Drohobych. Bruno Schulz responds late to Zenon Waśniewski’s letter, where he presents his situation on the literary market and fears that he will waste the success of The Cinnamon Shops. He also decides to take up literary criticism.
Responding to “a beautiful and sad letter in the atmosphere of All Souls’ Day”, Schulz notices that Waśniewski’s mood is worse* and asks: “Are you already getting taedium vitae – great discouragement – passive resistance, willingness to sabotage and break out of the treadmill?”. He points to the difference in how he and Waśniewski tackle the difficulties of life. “You are”, he writes, “much stronger than me, and you bear your life much more like a man!”.
Later in the letter, Schulz describes his current situation in detail. “I have not written anything for months, I have not painted and sometimes I have the feeling that I will not write anything decent anymore”, he confesses to Waśniewski. He is aware of the way the literary market works: “It would be a pity for me to waste the success I have achieved with the Shops*, and I will waste it if I do not publish things at least on this level this year. I will write it if I am granted a leave, but it is quiet about the leave, the application was lost in the underground modes of the Ministry and I lose hope if it will ever come out”.
Now he is able to take on less engaging writing tasks. “I am going to write a few articles about books now”, he tells Waśniewski. I am tempted to analyse Mann’s Tales of Jacob – a wonderful thing that can demonstrate the transformation of the concept of reality and a new view of the essence of life”. These plans would not be implemented immediately. The first essays, an answer to questions from Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz* written after Józef Piłsudski’s* death Legends Arise*, would be published by Schulz in 1935. It is not until 1936 that he begins regular review cooperation with Wiadomości Literackie* and Tygodnik Ilustrowany*; he also publishes critical drafts in other magazines.
The second part of the letter, as if contrary to the declarations of the first, is a demonstration of Schulz’s literary capacities and writing skills. The text on the “miraculous autumn” prompted Jerzy Ficowski* to put forward the following hypothesis: “The artistically beautiful image of crows circling in the autumn sky is probably an excerpt or the beginning of some unknown literary work by Schulz”. The letter ends with the subject of the lottery, which has reappeared in correspondence with Waśniewski since June. It turns out that the tickets that Schulz got in the Lviv lottery did not take part in the October drawing. As he explains to the lottery partner: “the numbers we purchased have already been sold”. He is ready to send Waśniewski his money back for the renewal of the lottery stake. Despite failures, he decides to continue playing. “It seems to me that as a result of this manoeuvre, we lost not only the first draw, but also part of the sum. Such are the games of luck. Does this turn of events discourage you from playing?”. (sr) (transl. mw)
See also: March 15, 1934*, March 24, 1934*, April 2, 193[4], April 24, 1934, June 5, 1934, June 23, 1934, August 28, 1934*, September 14, 1934*, September 30, 1934*, October 6, 1934*, October 15, 1934*, November 15, 1934*, December 19, 1934*, January 28, 1935*, March 16, 1935*, [March 25, 1935*], June 24, 1935*, July 13, 1935*, August 3, 1935*, [August 7, 1935*], June 2, 1937*, August 4, 1937*, [January 5, 1938*], April 24, 1938*. (bt) (transl. mw)
