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The Doll
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
14 posts | 9 read | 8 to read
The Dollis a classic of Polish literature, a novel that takes in the whole nineteenth century and looks ahead to modern questions of empire, revolution, anti-Semitism, and socialism. Yet it is less a novel of ideas than a novel of people who have ideas, characters as vivid and memorable as any in Dickens. As the novel opens in Warsaw in 1878, our hero, Wokulski, having risen from rags to riches now seeks the respect of the aristocracy and, in particular, the love of the cold and scheming Izabela Lecka. The rich cast includes the old clerk Rzecki, nostalgic for the revolutions of 1848; the young scientist Ochocki, dreaming of flying machines; the deranged and manipulative Baroness Krzeszowska; the angelic widow Stawska; the wise dowager duchess; and many more. Each is constrained by his or her social status in this story of money, love, and class at the end of the age of duels and the beginning of the age of electricity. Boles_aw Prus's great gift is to see this panorama on an intimate human scale, in the details of what people wear, what they eat, and, above all, what they say. We hear Wokulski's story through all of Warsaw's gossip, in the drawing rooms of the elite, in the restaurants and taverns of the middle class, at the races and the theater, and in the streets.
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thebackyardgnome
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Few quotrs havr ever gottrn to me as thhs passagr

My oain has gottrn worse over the past 10 weeks

I shall comr bsck to humsnkind soon enough

I habr gotten so manh beautifhl #litsylove lettsrs , every onr is likr a hug from far away. I cannot thank everont enough

I'll do my best to writr everyoneeof you as soon as I csn
Thank you, Litsy

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️❤️ 2y
15 likes1 comment
blurb
Dolly
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Book haul from 2 or 3 bookstore trips. It‘s so much fun hunting and gathering books. Does anyone else give out a little exclamation when a long searched for book is finally spotted? I grab it fast thinking that everyone else in the store would take it if they‘d seen it first. This happened with The Doll. Thanks for feeding the maniac in me @shawnmooney !

PomegranateMuse Hallucinations!!! Yes!!! #oliversacks 6y
Dolly @PomegranateMuse I need to sink into another one of his books soon. When I hear an old Sacks interview, a podcast devoted to him, or see one of his books I think of you. (edited) 6y
LeahBergen That‘s a nice edition of Sparks! 6y
Dolly @LeahBergen I‘d been searching locally for several months for The Driver‘s Seat then found this. Sometimes it‘s worth the wait- unless these stories Are abridged 6y
Dolly @LeahBergen I‘d been searching locally for several months for The Driver‘s Seat then found this. Sometimes it‘s worth the wait- unless these stories are abridged. 6y
53 likes5 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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You know you want to read this novel now, don‘t you?

#QuoteOfTheDay

saresmoore Bahahaha! What?! Yes, well, I wanted to read it before, but now I must! 7y
emilyhaldi Yes!! 😆 7y
arubabookwoman It‘s been on my TBR shelf forever (read Kindle). This quote makes it imperative I get to it sooner rather than later. 7y
45 likes3 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Lindy 😆 7y
37 likes1 comment
blurb
Dolly
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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#Endowarriors21giveaway
@Endowarrior21

Great giveaway👏👏thank you!
3books on my wish list...🤔
1. The Doll (tagged)
2. Autumn -Ali Smith
3. Wolf Hall - Mantel

38 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Wasn‘t expecting the introduction of a new, seemingly British character in chapter 11 of this Polish novel from 1890! Love the take-off on Jane Austen here.

#QuoteOfTheDay

LeahBergen And a wee bit of the Brontes, too! 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen Indeed! 😍 7y
40 likes2 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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#QuoteOfTheDay

Still savoring this wonderful Polish novel from 1890!

31 likes1 stack add
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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LeahBergen Are you still enjoying this one? 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen Yes indeed! 7y
42 likes2 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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saresmoore This goes right along with the part of Montpelier Parade I‘ve just read. I found it interesting that men are generally more successful in their attempts, although not the case for your doctor, it seems. 7y
batsy I love this. Brilliant. 7y
Tamra 👌🏾 7y
Suet624 What @batsy said. 7y
36 likes4 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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This letter to the novel‘s increasingly impoverished aristocratic heroine Izabela from her aunt, with its postscript introducing to ‘Bela‘ the rich middle-class merchant Wokulski, condenses an awful lot of what the novel is preoccupied with into one epistle.

#QuoteOfTheDay

saresmoore I want to know these characters better, already! 7y
shawnmooney @saresmoore I am sooooo engrossed! 7y
29 likes1 stack add2 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Marchpane Sacré Bleu! 7y
saresmoore Haha! 7y
LeahBergen Ha!! 7y
Suet624 😜😁😁👏🏽 7y
50 likes4 comments
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shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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I‘m only on the second chapter but this 1890 novel out of Poland has already completely charmed me! The translation by David Welsh is awesome.

#QuoteOfTheDay

Texreader Great scene I can do picture in my head! Is it really that old? 7y
shawnmooney @Texreader Yeah, it is a marvelous translation, hey? 7y
29 likes2 comments
blurb
shawnmooney
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Bought this brand new for only $13 on a whim the other day, and have become so strangely obsessed with this 1890, 680-page novel out of Poland that I may have to start reading it immediately as part of BookTube‘s Tome Topple reading challenge later this month!

shawnmooney @jeff Please fix this so the actual author (Boleslaw Prus)‘s name displays first. The name of the editor or translator is all that displays on the posts which is very confusing. Thanks! 7y
shawnmooney @jeff Thanks! 7y
See All 10 Comments
LeahBergen This sounds amazing, too. Oh, look - NYRB publishes it. STACKED. 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen You can watch me fondle and caress it near the end of my book haul video.... 😂❤️😍 7y
batsy This looks great. 7y
LeahBergen @shawnmooney Now, just what sort of web videos are you making here? 😂😂 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen Consider it foreplay for the threesome being organized at present? 😂😂 7y
LeahBergen Hahaha! @DeborahSmall , do you hear what we‘re in for? 😂 7y
DeborahSmall @shawnmooney @LeahBergen lmao 😂 can‘t wait 😘😘 7y
41 likes2 stack adds10 comments