• Stone Upon Stone
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Archipelago Books

Stone Upon Stone

Stone Upon Stone

by Wiesław Myśliwski, translated from the Polish by Bill Johnston

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A masterpiece of postwar Polish literature, Stone Upon Stone is Wiesław Myśliwski's grand epic in the rural tradition — a profound and irreverent stream of memory cutting through the rich and varied terrain of one man’s connection to the land, to his family and community, to women, to tradition, to God, to death, and to what it means to be alive. Wise and impetuous, plainspoken and compassionate Szymek, recalls his youth in their village, his time as a guerrilla soldier, as a wedding official, barber, policeman, lover, drinker, and caretaker for his invalid brother. Filled with interwoven stories and voices, by turns hilarious and moving, Szymek’s narrative exudes the profound wisdom of one who has suffered, yet who loves life to the very core.

Additional Book Information

Series: Archipelago Books
ISBN: 9780982624623
Pages: 500
Publication Date:

Praise

Joyously anchored in the physical world, steeped in storytelling, a delight from start to finish.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred

Sweeping . . . irreverent . . With winning candor . . . Pietruszka chronicles the modernization of rural Poland and celebrates the persistence of desire.
—The New Yorker

A marvel of narrative seduction, a rare double masterpiece of storytelling and translation. . . . Mysliwski's prose, replete with wit and an almost casual intensity, skips nimbly from one emotional register to the next, carrying dramatic force. . . . He manages tone so finely, orchestrating a perfect continuity between the tragic and the comic and, ultimately, between life and death. . . . In his translation Bill Johnston navigates Mysliwski's modulations with skill and the lightness of touch that is generally the face of profound labour.
—Times Literary Supplement

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