Ferdydurke (Margellos World Republic of Letters)

"ferdydurke" is a unique satirical novel, a comedy of ideas, an innovation in style and a ransacking of novelistic conventions on par with "jacques the fatalist" or "tristram shandy". it's also weightier than its landscape of juvenile nonsense suggests. the core theme is the "mug", a person's definite identity and role in society, and how this is "kneaded" out of the struggle between inner and outer, immaturity and maturity, class and wealth, youth and age; mug is shaped by the imperatives of what microsociologists call impression management, and is deformed by the "grimace" or inappropriate countenance, the primal form of rebellion. these tensions take on the form of the "pupa" which is "fixed" on each person by pedantic schooling and oppressive convention generally. "ferdydurke" plays maniacally with the duality of power: about the requirement to conform, to do as your told or do as you're expected to do and the infantilizing effect this has on social relationships and human nature. it's also about innovation and creative change, or as gombrowicz described it, the awkward struggle to "find a form for what is yet immature, uncrystallized and underdeveloped." from opposite sides, oppression and creativity create the same battle lines in human nature. all this sounds dry but it is displayed across a variety of comedic eruptions and some laugh out loud turns of phrase. yet the extended chapter "preface to 'the child runs deep in filidor'" is a manifesto that merits careful reading. gombrowicz's style is both deeply angry and provocatively feisty in its analysis of trivial social interactions. it is too much to say gombrowicz had a "system," but the richness of his metaphors, symbols and comic encounters makes for a complexity unusual in a satirical novel -- even an ironic one. apparently the translator preferred the word "tush" to render "pupa" (bottom, buttocks) but was deflected by her editor and a reviewer. the problem is that this polish term is used affectionately by mothers toward their children and by adults as a derogatory term of belittlement or aggression ("dealing someone the pupa"). it captures the dual aspects of nurture and menace, the professed concern for citizen welfare and implicit threat of retribution for disobedience, that characterized the communist regime under which the book was written. borchardt would have done her work better service by delving these issues in her introduction. instead, she lists the many english synonyms for "pupa" while declaring it untranslatable. (a later speech, linked below, provides the background missing from the book's introduction.) despite that quibble, in this new (and first complete) translation into american english the mocking laughter of the book comes through brilliantly. http://www.corpse.org/archives/issue_5/critical_urgencies/borchar.htm

The world of Ferdydurke seems at first to be concocted out of equal parts of Kafka and Swift. There is the absurdity of Kakfa: events occur for no apparent reason, and the main character seems to be under some mysterious hypnotic spell. And there is the savage humor of Swift. Violent conflict erupts between the followers of two opposed and equally absurd and ridiculous systems of belief. But as the book progresses, it becomes clear that Gombrowicz has put his own special stamp on this world, and created a type of fiction that is totally unique. The plot line is simple: a man of about 30 years of age is abducted by a priggish professor and finds himself, for reasons unexplained, transformed into an adolescent schoolboy. The novel consists of the "adventures" of this anti-hero in the world of adolescence, which he views with both fascination and disgust, and from which he remains detached, and yet at the same time with which he becomes intensely involved. (Ferdydurke is above all else a novel of unresolved contradictions.) Although the narrator is subjected to all the humiliations of an adolescent schoolboy (patronized by adults, frustrated by hopeless desire for a girl who disdains him, etc.), he also retains an adult outlook. In fact, it may be said that he is the only character who is adult (in the psychological sense of being self-aware) and who struggles, not always with success, to remain sane. Part of the genius of the book is that the adults in it seem crazy from the narrator's perspective as a youth, and the adolescents seem crazy from the narrator's perspective as an adult. In spite of its simple plot, Ferdydurke bursts with a dazzling exuberance of incidents, contradictions, characters, and digressions. Readers who demand strict linear plot development in a novel should probably look elsewhere. Ferdydurke can be read at many levels. It is not surprising that a novel which features conflicts between two equally absurd systems should come out of 1930s Poland, beset as it was by two powerful opposed enemies, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Ferdydurke can also be read as an exploration of the fragility of the adult ego, of the fine line between "maturity" and "immaturity". The violent schoolboy quarrels which so fascinate and repel the narrator seem like absurdist, distorted parodies of very serious adult matters. And this novel is also about hidden, dark passageways in the human psyche. The narrator confesses to thoughts and behavior that most of us would never want to allow into the daylight of consciousness, much less to own up to. Ferdydurke is not a difficult read, but it is quite digressive and very different from what most English-speakers expect a novel to be. Until this new translation, the first directly into English, it was effectively unavailable. This book is not for everyone. But it is a fascinating read for those who are seeking a multi-faceted, complex, and uncompromising (one noted critic has called it "Nietzchean") exploration of what it means to be a "mature adult", and who are not looking for easy answers or Hollywood endings.

