Amy's review
Ferdydurke by Witold Gombrowicz
Ferdydurke is a novel that often times just seems like sorta funny nonsense, and other times like a philosophical take on the importance of "immaturity" as fuel for creativity.
The premise of the story is that our protagonist is somehow regressed into a teenager (all though he still looks like a 30-year-old...everybody just seems to overlook that). In school his classmates debate over purity vs. vulgarity as the ultimate expression of immaturity. When he is forced to live with a family that includes a very beautiful schoolgirl we hear conversations dealing with modernity vs. old-fashioned values...to an absurd degree. And lastly we are confronted with a scene dealing with class issues as a friend of the protagonist desperately tries to "fraternize" with a farmhand/peasant.
Since this book was originally published in Poland during the 1930s, I think an American living past the year 2000 cannot possibly understand all of the references and cultural items that a...more
The premise of the story is that our protagonist is somehow regressed into a teenager (all though he still looks like a 30-year-old...everybody just seems to overlook that). In school his classmates debate over purity vs. vulgarity as the ultimate expression of immaturity. When he is forced to live with a family that includes a very beautiful schoolgirl we hear conversations dealing with modernity vs. old-fashioned values...to an absurd degree. And lastly we are confronted with a scene dealing with class issues as a friend of the protagonist desperately tries to "fraternize" with a farmhand/peasant.
Since this book was originally published in Poland during the 1930s, I think an American living past the year 2000 cannot possibly understand all of the references and cultural items that a...more
