Pornografia by Witold Gombrowicz translated by Danuta Borchardt Grove Press, November 2009
In the midst of the German occupation, two aging
intellectuals travel to a farm in the countryside, looking for a respite from
the claustrophobic scene in Warsaw.
They quickly grow bored of their bucolic surroundings - that is, until they
become hypnotized by a pair of country youths who have grown up alongside each other.
The older men are determined to orchestrate a tryst between the two teenagers,
but they are soon distracted by a string of violent developments, culminating
in an order from the Polish underground movement: the men at the farm must
assassinate a rogue resistance captain who has sought refuge there. The erotic
games are put on hold - until the two dissolute intellectuals find a way to
involve their pawns in the murderous plot. Gombrowicz's strange,
bracing final novel probes the divide between young and old while providing a
grotesque evocation of obsession. – Publishers Weekly As terrifying as the characters are in their calculation,
Gombrowicz's agile pen dilutes the tragedy with a lightness that only the best
can master. –
Salonica World Lit
