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General Piesc or, The Case of the Forgotten Mission
Paperback in good condition. Covers are lightly marked, scored and worn. Pages are clean and text is clear throughout. HCW
56 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 1976
About the author
Stefan Themerson
49 books35 followersStefan Themerson was a Polish, later British poet, novelist, film-maker, composer and philosopher.
Stefan Themerson was born in Plock (Poland) in 1910, the son of a doctor. He studied physics at the University of Warsaw and architecture at the Warsaw Polytechnic. In his twenties, Stefan became well-known in Poland as an author of children’s books.
Stefan got married in 1931 to Franciszka. Between 1931 and 1937, the Themersons made several experimental films and Stefan invented new techniques for photograms. 'Adventures of a Good Citizen' (1937) was the fifth and the last of their pre-war films and the only one that has survived.
The Themersons played a major role in the history of independent, experimental and pre-war cinema in Poland, their significance for the development of the Polish avant-garde film is enormous.
The Themersons moved to Paris in 1937, to be at the heart of the art world. Two days after the start of the Second World War Stefan and Franciszka volunteered for the Polish army. In 1940 Franciszka escaped by moving to London. Stefan served in the Polish army in France, ending up in a Polish Red Cross hostel in Voiron, 1940-42.
At this time Stefan wrote his first novel, Professor Mmaa’s Lecture. After two years of separation Stefan and Franciszka were reunited in London in 1942. They made two more films, 1942-44.
In 1948 the Themersons founded a publishing house: the Gaberbocchus Press. In 31 years they published over sixty titles, including works by Alfred Jarry, Kurt Schwitters and Bertrand Russell.
In 1953 Stefan’s Professor Mmaa’s Lecture was first published. It is still a classic in Poland.
Through the 60s and 70s, Stefan’s books were published by Gaberbocchus Press, for example philosophical novels, children’s books, poetry, essays and a libretto and music for an opera.
His books have been translated in eight languages.
He invented 'semantic poetry' which first appeared in his novel Bayamus (1949). It is a sort of poetry that prefers the matter-of-fact meanings of words in dictionary definitions to the romantic euphemism of poetic conventions.
Ethics, language, freedom, human dignity and the importance of good manners are the topics Stefan wrote about most.
His novels range from elaborate allegories to satirical thrillers. The humanitarian philosophy that underpins them all was crystallised in The Chair of Decency, a talk given as the Huizinga lecture in Leyden in 1981. It contrasted the innate sense of good with which man is born, with the impassioned pursuit of belief and causes by which he is subsequently deluded.
Stefan Themerson was born in Plock (Poland) in 1910, the son of a doctor. He studied physics at the University of Warsaw and architecture at the Warsaw Polytechnic. In his twenties, Stefan became well-known in Poland as an author of children’s books.
Stefan got married in 1931 to Franciszka. Between 1931 and 1937, the Themersons made several experimental films and Stefan invented new techniques for photograms. 'Adventures of a Good Citizen' (1937) was the fifth and the last of their pre-war films and the only one that has survived.
The Themersons played a major role in the history of independent, experimental and pre-war cinema in Poland, their significance for the development of the Polish avant-garde film is enormous.
The Themersons moved to Paris in 1937, to be at the heart of the art world. Two days after the start of the Second World War Stefan and Franciszka volunteered for the Polish army. In 1940 Franciszka escaped by moving to London. Stefan served in the Polish army in France, ending up in a Polish Red Cross hostel in Voiron, 1940-42.
At this time Stefan wrote his first novel, Professor Mmaa’s Lecture. After two years of separation Stefan and Franciszka were reunited in London in 1942. They made two more films, 1942-44.
In 1948 the Themersons founded a publishing house: the Gaberbocchus Press. In 31 years they published over sixty titles, including works by Alfred Jarry, Kurt Schwitters and Bertrand Russell.
In 1953 Stefan’s Professor Mmaa’s Lecture was first published. It is still a classic in Poland.
Through the 60s and 70s, Stefan’s books were published by Gaberbocchus Press, for example philosophical novels, children’s books, poetry, essays and a libretto and music for an opera.
His books have been translated in eight languages.
He invented 'semantic poetry' which first appeared in his novel Bayamus (1949). It is a sort of poetry that prefers the matter-of-fact meanings of words in dictionary definitions to the romantic euphemism of poetic conventions.
Ethics, language, freedom, human dignity and the importance of good manners are the topics Stefan wrote about most.
His novels range from elaborate allegories to satirical thrillers. The humanitarian philosophy that underpins them all was crystallised in The Chair of Decency, a talk given as the Huizinga lecture in Leyden in 1981. It contrasted the innate sense of good with which man is born, with the impassioned pursuit of belief and causes by which he is subsequently deluded.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 7, 2013
Stefan Themerson was a Polish-British writer who formed the irresistibly titled Gaberbocchus Press in 1948 with his wife, illustrator Franciszka. Still alive to this day (under a German house), the press publishes a range of poetry and kids’ books and curious fiction from unknowns and some-knowns. Themerson’s work was revivified by Dalkey Archive in recent years, with the exception of curios like this, a surreal pseudo-mystery tale of General Piesc’s fatal career amnesia. Hardly a career-defining work, it amuses highly and this passage is stellar: “The Greek males thought geometry was the thing. Dr. Zamenhof thought Esperanto was the thing. Jesus Christ thought love was the thing. Karl Marx thought the dialectical loaf of bread was the thing. And geometry produced bazookas, and polyglotism produced more quarrels, and love produced hatred, and two loaves of bread produced greed. And none of those great things has proved to be more (what is the right word?) efficacious(?) than what I, in my female way, would like to call ‘good manners.’ Good manners are the basic principle of Evolution. Because only those animals survive whose mothers don’t eat their children. And in this hungry world of cells devouring each other, not eating your own children is already good manners. You may call the fact: DECENCY.”
May 2, 2020
Unique writer - not his best book but it's Themerson so...
January 13, 2021
Charmant klein verhaaltje waarin we kennis maken met generaal Piesc en zijn familie, die in andere boeken van Themerson ook optreden. Het soort boek waarvan je je afvraagt of je wel begrijpt wat de bedoeling is. Mooi bedachtzaam opgeschreven en mooi vertaald.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews