fact he really avoided his heritage like the plague, and he left the country basically as soon as he was able to as a teenager.

That being said if you want an interesting English language short story about Poland I would recommend Conrad's Prince Roman. It's a really cool historical fiction piece about Poland in the 1800's and the failed rebellion by the Poles against Russia.

don't read anything after 1989, it's shit

What is Veeky Forums's opinion on Wladyslaw Reymont?
I was thinking about reading The Peasants and The Promised Land (liked the movie)

He is indeed a great author, the equal of Emil Zola.

Nobel Prize winner. Great author, but extremely verbose in his writing, which is why in general Polish students don't like him much. Both of the books you mentioned are definitely worth a read, go ahead.

Thanks, any other works of his or other Polish authors you would recommend?

What are some good but not well known Polish writers?

>irrelevant language

I remember overhearing two Asian dudes at uni talking about learning Polish. They said it was because a lot early radiation research is in Polish. Really made me think.

As other anons mentioned in this thread, The Doll by Prus is absolutely essential in Polish culture and is a solid novel on it's own. When it comes to Prus there is another breddy gud book of his called "Pharaoh", unsurprisingly it's about ancient Egypt.
Probably the most well-known Polish novelist is Henryk Sienkiewicz, his battle scenes are amazingly well written. One problem with him is that he's even more verbose than Reymont, but he's read in Poland to this day nonetheless. The Trilogy, Krzyżacy and Quo Vadis are his most important works.
Other books from top of my head are Ferdydurke by Gombrowicz, The Street of Crocodiles by Schulz and Solaris by Lem.

poetry is god-tier, xix more than xx tho. Slowacki - polish goethe

III
I duch niewyszły z umarłego ciała
Czuł jakąś dumę, że spokojnie leży;
A nad nim ziemia poruszona grzmiała
20
I unosiły się duchy rycerzy.
Trójca widm mój stos ogniem zapalała,
A ja czekałem, aż piorun uderzy;
Tak byłem pewny, że w owe rumiane
Grzmotem powietrze jak duch zmartwychwstanę.
IV
25
Już przybliżały straszne czarownice
Chwast zapalony i suche piołuny[3]
I moje blade oświeciwszy lice,
Wrzeszcząc, posępne swe śpiewały runy;
Kiedy je trzasły aż trzy błyskawice
30
I trzy siarczane ogniste pioruny;
I tak strzaskały płomienie czerwone,
Żem je nie martwe sądził, lecz zniknione.
V
Wtenczas to dusza wystąpiła ze mnie
I o swe ciało już nie utroskana[4],
35
Ale za ciałem płacząca daremnie,
Cała poddana pod wyroki Pana;
W Styksie[5], w letejskiej wodzie[6] albo w Niemnie[7]
Gotowa tracić rzeczy ludzkich miana,
Poszła: — a wiedzą tylko Wniebowzięci,
40
Czym jest moc czucia! a strata pamięci!
VI
Tam, kędy[8] dusze jasne jak brylanty
Swe dobrowolne czyniły wybory,
Moc utrudzona biegiem Atalanty[9]
Szukała tylko szczęścia i pokory…
45
Orfeusz[10] między ptaki muzykanty
Szedł umęczony i na sercu chory;
A jam pomyślał, że mu śpiewem będzie
Składać i skrzydła rozszerzać łabędzie.
VII
Ulisses[11] poszedł w prostego oracza,
50
Aby odpocząć po swych wędrowaniach.
Tak ludziom Pan Bóg zmęczonym wybacza!
I odpoczywać daje w zmartwychwstaniach!
Niech wyniszczony pracą nie rozpacza,
Że mu na ogniach braknie i błyskaniach,
55
Ani też myśli, że jest upominek
Dla ducha większy jaki — nad spoczynek.
VIII
Ja sam z harmonią obeznany młodą,
Własnego ciała nie chciałem odmiany.
I siadłem smutny nad letejską wodą,
60
Nie usta moje myjąc, ale rany.
Odtąd już nigdy nad cielesną szkodą
Nie płakał mój duch z ciała rozebrany,
Ani za wielką sobie brał wymowę
Otwierać tych ran usta purpurowe.
IX
65
Wszakże letejską przykładając wodę
Do ran — by pamięć boleści straciły,
Niejedną poniósł na pamięci szkodę,
Niejeden obraz stracił senny, miły.
Jutrzenek greckich różaną pogodę
70
Duchy mu nagle ręką zasłoniły,
A pokazały — jako świt daleki,
Umiłowaną odtąd — i na wieki!
X
Ani gwiaździce, co się w morzach palą,
A mają w świetle tęczowe kolory
75
I są gwiazdami w ciemnicy pod falą
Tak błyszczącymi, że mórz dziwotwory,
Delfiny w morzu swoje łuski skalą
I obchodzą je cicho jak upiory;
A płynąć wierzchem nad nimi nie śmieją,
80
Tak mocno w morzu te gwiazdy jaśnieją!
XI
Ani tych gwiaździc jasność tajemnicza
Tak nie przeraża owe pierwopłody,
Jak piękność, którąm ja poznał[12] z oblicza
We mgłach letejskiej zapomnienia wody.
85
Nad nią dźwięk, duchów girlanda słowicza;
Pod nią, jakoby złote zejścia schody
Na świat daleki i zamglony wiodły,
Na kwiatki jasne pod ciemnymi jodły.

forgot pic, handsome tho, i would definitely blow him

I hear Myśliwski's Stone Upon Stone is good.

Juliusz Słowacki lubił wacki :DDDDDDDDD