> A bit off-topic, but one great Polish writer

I'll pipe up for another, the dazzlingly imaginative Bruno Schulz. His work is half an evocation of his family's life in a small early 20th-century Polish city, and half cosmic and out-there. He's like a Polish Kafka, but more whimsical, less austere. He haunts his own writing like a ghost because of his shocking death and the fact that his major work was lost. This adds poignancy to reading him that wouldn't otherwise be there, like a painting that was damaged in a way that became part of the art and made it a different whole.

Two other Polish modernists that I've been meaning for years to read are Gombrowicz (Ferdydurke) and Witkiewicz (Insatiability). Both are said to be fabulous.

Gombrowicz is a genius. It's nice to see him mentioned since we just had a Borges thread, and the two were the greatest living authors in Argentina for years.

There's a recent translation of Ferdydurke that's supposed to be good. Be careful not to get the earlier translation, which was translated indirectly from a French intermediate and really doesn't have much to do with the original as a result.

Gombrowicz was a genius, indeed, and I cannot recommend his books strongly enough. However, honestly, I think that a good translation of his books is something extremely hard to do, and I am not too sure if possible at all. For me a hugely important aspect of his writings is a creative attitude to the Polish language, he was playing with it (and at times, forgive me, taking a piss of it) like no one else. I just cannot imagine how this can be translated to a different language. But it's not the only aspect of his works and I believe his dramas were successful not only in Poland.

Gombrowicz's diaries are a classic of contemporary literature and testament to the man's genius (and temperament!). Strongly recommended to anyone who wants an ambitious, but rewarding read.

+1 to Gombrowicz (Ferdydurke). I've never read it but I watched a theatre play. Trans-Atlantyk (also from Gombrowicz) is also a very good read.

Sometimes it also mixes objectivity with just making stuff up, which was heartbreaking to discover.

It's the fiction part..

Yeah, in the style of Mike Daisey

Well, I would strongly agree with the Kapuściński recommendation, but while we're going off-topic with great Polish writers, let me suggest that readers re-visit Joseph Conrad.

Re-reading Heart of Darkness as an adult was a totally different experience from the forced read of it as a child.

I also really enjoyed Conrad's Nostromo, a true masterpiece.