By Szczepan Twardoch
Translated by Sean Gasper Bye
Amazon Crossing; April 21, 2020
(Historical Fiction | 351 pp. | Hardcover: $24.95, ISBN#: 978-1542044462; Kindle: $5.99, ISBN#: 9781542044455; Paperback: $14.95, ISBN#: 978-1542044448)
Szczepan Twardoch is one of the most read and revered Polish novelists of his generation and now, for the first time, he will be published in English. THE KING OF WARSAW: A Novel (Amazon Crossing; April 21, 2020; $24.95) translated by Sean Gasper Bye is a brilliantly original novel that became a runaway bestseller when it was first published in Poland in late 2016.
“I’m excited for this novel to reach an American audience,” says Szczepan Twardoch. “Through this noir thriller, I try to get readers to confront history and think about issues that are hard to discuss. In this case, anti-Semitism in pre-World War II Poland. I’m also interested in complex ethnic identities, which come to play in the book as well. It had a great response in Poland and Europe, and I hope for the same in the U.S.”
“Once I read THE KING OF WARSAW,” says Sean Gasper Bye, “I knew immediately it was a book with great potential in the United States—on a topic many Americans are interested in, but from a completely new angle.”
It’s 1937. Poland is about to catch fire. For nearly twenty years, Poland has been independent after more than a century of foreign occupation. But that is about to change as Hitler’s power is rising, fascism is escalating, and his campaign is moving east. Warsaw is a city divided: Jew versus Christian, socialist versus nationalist, gang versus gang. In the boxing ring, Jakub Szapiro commands respect, revered as a hero by the Jewish community. Outside, he instills fear as he muscles through Warsaw as enforcer for a powerful crime lord. Murder and intimidation have their rewards. He revels in luxury, spends lavishly, and indulges in all the pleasures that barbarity offers. For a man battling to be king of the underworld, life is good. Especially when it’s a frightening time to be alive.
As the threat of violence hangs over Poland, its marginalized and vilified Jewish population hopes for a promise of sanctuary in Palestine. Jakub isn’t blind to the changing tide. What’s unimaginable to him is abandoning the city he feels destined to rule. With the raging instincts that guide him in the ring and on the streets, Jakub feels untouchable. He must maintain the order he knows—even as a new world order threatens to consume him.
THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
Twardoch delivered a dramatic and powerful narrative that was unique, highly ruthless and brutal about life in 1930's Poland. He tells a gripping tale of life in the streets of Warsaw where warring gangsters between the Jewish and the pro-fascist/anti-Semetic experienced violence as part of daily life and survival. The novel was a historical fiction with an element of psychological thriller vibe which made this book unputdownable for me.
Twardoch proved himself as a gifted storyteller through mesmerizing dialogue, creating a world full of ruthless characters that was delivered and told from the point of view from both a child witnessing harrowing violence to an older retired Israeli officer full of regrets remembering his past in a way that is both real and imagined. I felt the pain in the narrative on how violence affected people through the difference in not only their beliefs but also in their social classes and social standing within their community.
I found this book to be an addicting read which I enjoyed thoroughly.
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Szczepan Twardoch is the author of the bestselling novels Morphine, Drach, and The King of Warsaw. He is the recipient of numerous honors for his work, including the Brücke Berlin Preis, Le Prix du Livre Europeen, and Nike Literary Award: Audience Award. Rights to his novels have been sold in over a dozen countries. The King of Warsaw is the first of his books to be translated into English. A TV series based on the novel is being produced by Canal+. He lives in Pilchowice, Upper Silesia. For more information, visit www.szczepantwardoch.pl/en/home.
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR:
Sean Gasper Bye is a translater of Polish literature, including books by Lidia Ostałowska, Filip Springer, and Małgorzata Szejnert. A native of Bucks County, PA, he studied modern languages at University College London and international studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He spent 5 years as Literature and Humanities Curator at the Polish Cultural Institute New York. He is a winner of the Asymptote Close Approximations prize and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts translation fellowship.
No comments:
Post a Comment