Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $2.14, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $2.14, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $2.14, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $2.14, fair condition, Sold by Open Books Ltd rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Chicago, IL, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
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Fair. Contains some, or all, of the following: highlights, notes, and underlining. Ex-library book with usual stamps and stickers. Open Books is a nonprofit social venture that provides literacy experiences for thousands of readers each year through inspiring programs and creative capitalization of books.
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $4.50, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 (Witold Gombrowicz Diary) to cart. $5.00, good condition, Sold by HPB-Red rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
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Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used textbooks may not include companion materials such as access codes, etc. May have some wear or writing/highlighting. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $5.26, like new condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $7.19, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Diary Volume 1 to cart. $10.00, very good condition, Sold by Bedrock Books & Art rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Helena, MT, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Northwestern University Press.
The retired literature professor who recommended the Diaries to me commented that they may be superior to any of Gombrowicz' fictional accomplishments. Certainly it's hard to imagine a novel or play of equal scope, or more provocative than these ruminations on culture, society, art, existence, and history, to name some principal themes. I confess I'm only halfway through Volume I and have found it so dense, provocative and wise that if the rest were total bilge I would consider it a wonderful find.
To call Gombrowicz' observations and reflections "ruminations" is to reflect their seeming off-handedness but not their cogency or profundity. I have encountered no other writer of equal penetration, eloquence or insight on these subjects; in fact, in my experience, no one writer has Gombrowicz' compass. One would have to tether together Santayana, George Steiner, William Irwin Thompson, Aldous Huxley, Ad Reinhardt, Wallace Stevens, Agnes Martin and any number of other diarists and intellectuals to create even a straw man for comparison. This is dense thought, beautifully expressed (even in what is supposedly a bad translation!), but never so abstract as to lose the personality of the author. I confess I've underlined or flagged three or four passages on practically every page, remarkable enthusiasm in a student but even moreso in a sixty-something artist like myself.
Gombrowicz is equally effective describing his life in exile in Argentina, the Argentines, the cities and countryside, and sprinkles observations on the minutæ of his everyday life that are equally winning. When he reviews the work of a fellow Pole or discusses the literary politics of Polish exiles, his insights are accessible and worthwhile even to those of us a hemisphere and half-century away. It seems criminal that this singular work is out of print, and subsequent volumes of the Diary remaindered or rare, but Gombrowicz himself foresaw this when he noted the publishers who view books as "product" that need "promotion" to affect the "bottom line." Our current, benighted scene would sadden but not surprise him.
