The Elephant

By: Slawomir Mrozek

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Paperback | 6 May 2010 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
176 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.8 x 12.9 x 1.0

Paperback

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'At that moment the elephant shuddered and rose in the air. For a few seconds it swayed just above the ground but a gust of wind blew it upwards until its mighty silhouette was against the sky.'

The Elephant (1957) is Slawomir Mrozek's award-winning collection of hilarious and unnerving short stories, satirising life in Poland under a totalitarian regime. The family of a wealthy lawyer keep a 'tamed progressive' as a pet; a zoo saves money for the workers by fashioning their elephant from rubber; a swan is dismissed from the municipal park for public drunkenness; and under the Writers' Association, literary critics are banished to the salt mines. In these tales of bureaucrats, officials and artists, Mrozek conjures perfectly a life of imagined crimes and absurd authority.

Industry Reviews

Extraordinary . . . Mrozek's brief fables are something like Kafka's stories, but they're funnier * Spectator *
The satiric intent is unambiguous, and offers hope to the oppressed mind...so deft and so piercing -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *
[The series] sheds remarkable light on the literature, culture and politics of the region...anyone coming fresh to the field will be captivated by the richness, variety, humour and pathos of a classic literature that, through a shared historical experience, transcends national and linguistic boundaries. -- CJ Schuler * Independent on Sunday *
This [series] is a wonderful idea ... They are absurdist parables, by turns hilarious, unsettling and enigmatic. -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian *
I urge you to go and read them. -- Adam Thirlwell * New Statesman *
This new series of Central European Classics is important well beyond simply providing 'good reads'. -- Stephen Vizinczey * Daily Telegraph *

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