Moving House & Other Stories [Paperback]

Pawel Huelle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1996

A collection of "intensely lyrical" stories set in postwar Poland. Mingling the miraculous and the mundane, these poignantly beautiful stories are quiet but powerful journeys of the spirit. Translated by Michael Kandel. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book. Harvest in Translation series

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Polish writer Huelle presents a collection of short stories mixing mythological and supernatural elements with probings into coming of age in postwar Poland.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Each of these seven short stories by Polish author Huelle (Who Was David Weiser?, LJ 1/92) bears a touch of magic born of childhood, mystery, or imagination. In the title story, a young boy pays a forbidden visit to a German neighbor lady whose beautiful music bewitches him. In another story, the mystery of death and the magic of the natural world are viewed through a miraculous congregation of snails. An angel walks the beach and disappears into the waves each night, distressing an all-too-human sentry. A boy shares his grandfather's encounter with a Jewish fisherman whose advice results in an extraordinary catch. These quietly powerful stories are dusted with fancy and fantasy. Beautifully written and translated, they are recommended for all collections of international fiction.
--Ruth M. Ross, Olympic Coll. Lib., Bremerton, Wash.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (February 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156002515
• ISBN-13: 978-0156002516
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,917,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Huelle projects the political onto the fantastic, November 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Moving House & Other Stories (Paperback)

In Pawel Huelle's book of short stories, Moving House, the reader finds the Polish characters experiencing odd and often fantastic happenings in their lives in an often playful manner. However, when one examines Polish history in the 20th century, these strange incidents take on a new, often tragic, meaning.

Huelle comes from a country where borders have shifted, and the land and people have been occupied by both their 'aggressor' (Germany) and their 'saviour' (Russia). In this dizzying political climate, those who were your friends one day would be enemies the next. Collective identity is more important than individual; therefore, a German or Russian becomes threatening, due to the history of occupation. Nothing is stable, or dependable in this situation; and Huelle has created a fine book of stories which reflect a Polish viewpoint of imaginative, fantastic literature.

In the story "Table", a Polish family under Communism needs a new kitchen table. However, they cannot get a table like their old one, because that year, the Comrades building tables have decreed that tables must be triangular - which does not fit their room, or their settings. Seeking to find a woodworker who can (illegally) make them a proper table, they are at first successful, but run into problems, when the woodworker keeps delaying. He finally offers them a table - with the catch that it once belonged to a German officer. The main character's mother is furious, holding a deep-set hatred for the German people, and she wants no part of a table having belonged to one. This anger is not the only thing which comes with this furniture; the main character starts seeing a German ghost in the house. The story shows a family grappling with the very real effects of a Communist system and the memories of a Nazi occupation, all through a single piece of furniture.

A disappearing village is the mystery of "Uncle Heinrich," a story in which the main character and his Uncle go on a skiing trip and lose their way. Uncle Heinrich is an adventuresome man,given to encouraging his young nephew to forsake books and explore nature at its most rugged. On their excursion, they not only lose their way, but lose the map which has been guiding them. They come across a village where they find food and shelter until the storm is gone. The kindly villagers reveal some eccentric customs when Uncle Heinrich and nephew are called upon to act as outside judges to a town election, leaving them both with a threatened feeling. Years later, Uncle Heinrich writes his nephew, detailing his efforts to again find that village - but cannot, and cannot find any map with reference to the place. This story draws a correlation to the Baltic country of Lithuania, part of Poland before World War II, and made part of the USSR when borders were redrawn after the war. When one looks at the maps chronicling Poland's border shifts, one can see how entire areas seem to "disappear" into the USSR. The story underlines ethnic tensions between Lithuanians and Poles, as well as the uncertainty that comes with such an unstable boundary. Are those Poles who lived in Lithuania Polish or Lithuanian? Is this land the same as it was before the war? And after the fall of the USSR?

Probably the strongest piece is "In Dublin's Fair City," the final story in the book. It follows the main character as he visits Dublin, and remembers his grandfather who became an eccentric character in his old age. The narrator begins his visit in a Catholic Church, where his thoughts turn to his family, and how they survived under Communist regime. Throughout this piece, he thinks of his grandfather, who left his grandmother and lived far north in the country with another woman. But this isn't the whole story. When his grandfather dies, the narrator and his father must take the trip to retrieve the body, and find more than they expected; the grandfather was alone not to have an affair, but to build a submarine, with hopes of getting out of the country under the sea. The father and son push the submarine into the water, for if discovered, they know they will be punished as his family.

While these recollections surface, the narrator meets a young woman who accidentally hits him in her chips van, and takes him under her wing, to a party held by artists after.

The Irish in the story are all looking for a way out of their own lives, whether escaping their poverty through decadent parties, their loneliness through drink, or their very identities through play-acting. While he observes the surreal events unfolding around him, he reflects on his own grandfather's attempts to escape, and on his own - he is, after all, in a Western country.

Huelle makes a sound comparison between Ireland and Poland, for both were (and Northern Ireland contintues to be) colonized states well after most countries had become independent. The piece is richly layered, the mystery of the grandfather's activities being solved very gradually, so the reader shares in the narrator's triumph when he remembers it all, and makes the connection between his grandfather's secret and his bravery. And feels the sadness for a man who died before he could see his escape plans come true.

Moving House collects richly layered stories, intricate in their structure, complex in their theme, and beautifully written. This book is a must for those interested in Polish history and fiction, and those who take the time to read between the lines will be well rewarded.