Read Gombrowicz's "Diary." I've read only Part 1 of that series, but I'm satisfied that it's a monument of 20th century writing and a work of great humanity. As to "Ferdydurke," it suffers from the same malady as "Candide," its avowed inspiration: rather thin in writing quality, uneven in its satiric force, too much of a polemic to be involving. "Candide" and its progenitors like "Gulliver's Travels" get their power from the truths they demonstrate, the persistence of the philosophic errors and solecisms they lampoon. (In Swift's case, I think his passion comes through and carries "Travels" to another level) By that token, many of Gombrowicz's targets are relics of the past (e.g., Polish culture's then-overemphasis on "adult" virtues, something nonexistent in our own youth-worshipping culture), as he himself later confessed. "Ferdydurke" is a modernist satire to be read by serious students of 20th c. European literature, but while its innovative form engages the intellect it doesn't go beyond to plumb any depths of human experience. I would submit there is simply not enough of Gombrowicz in this effort, or a too-young edition of the man. Great works of literature have always happily immersed me beyond my intellectual grasp, either to present me with a situation with too many parts to rationally connect or with an author too complex to safely encapsulate. And at the same time resonate with my own experience of the world. It could be that "Trans-Atlantik" accomplishes this; the "Diary" certainly does; but "Ferdydurke"--in spite of Sontag calling it a "masterpiece" and "wonderful" in her introduction--does not. That said, there is an analysis here of master-servant relations that made me very happy I'd read the book. Never mind the enforced goofiness and satirical extravagances throughout, there is a description in the second half of the book of relations between country squires and servants, between the traditional two classes, as nuanced and observant and analytically sound (absolutely convincing in its psychological penetration) as could be imagined. Not only was the description convincing as it related to centuries of ingrained attitudes, it went to, goes to, dominant/subordinant relations wherever they are found--and of course they are still found, democracies to the contrary notwithstanding. Nobody had brought it home to me before as effectively as Gombrowicz. The examination here is subtle enough as almost to throw his deft satire out of whack, as if he needed a bigger canvas with fewer self-imposed stylistic restrictions. The "Diary" was later to provide just such a canvas. Parenthetically, Gombrowicz himself would find it amusing that negative reviews here and elsewhere on Amazon, no matter how detailed and nuanced, always garner fewer numbers of "helpful" votes than the ecstatic ones ("8 of 29 people found the following review helpful"). Expectant readers want to have their hopes justified. Thus are greased the wheels of literary commerce.

This is a very odd book. I kind of liked it actually but couldn't, in good conscience, recommend it to anyone I know. Giving the author all the credit for originality.

You may well ask the above question, but you will never discover the answer, for there is no character, or thing, in this darkly comic masterpiece named Ferdydurke. It just appears to be some play on words, or a nonsense title to intrigue the potential reader. This book, written in Polish between the two world wars, is extremely capably translated, with a good use of slang and diminuitive terms which must have caused endless hours of trouble and frustration for the translator. It appears to be an indictment of the state of society as it existed in Poland in the 1930's, and may appear a bit dated since must of what is excoriated by the author no longer exists. There is particular emphasis upon the type of relationship which existed between the nobility (of a sort) and the peanant and serving classes. There is a lot about the threat of modernity in the country, and a great emphasis upon infantilism and immaturity. The work takes some getting used to by the reader, but read in the context of its time it is very well done, and should be read to be appreciated for what it has to say about the human condition.

