first half of November 1937

Bruno Schulz reads Witold Gombrowicz’s Ferdydurke.

Schulz reads the book version of Ferdydurke, which was published at the end of October 1937 by Rój*. Schulz read parts of Gombrowicz’s* book before1. In May 1936 he expressed his scepticism2. At the beginning of 1937, Gombrowicz gave him a nearly finished manuscript version, to which Schulz reacted coolly again3. Only the final book version exerts an “electrifying” and “dazzling” effect on Schulz4. “[W]hen he read Ferdydurke as a book, he erupted in a flame, which almost burned me, cold that I am”5 – reminisces Gombrowicz. Schulz sends him telegrams several times a day to express his increasing admiration6. In his opinion it is a revelatory, innovative novel, eluding any literary classification. He compares Gombrowicz’s spiritual enterprise to Sigmund Freud and Marcel Proust’s achievements, calling him a genius7. In one of the letters, he confesses that he is in a sense “charged” with Gombrowicz’s novel, which will not leave him alone8. Thus, he plans to write a text about Ferdydurke, which he finishes in the next few weeks. Already on 11 January 1938, prompted by Romana Halpern, Schulz will read his article during a meeting in the venue of the Polish Writers’ Union* in Warsaw. In July 1938 the talk will be published in a literary journal Skamander9. (ts) (transl. ms)

 

See also: January 1937*, 24–30 October 1937*, 11 January 1938*, July 1938*. 

 

  • 1
    These were the texts, which Gombrowicz brought Schulz in person in a rough version or excerpts from Ferdydurke published in literary magazines. There were as many as ten publications preceding the final book publication, in nine different literary journals, including Skamander, Wiadomości Literackie and Tygodnik Ilustrowany, see “Jak powstawała Ferdydurke”, [in:] Witold Gombrowicz, Ferdydurke, edited by Włodzimierz Bolecki, Kraków 2007, p. 261.
  • 2
    “Fragment Gombra nie wydał mi się jaskrawy”, see Bruno Schulz’s letter to Tadeusz Breza from 11 May 1936, [in:] Bruno Schulz, Księga listów, compiled and edited by Jerzy Ficowski, revised by Stanisław Danecki, Gdańsk 2016.
  • 3
    See Witold Gombrowicz, Dziennik 1953–1969, Kraków 2013, p. 656 and idem, Wspomnienia polskie, Kraków 2002, p. 126.
  • 4
    Bruno Schulz’s letter to Romana Halpern from 16 November 1937, [in:] Bruno Schulz, Księga listów...
  • 5
    Witold Gombrowicz, Dziennik 1953–1969, p. 656.
  • 6
    Idem, Wspomnienia polskie, p. 127; idem, Kronos, Kraków 2013, pp. 37 and 43.
  • 7
    Bruno Schulz’s letter to Romana Halpern…
  • 8
    Ibidem.
  • 9
    Bruno Schulz, “Ferdydurke”, Skamander, July–September 1938, r. 12, vol. 12, fasc. XCVI–XCVIII.