Jan Karski is a hero not just for our times but for all times, says Irene Tomaszewski as she recalls her first meeting with the modest hero. He represents the best in humanity and the collective will of a nation that would not submit.
Michał Kasprzak’s brilliant review cuts to the essence of The Auschwitz Volunteer.
Meeting a heroine from the “generation of ‘44” is a privilege. Fortunately, Aleksandra Ziółkowska-Boehm kept a record of her friendship with one of the Warsaw Uprising’s great women.
When the ideology is stripped away, say reviewer Joanna Szupinska about Wiesław Myśliwski’s Stone Upon Stone, all that is left is love for life and respect for the earth. Could one ask for anything more?
The fickle affections of the Great Powers are well known in history. Thomas McLean’s The Other East looks at this unreliable relationship from a literary perspective. Reviewed by Lukasz Wodzynski.
Rome’s Most Faithful Daughter led astray? Neal Pease reviews Mikołaj Kunicki’s book about the politics of Bolesław Piasecki.
In this review of Aga Maksimowska’s Giant, Andrew Borkowski, whose Copernicus Avenue won the 2012 Toronto Book Award, may well be giving us a glimpse of next year’s winner.
The longtime director of PIASA, Thaddeus Gromada, is a proud góral, as this book about Poland’s highlanders, reviewed by Anna Jaroszynska-Kirchmann, clearly shows. And take a look at his jump over the ciupaga. This is no armchair góral.
James Conroyd Martin’s very popular Polish trilogy is now complete. Martin has a genuine fondness for his characters, says reviewer Maureen Mroczek Morris, as does the reader.
Halik Kochanski’s The Eagle Unbowed took western scholars and media by storm, garnering rave reviews. Mikolaj Kunicki of Notre Dame University weighs in with his thoughts.
There are some things that Poles have always known, but Western readers are only now finding out. Anne Applebaum’s book, Iron Curtain, suggests Piotr Wróbel, makes people think and ask questions. About time.
A grainy lens, drab colours, grim content, and yet, “Róża is one of the prettiest films I’ve seen in some time,” says reviewer Jodi Greig. It’s the award-winning genius of director Wojciech Smarzowski.
Where is Szymborska going?
Benjamin Paloff suggests that she is, in fact, staying; she has a lasting place in our literature, her poems have that special quality that enables them to unfold into variations of themselves.
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