The Doll
Boleslaw Prus
Translated by David Welsh, newly revised by Dariusz
Tolczyk and Anna Zaranko
With an introduction by Stanislaw Baranczak
Warsaw under Russian rule in the late 1870s is the
setting for Prus's grand panorama of social conflict,
political tension, and personal suffering. The middle-aged
hero, Wokulski, successful in business, is being destroyed
by his obsessive love for a frigid society "doll," Izabela.
Embattled aristocrats, the new men of finance, Dickensian
tradesmen, and the urban poor all come vividly to life
on the vast, superbly detailed canvas against which
Wokulski's personal tragedy is played out.
Unlike his Western European counterparts, Prus had
to work under official censorship. In this edition,
most of the smaller cuts made by the Tsarist censor
have been restored, and one longer fragment is included
as an appendix.
"One wonders if it is the sort of novel that Conrad
might have written if he had remained in Poland." -
The Scotsman
"See it in a modern context. Our celebrities are
the aristocrats. While we worship them and youthful
beauty, our country is sinking, and while we fool around
(sports events often usurp the evening news, for example),
the Chinese are buying up our industries, taking jobs
away, and we are powerless. This book was a warning
to Poles to wake up."- Amazon (extract from
a reader's online review)
1996
702 pages
Paperback 978-1-85866-065-3 $19.95 / €13.95 / £13.99
Published in the series:
Central
European Classics
ISSN 1418-0162
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