The Great Polish Book Recs Post
@classic-literature-snob asked me for some Polish book recs, so here we go.
Polish books translated into English:
The Witcher Series by Andrzej Sapkowski (fantasy)
The Doll by Bolesław Prus (historical fiction: 19th century)
The Fictions/The Crocodile Street by Bruno Schulz (magic realism)
The Pianist by Władysław Szpilman (non-fiction: WWII; escaping from Warsaw Ghetto)
Who Was David Weiser? by Paweł Huelle (historical fiction: post-WWII)
On the Road to Babadag by Andrzej Stasiuk (contemporary)
A World Apart by Gustaw Herling-Grudziński (non-fiction: WWII; memories of a Gulag survivor)
Wedding by Stanisław Wyspiański (play; pretty heavy symbolism)
The Peasants by Władysław Reymont (historical fiction: late 19th century; Nobel prize winner)
The Shoemakers by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (play; magic realism)
Short stories by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (especially Friends & Lovers of Marona, if you can find those)
Like Eating a Stone by Wojciech Tochman (non-fiction; civil war in Bosnia)
Story For a Friend by Halina Poświatowska (kind of an autobiography)
Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz (historical fiction: Roman Empire; beginnings of Christianity; Nobel prize winner)
The Trilogy (With Fire and Sword, The Deluge & Sir Michael) by Henryk Sienkiewicz (historical fiction: 17th century; respectively: the Khmelnitsky Uprising, the Swedish invasion, also known as the Deluge & war against Ottoman Empire)
Solaris by Stanisław Lem (sci-fi)
The Stranger by Maria Kuncewiczowa (psychological)
Czesław Miłosz (poetry; Nobel prize winner)
Wisława Szymborska (poetry; Nobel prize winner)
Tadeusz Różewicz (poetry)
Zbigniew Herbert (poetry)
Books that haven’t been translated into English (yet):
Dobry by Waldemar Łysiak (historical fiction: PRL)
Taksim* by Andrzej Stasiuk (contemporary)
Drach* & Król by Szczepan Twardoch (historical fiction)
literally anything by Miron Białoszewski (mostly poetry and diaries)
Czterdzieści i cztery by Wojciech Piskorski (fantasy/historical fiction)
Gnój by Wojciech Kuczok (contemporary)
Najgorszy człowiek na świecie by Małgorzata Halber (contemporary)
Kobieta nie-doskonała by Sylwia Kubryńska (contemporary)
Inne pieśni by Jacek Dukaj (sci-fi)
Śmierć w Breslau by Marek Krajewski (crime story/historical fiction)
Jeżycjada by Małgorzata Musierowicz (contemporary, YA)
Tango by Sławomir Mrożek (play, contemporary)
Siekierezada by Edward Stachura (magic realism)
Akademia Pana Kleksa by Jan Brzechwa (kids lit)
Wakacje z duchami by Adam Bahdaj (YA; detective story)
Pan Samochodzik i templariusze and the rest of the series by Zbigniew Nienacki (YA; detective story)
Kamienie na szaniec (non-fiction: WWII)
*available in German
These are some of my favorites. Feel free to reblog and add yours!
