Customer Reviews

Cosmos and Pornografia: Two Novels

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm joining the chorus of those asking for a direct translation. Let me quote the opening paragraph of the novel I translated from the original as a quick test:

"But let me tell you another, even more curious adventure...

Sweat, Fuks walks on, me behind him, trouser-legs, heels, sand, we plod on, plod on, earth, ruts, clod, glitter from glassy pebbles, glare, the heat buzzes, shimmering, everything black with sunlight, houses, fences, fields, woods, this road, this march, where from, how, it's a long story, to tell you the truth I was sick of my father and mother, my family in general, besides I wanted to do away with at least one exam, also to try a change, leave it all, live somewhere far away for a while. So I took off to Zakopane, I walk through Krupówki, think where the heck to get a cheap pension when I run into Fuks, his red-haired faded blond mug, protruding, his gaze pasted with apathy, but he was happy, and I was happy, how are you, what are you doing here, I'm looking for a room, so am I, I have an address - he said - of a small manor-house where it's cheaper as it's a long way out, almost bare countryside. So we walk, trouser-legs, heels in sand, the road and the heat, I look down, earth and sand, the pebbles sparkle, one, two, one, two, trouser-legs, heels, sweat, sleepiness in tired eyes from the train and nothing besides this pacing from down below. He stopped."

If you have the book handy you'll notice how the published English version breaks up Gombrowicz's long meandering sentences and how it flattens certain phrases ("gaze pasted with apathy" becomes "fishlike eyes") not to mention misspelling one of the main character's names. Another example, a short one this time:

"...how many times have I told her, Kata, don't be lazy, don't be afraid, go to the surgeon, get the operation done, get that appearance of yours regulated..."

becomes: "...how many times have I told her not to put it off any longer but to go and see the surgeon and have it done...".

These novels map internal states, tenors of mind, and they do so with courage, dramatising the internal by portraying fantastic events in the external world. 'Cosmos' focuses (obsessively) on a conjuction of paranoia and an irrational insistence for connections on the part of its young protagonist. 'Pornographia' shows elders living vicariously through the apetites of the young.
*
Both novels seem to satirise the basic premises of the bourgeois comedy of manners, being set in country households filled with characters respectful of middle-class ideals, only to unveil irrational psychological forces close by the surface. It is hard to imagine either novel being written without the author living through the horror of the Second World War - rationality itself and, more specifically, the veneration of tradition and culture are under attack - how can Gombrowicz have faith in such concepts when he has witnessed the unthinkable brutality initiated by so-called civilised, rational individuals, most notably by those inhabiting arguably the most civilised and rational of nations? Settings and presuppositions that functioned admirably in the work of Thomas Mann, or at least stumbled by in Chekov, now not only fail dismally, but engender a grotesque horror show.
*
Similar responses arose after the First World War, most persistently in the guise of surrealism. Their effects linger to this day - a suspicion of the merits of rationality still inhabits critical thinking, and few would subscribe to the idea that education and cultural refinement guarantee the moral and ethical worthiness of a person (thus we have the archetypal psychopath who listen to Beethoven as in 'A Clockwork Orange', and numerous other related examples inhabiting popular culture (the villains in James Bond movies, or even the Rickman character in 'Die Hard'). Gombrowicz lends his own unique voice to this chorus.
*
The literary style remains readable despite certain difficulties, possibly arising from translation. It is also very humorous, in the way that the Samuel Beckett of 'Watt' or 'Molloy' is humorous, and indeed Gombrowicz's assault on the mechanisms of rationality is reminiscent to that found in 'Watt'.
*
For me, these works appeal in the similar ways to those of Bruno Schulz, Stig Dagerman, Kafka, John Hawkes, Celine, and, as mentioned, Beckett, but beyond the similarities these novels are something special and inimitable. Hope this is something of a guide for what lies in store for you.

Pornographia and Cosmos are perhaps two of the most fascinating novels of the twentieth century, but I certainly agree with reviewers stating that the English translation does poor justice to the original. I strongly suggest the French translation by Gallimard, for people who can read French. Otherwise, patience is required until a better English translation arrives.