This novel comes highly recommended by Milan Kundera, so all fans of his fiction (or that of Philip Roth, himself a Kundera fan), or Robert Musil, or Kafka, should enjoy it. Imagine a "Tristram Shandy"-like novel written after Heidegger and before Foucault: it's full of absurdist comedy, but concerns how institutions and social expectations shape and deform the individual. Intellectually deep, but still a page-turner.

Having tolerated, in my college years, the English translation of the French translation of the original Polish novel, I must say that reading this new direct translation into English was a sublime experience. I highly recommend this book to my intellectual and therapist friends/colleagues alike, for it highlights the common struggle between maturity and immaturity. It defuses most of the usual interpretations by those who are hopelessly married to a single interpretive theory. It also should be required reading for those folks "into" Queer Studies, as Gombrowicz, in this novel, wrestles with his own (later documented) homosexuality. In brief, this is one of the great unsung 20th-century novels.

Mann with Magic Mountain captured a middle class young professional torn between decency of a liberal arts humanists and a mix of commies and nazis. That was 1920ies. Gombrowicz predicted dictatorship of young consumers with naked celebs as instant gods. That was 1930ies. Who might be third for the past 20th century? My guess would be William Faulkner ex aequo with Thomas Pynchon as literary monuments to the American century 1945-....

Die Besprechung bezieht sich auf die englische Übersetzung - was ich prinzipiell von diesem Buch halte, steht hier: Ferdydurke Einem Ausnahmewerk wie Ferdydurke, das vermutlich als unübersetzbar zu gelten hat, dem man sich übersetzerisch nur annähern können wird, kann man sich durch die vergleichende Lektüre verschiedener Verdolmetschungen nähern. Sowohl die deutsche Übertragung von Walther Tiel als auch die englische von Danuta Borchardt weisen ein hohes Problembewusstsein auf. Beide Übersetzer haben es sich nicht leicht gemacht und beiden gelingt es wohl, die "Seele" des Werkes einzufangen. Die englische Version, die sowohl britisches als auch amerikanisches Englisch nutzt, treibt besser mit dem Sprachfluss, die deutsche widerstrebt oft dem deutschen Sprachsinn. Der unermessliche Reichtum der englischen Sprache an idiomatischen Floskeln lässt immer wieder kinderleicht erscheinen, wo die deutsche Variante gestakst wirkt. Umgekehrt scheinen dadurch philosophische Windungen wiederkehrend geglättet und ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob der englische Leser alle feinen Hintergedanken serviert bekommen kann. Die höhere grammatische Differenziertheit der deutschen Sprache, etwa wenn Tiel mit den verschiedenen Suffixen der Diminutive spielt, wo dem Englischsprachigen fast immer nur das attributive "little" zur Verfügung steht, lässt einfach mehr "Tiefe" zu. Allerdings kann man sich des Eindrucks nicht erwehren, dass Tiel mitunter ferdydurkistischer sein will als das Urstück - aber über all das kann letztlich nur der Originaltext entscheiden. Nachfolgend ein paar wenige Beispiele in willkürlicher Reihenfolge: - Borchardt nutzt das polnische unübersetzte "pupa" für den Zentralbegriff "Popo" - Jozio wird zu Joey - Mjentus heißt hier Kneadus, von "to knead", "kneten" - eine Bedeutung, die bei Tiel vollkommen verloren geht! - umgekehrt lässt Borchardt den Namen des Direktors Piórkowski unverändert, obwohl "piórko" "Feder" bedeutet, also Tiels "Federfuchser" sehr passend erscheint - der "Bauernbengel" ist "a farmhand", also Landarbeiter ohne bewertenden Impetus - "das Wörtchen 'ach', das irgendwie zu leben erlaubt!", heißt hier "indeed", wo vielleicht "alas" oder "oh", "ah" entsprechender wäre (gemessen am Deutschen) - Pimko ist im Deutschen ein "Pauker", im Englischen ein "prof" - Die wichtige Frage Jozios zu Ende des 2. Kapitels "Traum? Wirklichkeit?" lautet im Englischen vollkommen anders: "A dream? An apparition?" - also "Erscheinung", "Geist", genau das Gegenteil von Wirklichkeit - Syphon wird bei Tiel durch die Ohren "aufgeklärt", bei Borchardt "initiated" - sehr weit scheint sich Tiel mit der "Fresse" vorgewagt zu haben, die hier "a mug", vielleicht etwas abgeschwächter in englischen Ohren klingt: Visage; ebenso "Mienen" vs "faces" - mitunter grobe Abweichungen: "Da sprang Galkiewicz auf und stöhnte: 'Tralala, Mama! O Tante! Wie soll das denn entwickeln, wenn es nicht entwickelt?'" vs "At that moment Galkiewicz jumped to his feet and groaned: 'Evolution, shmolution! How can it develop anything when it develops nothing?'" - der folgende (nietzscheanisch-freudianische?) Zentralsatz ist entweder von Tiel durch Verwandlung in die dritte Person (neutrum) übersignifikant oder von Borchardt nicht korrekt erfasst worden: "Es glaubt in mir - es fühlt in mir - mir ist das so in den Kopf, so über die Lippen, so in die Feder gekommen." vs "Maybe I believe in it - maybe I feel it - I happened to say it, to do it, or to think it." Usw., der Beispiele gibt es viele! Die Differenzen addieren und subtrahieren sich einander, es entstehen zwei verschiedene Werke, die, wenn auch wohl nicht fundamental voneinander entfernt, doch andere Akzente setzen. Langer Rede kurzer Sinn: Man glaube nicht, durch eine einzige Übersetzung einem Text wie Ferdydurke so nah zu kommen, wie es notwendig wäre, um ihm vollkommen gerecht zu werden - also Mut zur Zweit- und Drittlektüre!

