About this title: Here are two major works by the famed Polish novelist and dramatist Witold Gombrowicz. The first, Cosmos, a metaphysical thriller, revolves around an absurd investigation. It is set in provincial Poland and narrated by a seedy, pathetic, and witty student, who is charming and appalling by turns, and whose voice is dense with the richly palpable description that characterizes Gombrowicz's writing. The second, Pornografia, explores the sinister effect the young can have on the old. To serve their own secret eroticism, two aging intellectuals encourage a young couple to commit murder. Although ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grove Press
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780802151599ISBN:0802151590
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like Walser (first sentence is "But let me tell you about another, curious adventure" like Topor in The Tenant a little bit like Hell by Barbusse a littler bit or maybe much more"
"Both Cosmos and Pornografia start with a storyteller's "once upon a time" and feature the author-as-narrator stumbling to make sense of a reality clouded by obsession. In Cosmos, the narrative gluts with repetitive associations, hinged around hanging dead animals and a convergence of women's mouths in an enjoyably mystery that disappointingly never takes off. In Pornographia, the narrator's voyeuristic fixation on eking erotic experience from innocence is told with a pitching and doomed hysteria that is all the more enjoyable for achieving fruition.
Already similar, both novels also have character doubles of the narrator, but Pornographia's has balls and moves the narrative admirably, while the double in Cosmos rather resembles one of the buttered radishes the characters forever consume. If you pick this up, be aware that the text is a translation of a translation from Gombrowicz's Polish and read the second one first.
(Since Cosmos and Pornografia are essentially two novels, I allow myself to expand my usual three-sentence reviews to a liberal six.)"
"so far i've finished Cosmos. Taking a little break now. This was possibly the most disturbing story I've ever read. Not so much a mystery, not so much a story, sort of a step by step detailed description of how mediocrity can easily lead to insanity. kind of upsetting in a way, but with some really incredible moments."
"Witold Gombrowicz is one fantastic writer. He takes us to places we know exist, but try to avoid. Cosmos is the world rolled up into a stain on the ceiling, a spot on the floor. His lively imagination and acerbic style make him a Kafka with a sense of humor."
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