Cosmos and Pornografia are probably the best, and certainly the most exquisite and profound novels, written by this eminent Polish existentialist. However, it is most regrettable that these exceptional books were translated into English from French and German (Mosbacher and Hamilton)and, as such, have nothing, or almost nothing, in common with the Polish original versions. I hope I am not doing the translators much injustice by asserting that it is time for new translations by someone who knows Polish and can read and understand Gombrowicz in the original. This is the only way of making it possible for English and American readers to appreciate the genuine, authentic Gombrowicz, still very unknown to the English-speaking world.....

Cosmos and Pornografia are probably the best, and certainly the most exquisite and profound novels, written by this eminent Polish existentialist. However, it is most regrettable that these exceptional books were translated into English from French and German (Mosbacher and Hamilton)and, as such, have nothing, or almost nothing, in common with the Polish original versions. I hope I am not doing the translators much unjustice by asserting that it is time for new translations by someone who knows Polish and can read and understand Gombrowicz in the original. This is the only way of making it possible for English and American readers to appreciate the genuine, authentic Gombrowicz, still very unknown to the English-speaking world.....

'Cosmos', considered Gombrowicz's best novel, is an absurdist mystery in which the instinctive human search for order and meaning becomes the "culprit," just as it had in 'Pornografia'. Most of his writings, in fact, deal with the distorting power of Form over the human mind, the seductive allure of immaturity (formless yet imbued with the potential for form), and thus with the questions of identity and the possibility of relationship. His fiction hinges on moments in which the antithesis or incongruity of Form and reality becomes public and undeniable, and Gombrowicz is often as hilarious as he is revealing...this is worth the read!

Have you ever played the game "telephone," where you pass along a sentence from ear to ear until it returns to the first speaker in some horribly mutilated form? Well, that's kinda what happens when you translate a Polish novel from the French translation of it.

With the publication of "Cosmos" in an excellent direct translation by Danuta Borchardt and the soon to be released translation of Pornografia: A Novel, there is no conceivable reason to buy this particular edition of Gombrowicz's novels.

But don't get me wrong, the one star in this review is for the translation, but Gombrowicz's novels earn five stars.

A number of the reviewers here note that a new English translation of Cosmos would be most welcome. That translation is here and has been nominated (2006) for the National Translation Award given by the American Literary Translators Association. Danuta Borchardt, who translated Gombrowicz' Ferdydurke, has now translated Cosmos. Perhaps the novel's enthusiasts will find Borchardt's translation rewarding.

I'm a huge fan of Gombrowicz and think that both of these novels are excellent. However, this edition of Cosmos and Pornografia is translated from the French, which is in turn a translation from the original Polish. If something is always lost in translation, this is doubly so in this translation-of-a-translation of Gombrowicz's absurdist masterpieces. The good news is that both of these novels are now available separately in far superior editions translated directly from the Polish by Danuta Borchardt. If you really want a sense of Gombrowicz's endlessly inventive, deeply weird language, as well as the ever-shifting permutations of desire expressed therein, I strongly recommend the Borchardt translations. As for this edition, it served to make Gombrowicz available in English, but thanks to the newer versions translated directly from the original Polish, this one has become obsolete.

The modern, Polish intellect, such as Grombowicz possessed, has been shaped by a history fraught with conflict, irony, victory, defeat and ultimately sarcasm. These two novels by the author compactly and artfully express these intertwining sentiments with highbrow, comical detail and disingenuous style that borders on the absurd, similar to the writing of Tom Stoppard but with a more intense, Eastern European perspective. The protagonists are loathsome yet intriguing as they guide you through narratives filled with ironic details that seemingly compromise their own integrity. In other words, they apparently want to drop their pants without showing you their genitals. The style is very symbolic of modern Polish literature and film that borders on slapstick humor without sinking into a Three Stooges type of mindless entertainment. For centuries, it has always been a thin line for Polish people to walk since their country has been called "the cockpit of Europe" by the historian Norman Davies. The tension of Grombowicz's prose reflects this intellectual sensibility, resulting in a denouement of unexpected consequence and sarcastic pragmatism which is probably the reason Poland still exists as a country in the 21st century.