Research Catalog

Title

I'd like to say sorry, but there's no one to say sorry to : stories / Mikolaj Grynberg ; translated from the Polish by Sean Gasper Bye.

Author

Grynberg, Mikołaj

Publication

• New York : The New Press, 2021.
• ©2021
• ©2017

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Bye, Sean Gasper

Description

viii, 136 pages; 20 cm

Summary

"Mikolaj Grynberg is a psychologist and photographer who has spent years collecting and publishing oral histories of Polish Jews. In his first work of fiction--a book that has been widely praised by critics and was shortlisted for Poland's top literary prize--Grynberg recrafts those histories into little jewels, fictionalized short stories with the ring of truth. Both biting and knowing, I'd Like to Say Sorry, but There's No One to Say Sorry To takes the form of first-person vignettes, through which Grynberg explores the daily lives and tensions within Poland between Jews and gentiles haunted by the Holocaust and its continuing presence. In "Unnecessary Trouble," a grandmother discloses on her deathbed that she is Jewish; she does not want to die without her family knowing. What is passed on to the family is fear and the struggle of what to do with this information. In "Cacophony," Jewish identity is explored through names, as Miron and his son Jurek demonstrate how heritage is both accepted and denied. In "My Five Jews," a non-Jewish narrator remembers five interactions with her Jewish countrymen, and her own anti-Semitism, ruefully noting that perhaps she was wrong and should apologize, but no one is left to say "I'm sorry" to. Each of the thirty-one stories is a dazzling and haunting mini-monologue that highlights a different facet of modern Poland's complex and difficult relationship with its Jewish past."--Provided by publisher.

Uniform Title

Rejwach. English

Alternative Title

• Rejwach.
• I would like to say sorry, but there's no one to say sorry to

Subject

• Jews > Fiction
• Antisemitism > Fiction
• Jews > Poland > Fiction
• Antisemitism
• Jews
• Poland

Genre/Form

• Fiction.
• Short stories.

Note

• Originally published in Poland as Rejwach by Wydawnictwo Nisza in 2017.

Contents

Unnecessary Trouble -- Arkadia -- Cacophony -- An Elegant Purse -- Bitter Chocolate -- My Five Jews -- An Empty Jewish Soul -- The Old Story -- The First Visit -- The German Boy -- Procession -- Last Resort -- Klementyna -- Invisible Thoughts -- Imaginary Friends -- Chess -- The End of Time -- At Hitler's -- With Mom -- The Convent -- Common Good -- Sweet Dreams -- On the Aryan Side -- The Chair -- Birthright -- Horizon -- A Jewish Barter -- Bringing Families Together -- Anatevka -- A Joke for You -- Stagnant Waters -- Notes -- Translator's Note.

Call Number

JFC 22-23

ISBN

• 9781620976838
• 1620976838

OCLC

1273675146

Author

Grynberg, Mikołaj, author.

Title

I'd like to say sorry, but there's no one to say sorry to : stories / Mikolaj Grynberg ; translated from the Polish by Sean Gasper Bye.

Publisher

New York : The New Press, 2021.

Copyright Date

Translation, ©2021

Original, ©2017

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Added Author

Bye, Sean Gasper, translator.

Research Call Number

JFC 22-23