''Cosmos'' is a 1965 novel by the Polish author

Witold Gombrowicz Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 – July 24, 1969) was a Polish writer and playwright. His works are characterised by deep psychological analysis, a certain sense of paradox and absurd, anti-nationalist flavor. In 1937 he published his ...

. The narrative revolves around two young men who seek the solitude of the country; their peace is disturbed when a set of random occurrences suggest to their susceptible minds a pattern with sinister meanings. The humour arises, as it often does in Gombrowicz's work, in the extremity of paranoia and confusion exhibited by the protagonist. Themes appearing in this work that are also common in the author's oeuvre are the search for form and meaning in a chaotic existence, and the fragile nature of the human mind. The novel was awarded the 1967 International Prize for Literature. The 1967 English translation was from the French and German translations, rather than the Polish original. In 2004,

Danuta Borchardt Danuta is a Polish given name. Women named Danuta include: *Danuta Bartoszek (born 1961), former long-distance runner for Canada *Danuta Bułkowska (born 1959), former Polish champion in high jumping * Danuta Dmowska (born 1982), Polish fencer an ...

received a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

grant to enable her to prepare a revised translation directly from the Polish, a translation published by

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day, and became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and operationally autonomous. , Yale Universi ...

in 2005, and praised for its better renderings of Gombrowicz's complex language.

Film

A film adaptation with the same title directed by

Andrzej Żuławski Andrzej Żuławski (; 22 November 1940 – 17 February 2016) was a Polish film director and writer. Żuławski often went against mainstream commercialism in his films, and enjoyed success mostly with European art-house audiences. In the late 1 ...

won the Best Director award at the 68th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in 2015.

Characters

*Witold – the narrator, who's had undefined troubles with his parents back in Warsaw *Fuks – his "carroty" "fish-like" companion, escaping his oppressive work environment and his boss, Drozdowski, who for unknown reasons can't stand him *Leon Wojtys – retired banker and ''pater familias''; the family live on the outskirts of

Zakopane Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been ...

, after moving from

Drohobych Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a city of regional significance in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban h ...

, then

Pułtusk Pułtusk (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in ...

, then Kielce *Mrs. Wojtys, or "Roly-Poly" – his wife, from a slightly lower social class than her husband's *Lena – their daughter, a teacher of foreign languages *Ludwik – their son-in-law (he married Lena two months before the events in the novel), architect *Katasia – Mrs. Wojtys's niece (from a peasant family in

Grójec Grójec is a town in Poland, located in the Masovian Voivodeship, about south of Warsaw. It is the capital of the urban-rural administrative district Grójec and Grójec County. It has 16,674 inhabitants (2017). Grójec surroundings are consid ...

) and housekeeper, whose deformed upper lip is the result of an accident *Lulu and Lukie, Tolo and Venomie Tolek- two newly married couples who accompany the rest on a trip to the country

References

1965 novels Polish novels adapted into films Polish novels Works by Witold Gombrowicz Novels by Witold Gombrowicz 20th-century Polish novels {{Poland-stub