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Diary

By Witold Gombrowicz
Series: The Margellos World Republic of Letters
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Diary is the singular volume collecting Witold Gombrowicz’s acclaimed personal writings, spanning from his departure from Poland to his final days in France. More than a conventional journal, it is an intellectual odyssey through essays, polemics, and candid reflections on life, art, politics, and mortality. Beginning with a famously stark entry capturing the self's constancy amidst upheaval, the diary reveals Gombrowicz’s restless, brilliant mind as he confronted exile, identity, and existence.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This edition will appeal to readers interested in literary journals, Polish literature, modernist thought, and personal philosophical inquiry. Ideal for scholars, students of exile literature, and those drawn to reflective, non-traditional memoirs.

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A single-volume edition of Diary, Gombrowicz’s acclaimed masterpiece, now with previously unpublished pages restored

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A single-volume edition of Diary, Gombrowicz’s acclaimed masterpiece, now with previously unpublished pages restored.

Just before the outbreak of World War II, young Witold Gombrowicz left his home in Poland and set sail for South America. In 1953, still living as an expatriate in Argentina, he began his Diary with one of literature’s most memorable openings:

“Monday
Me.
Tuesday
Me.
Wednesday
Me.
Thursday
Me.”

Gombrowicz’s Diary grew into a vast collection of essays, short notes, polemics, and confessions on myriad subjects—from political events to literature to the certainty of death. Not a traditional journal, Diary is instead the commentary of a brilliant and restless mind. Widely regarded as a masterpiece, this brilliant work compelled Gombrowicz’s attention for a decade and a half until he penned his final entry in France, shortly before his death in 1969.

Long out of print in English, Diary is now presented in a convenient single volume featuring a new preface by Rita Gombrowicz, the author’s widow and literary executor. This edition also includes ten previously unpublished pages from the 1969 portion of the diary.

Series: The Margellos World Republic of Letters

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics have lauded Diary for its spontaneity and profundity, with John Bayley calling it "even more rewarding" than Gombrowicz’s novel Ferdydurke, and John Banville asserting Gombrowicz’s greatness lies within it. Ruth Franklin praised the English edition as a "heroic translation" that presents the work as a coherent whole, while Czeslaw Milosz conveyed joy in witnessing Gombrowicz’s intense personality gain recognition. The Washington Post highlighted the diary as essential to understanding a remarkable life.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780300118063

Publisher: Yale University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 19 June 2012

Country: United States

Imprint: Yale University Press

Contributors:

  • Translated by Lillian Vallee

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 51.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 798g

Pages: 800

Collections

Arts & Culture Biography & Memoir Journals Non-Fiction Series: The Margellos World Republic of Letters Stationery Witold Gombrowicz

About the Author

Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969) was a Polish-born writer of novels, short stories, and plays. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages. Lillian Vallee, an instructor at Modesto Junior College, is an award-winning translator of literature from the Polish.

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