Farewells to Plasma

By Natasza Goerke

2001

First Published

3.78

Average Rating

112

Number of Pages

3H25M

Audio Length

Few Polish prose writers of the past ten years have attracted as much delight and bewilderment as Natasza Goerke. Her stories, which are commonly fastened with predicates like "surreal," "grotesque," "ludicrous," "ironic," and "extravagant," call to mind the absurdist and parabolic work of Daniil Kharms, Slawomir Mrozek, Clarice Lispector, and Antonio Tabucchi. Although her reluctance toward straightforward narration, her refusal of any "responsibility" on the part of the writer to provide metaphysical product for the national masses, and her involvement with esoteric perspectives such as Buddhism and Asian cultures generally, all have caused less avant-garde-friendly critics to shake their heads in consternation, her erudition and extremely fine feeling for the Polish language have earned her recognition from all quarters as one of the most innovative and important voices of the younger generation.

Avg Rating

3.78

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

22%

4 STARS

50%

3 STARS

17%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Natasza Goerke

Author · 3 books

Natasza Goerke was born in Poznan in 1960. She studied Polish at Mickiewicz University in Poznan and Oriental Languages at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She has had four books published in Polish (her latest was nominated for the prestigious Nike Prize) and collections in German, Slovak, and Croatian translation. In addition, her stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies both in Poland and in the Polish emigre press as well as in translation, including The Eagle and the Crow (Serpent's Tail, 1996), an anthology of contemporary Polish literature. In the mid-80s she emigrated from Poland. After having lived for a time in Asia, she took up residence in Germany and now lives in Hamburg. In 1993 she received the Czas Kultury Prize, and in 1995 she was awarded a six-month stipendium at the highly regarded Akademie Schloss Solitude outside of Stuttgart. (from http://www.twistedspoon.com/goerke.html)