1. I’m having difficulty describing the narrative structure of this book. The best I could come up with is it’s like patterns of lace laid one atop the other; an infinity of trajectories.
2. This book concerns all manner of travel, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
3. I can read Polish and work on translated texts every day, so I can say with some authority that this is an excellent translation by Jennifer Croft. She’s managed to hammer the often tricky word order into a seamless, smooth English.
4. Girl Power!
5. When I was in college one of the presses I read on the regular was Vintage. I could even be heard to expound that they had never printed a bad book and while that is obviously not true I would not hesitate to sing Fitzcarraldo’s praises. They have one of the most consistently interesting catalogues around and a design sense that would make even the most Monocle of men weep bitter tears of jealousy.
6. When it comes to Polish cuisine soup is the one thing that doesn’t get enough attention. Whether it is zupa ogórkowa, kapuśniak, or żurek – they are tops in winter.
7. Croft has another book slated to come out in the fall of this year from Fitzcarraldo. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled on the blog [which is a damn fine read in its own right].
8. If you are going to take a long trip I’d suggest this concert as musical accompaniment.
9. For those of you interested in the art of translation, here is an interview with Ms. Croft
10. Now you see me, now you don’t.
11. Spoor (Pokot) is a film based on one of Ms. Tokarczuk’s novels and directed by Agnieszka Holland.
12. Check out this interview with Ms. Tokarczuk

12.5 buy here