Beautiful Twentysomethings

Marek Hlasko

Published by Cornell University Press 2013

Beautiful Twentysomethings

Marek Hlasko
Translated by: Ross Ufberg
Preface by: Jaroslaw Anders

In the series NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501756801

Overview
Contents

About this book

Marek Hlasko's literary autobiography is a vivid, first-hand account of the life of a young writer in 1950s Poland and a fascinating portrait of the ultimately short-lived rebel generation. Told in a voice suffused with grit and morbid humor, Hlasko's memoir was a classic of its time. In it he recounts his adventures and misadventures, moving swiftly from one tale to the next. Like many writers of his time, Hlasko also worked in screen writing, and his memoir provides a glimpse into just how markedly the medium of film affected him from his very earliest writing days.

The memoir details his relationships with such giants of Polish culture as the filmmaker Roman Polanski and the novelist Jerzy Andrzejewski. Hlasko is the most prominent example of a writer who broke free from the Socialist-Realist formulae that dominated the literary scene in Poland since it fell under the influence of the Soviets. He made his literary debut in 1956 and immediately became a poster boy for Polish Literature. He subsequently worked at some of the most important newspapers and magazines for intellectual life in Warsaw. Hlasko was sent to Paris on an official mission in 1958, but when he published in an \u00e9migr\u00e9 Parisian press his novel of life in post-War Poland, he was denied a renewal of his passport. In effect, he was called back to Poland, and when he refused to return he was stripped of his Polish citizenship. He spent the rest of his life working in exile.

Marek Hlasko was a rebel whose writing and iconoclastic way of life became an inspiration to those of his generation and after. Here, in the first English translation of his literary memoir, Ross Ufberg deftly renders Hlasko's wry and passionate voice.

Author / Editor information

Ross Ufberg is the translator and editor, with Yakov Klots, of Memoir of a Gulag Actress, by Tamara Petkevich. He is a PhD Candidate in the Slavic Languages and Literatures Department at Columbia University. He is cofounder of New Vessel Press.

Jaroslaw Anders has written for The New Republic, The New York Review of Books, and other publications, and is the author of Between Fire and Sleep. He has translated several books from English into Polish and from Polish into English.

Reviews

Jaroslaw Anders, author of Between Fire and Sleep:

Ross Ufberg renders Hlasko's direct, often street-smart language-with its sometimes angry and sometimes lyrical tone-with dexterity and grace. His translation has the energy and 'flow' of the original and is highly readable.

Roman Polanski:

A self-taught writer with an uncanny gift for narrative and dialogue... [Hlasko was] a born rebel and troublemaker of immense charm.

The new translation of Beautiful Twentysomethings by Ross Ufberg gives justice to Hlasko's unique, yet still relatively unheard voice, and exquisitely preserves both the playfulness of his language and the bitterness of his insight.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
An Introduction to Marek Hfasko Jaroslaw Anders Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Ross Ufberg Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Beautiful Twentysomethings Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 232
Illustrations
- Other: 20 halftones
Keywords: Jerzy Andrzejewski; Roman Polanski; Polish fiction; Polish literature; Polish intellectual newspapers

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9781501756801