Tom, the illegitimate son of a powerful Polish political figure, falls in love with an actress, and finds he must use his parentage to win her over, but his deception leads him by accident into the world of the Polish underground

Rondo

Literature & Fiction

Brandys, Kazimierz

Contemporary

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

An eyewitness account of events in Poland between 1978 and 1981 provides autobiographical, philosophical, ethical, and political observations, commentary, and perspectives on Polish society and its struggle for freedom

Warsaw Diary: 1978-1981 (English and Polish Edition)

History

Europe

Random House, Inc.

The author describes his experiences in Paris and New York and shares his thoughts about the political situation in his native Poland

Paris, New York: 1982-1984

Biographies & Memoirs

Regional U.S.

Random House]

A Question of Reality

Simon&Schuster

A Warsaw Diary: 1978-1981

Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group)

In Rondo, Kazimierz Brandys eloquently explores many of the obsessions of contemporary literature—politics, war, art, and personal exile—against the backdrop of a touching, enthralling love story. One of the previous century's great literary figures, Brandys "quickened the conscience and enriched the writing of the 20th century" (Time). Rondo is the culmination of a career of gripping portrayals of ordinary people in the mode of Socialist Realism that made him an icon. In his own words, Tom is an insignificant man, powerless to effect changes even in himself let alone in others. He is pathologically normal, with "something of Buster Keaton" to him. Yet an initially harmless fabrication motivated by his love for Tola, an actress of the Warsaw stage, will move him to center stage in one of the 20th century's most infamous conflicts and will ultimately change the course of history. Following the Nazi occupation of Warsaw at the outset of WWII, Tola wants to enlist in the Polish Resistance. To protect her, Tom, whose family connections have unexpectedly made him the symbolic heir to Polish nationalism, conscripts Tola into an imaginary political cadre—"Rondo." The idea is innocent at first, little more than a flight of Tom's fantasy, but through its own comic momentum, Rondo unexpectedly becomes a major player in the Polish underground. When Tom is drawn into the internal politics of the real Resistance, the results are not only highly entertaining but telling of the eternal follies of war.

Rondo: A Novel

Humor & Satire

Europa Editions

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