Read Around the World December 2023 – Poland

Map link https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/poland

We end the year with a visit to Poland but what did we make of it?

Fun facts from this website https://keytopoland.com/post/21-fun-facts-about-poland

• Nicolaus Copernicus, the famous astronomer, was Polish
• The largest open-air music festival in Europe is held in Poland.
• The name Poland comes from a Western Slavic tribe – Poland (“Polanie”), which means “people living in open fields.
• Błędowska Desert, located between Kraków and Katowice, is central Europe’s largest accumulation of loose sand away from a sea! It was created by a melting glacier thousands of years ago.
• One of the oldest restaurant in Europe is located in Wrocław.
• All Polish names are associated with a specific date of the year. When you look at a Polish calendar, each date has a male and female name associated with the date.
• Marie Curie Sklodowska was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to receive it twice in two different sciences.
• The world’s largest castle, measured by land area, is located in Poland

I chose to visit Poland via The King of Warsaw by Szczepan Twardoch. Starting in 1937 this is an intriguing story with an unreliable narrator telling the reader about his past in Poland when he got caught up with Jewish boxing hero Jakub Szapiro and the work he does as an enforcer for a local crime lord. Work that included the murder of the narrators own father.

While Hitler is rising to power the Jewish population feeling the pressure in Poland start looking towards Palestine and a Jewish state for their future but who will live to see the dream fulfilled?

This is a story of violence, gangs, prostitution and criminal activities. The characters are largely bad people but ones we can feel some kind of sympathy for. As the narrative progresses it becomes clearer and clearer that things are not as they appear to be with our narrator but what is he lying about and why?

4 Stars – I really enjoyed this look at Jewish life in Poland and the twist was brilliantly done. Well worth the time invested for the payoff.

Other Readers visited in the following ways:

Currey from Litsy – The Beautiful Mrs Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski this was rated a pick.

Did you join us on this leg of the trip? Let us know what you read.

We are kick starting 2024 in Ukraine let us know your reading plans. Mine will involve a Penguin…