Zapraszam - Blogusia uczy sie czytac po polsku

Another of my guest blogs.

http://www.transparent.com/polish/adventures-in-reading-po-polsku-a-guest-post/

I'll make an exception of writing in English here.

Chmielewska's books are "an easy and painless choice for a beginner Polish reader"... not. So I'm not surprised most of it fell flat - the whole concept of humour in Chmielewska relies heavily on two things: a very special way of describing things (in terms of style/register) and the situational humour (mainly in the PRL period books). Neither of which is anywhere near "easy" or "painless" for beginners. Personally, I found the concept of recommending Chmielewska somewhat similar to giving The Spectator/Guardian/Independent texts to intermediate learners of English and hoping they'll have some fun when deciphering the ironies. I made that mistake once. :-) Not only does the effort involved make it difficult to understand the text, it also obliterates all the fun from the experience.

A risky feat but one I could recommend for beginners who still want to get some "true Polish voice, soul (blah, blah, blah)." - try to find a decently written blog or some short stories. That should do for the "true" part. As far as larger chunks of literature are concerned - stick to something that also has an English version (you may want to satisfy both criteria at once by finding the rare Polish author who actually got translated into English).

During my recent trip to Poland, I tried getting a Polish copy of some of Lem's works (I enjoy reading sci-fi/fantasy). Not a copy to be found in the Empik. Disheartening really.

Thanks for your feedback. I appreciate the advice.
My reading has progressed to the point where I am beginning to enjoy reading books in Polish. I may try a few Polish blogs. Blogs tend to be short and snappy and dialogue rich.

I see you don't ease off your polish reading.:) Good.
Don't remember when I last read a decent polish book.

Lam wasn't available? Now THAT's weird. His books should still be lying around in every "kiosk". Well, maybe that's a tiny exaggeration, but a huge collection was released and sold via "kioski" and I remember seeing leftovers quite recently in a normal kiosk in the centre of Warsaw.

If I were to risk suggesting another translated author it would be Ryszard Kapuściński. Masterful documentaries form around the world, but the language is quite rich (not to say ornate), so he might prove rather difficult. And if s-f is your genre of choice there is Janusz Zajdel (a few of his books seem to have been translated) - quite known in Poland, though his books had a sharp political edge (against Communism obviously) so for a foreigner I guess they could have historical/curiosity shop value mostly.

> Blogs tend to be short and snappy and dialogue rich.

Just ask someone to check if they are also grammatically and stylistically more or less correct. :-)

BTW - for listening comprehension: http://www.polskieradio.pl/podcasting/show/?nr=10&name=trojka

* Lem obviously

"but a huge collection was released and sold via "kioski"

I was actually looking for this particular collection.
The Empik was a large 2-storey affair in a large mall near the Mokotow (Wawa). It was "sold out" and no copies were available. A family member was furious that the Empik was filled with "best sellers" from the West, but that a Polish author was not adequately stocked.
Sigh.

I'm no fan of Empik. My Polish-language bookstore of choice is actually an internet one (saves you time), but if I feel like physically buying anything, I just visit one of the smaller bookstores in the city centre. Next time you're in Poland first ask around for some other bookstores. Unless its Kozia Wólka there are bound to be some.

> A family member was furious that the Empik was filled with "best sellers" from the West, but that a Polish author was not adequately stocked. Sigh.

Normal in Poland. We're still choking on foreign books that people generally want to read AND that promise a safe income to the publisher. I have actually recently discovered that a book series published in the US in the sixties is still "fresh meat" here and not to be acquired as a whole because it hasn't been translated yet. If nothing has changed recently, foreign-origin books are printed in much larger quantities than Polish ones (if I tried really hard, I might even quite some numbers - had them on a "literature in translation" course).

* even quote (stupid habit of not reading my own posts before clicking "wyślij")

Nice chatting.
About to leave the office (my turn to cook dinner)
Zycze ci milego wieczoru.