Llegó antes de lo que esperaba y en perfectas condiciones. Un gran libro tanto para el gusto personal como para regalar.

A conceit rather than a fantasy in which the 30-year old narrator hero is 'demoted' by a small-minded professor (and consequently by Polish society) to the status of a teenager. Returned to the impotence of the school yard and lodged with a 'modern' family, 'Joey' becomes a victim of his own self-consciousness. Seeing through adult stratagems while incapable of finding meaningful aspirations, he spins like a bug in an ocean current to the most expedient, shameful impulses - self-pitying, resentful, petty and above all voyeuristic. The original, 1937 success of 'Ferdydurke' presumably owed much to its ranging assault on Polish society, while its continued renown lies in Gombrowicz's verbal informalities that gives it claim to be associated with Joyce, Pessoa and Musil. This edition features a nobly painstaking translation by Danuta Borchardt who has opted for a deliberate 'American' usage that delivers up geo-specific words like 'bleachers', curiously dated slang ('What a gas'), and and neologisms like 'aerobics' (not popularly coined before 1968). Gombrowicz repeatedly uses two key terms in the book - 'mug' (as in 'face') and 'arse' - to describe two aspects of human behaviour. 'Mug' points to the public presentation that we try to manipulate but perhaps don't wholly own; while 'arse' suggests the tender, pampered self that is inveterately vulnerable and (from parental attentions to school yard abuse and ever onwards) always subject to social control. Borchardt uses the word 'mug', but feels that 'arse' (or any of its many synonyms) is insufficiently distinctive to carry Gombrowicz's intentions - and so opts to leave the Polish word 'pupa' unchanged. Unfortunately 'pupa' has a wholly different connotation in English whose association with adolescence is confusingly inappropriate. The book is subsequently skewed in a way that recalls the first translator of Freud, who chose to use the latin word 'ego' instead of Freud's deliberately informal 'I' - and spawned an academic industry as a result. 'Ferdydurke' is a rare and sporadically rewarding book, 'an epic in defence of immaturity' as Susan Sontag rightly says in her introduction... but the clatter of pompous academic praise that adorns its jacket is tellingly ironic; and you puzzle over John Updike's description of 'one of the funniest literary satires in print' when at no point do you actually laugh.

I'd been told to read this for so many years that when I did I kind of looked up and said 'huh?'

Clearly a masterpiece of the xxth century. Caught the dynamics of cultural forms and existential immaturity of mankind. Dry mock type sense of humor, thrown against the background of fairly traumatic history. Somehow Sontag lived in a world he foresaw with agusto