Kino II

After finishing Dekalog, I have now moved on to Big Animal and Warszawa, the final two full Polish movies  that seem to be available at my local library (a couple of others might have Polish characters or some brief Polish dialogue or they are documentaries with Polish speaking in them that I may consider watching later).

In terms of reading, I finished Snow White and Russian Red and Catching Fire (the second book in The Hunger Games series), which means I am now reading Mockingjay (the final book of The Hunger Games series).

I'm Wishing

Snow White and Russian Red by Dorota Masłowska (translated from Wojna polsko-ruska pod flagą biało-czerwoną = Polish-Russian War Under White-Red Flag; UK edition = White and Red) (2002)

Synopsis:
A hit in 21-year-old Maslowska's native Poland and elsewhere in Europe, this punishing successor to first-person "lad" novels like Trainspotting serves up its nastiness spiked with pitch-black humor. Young, paranoid Polish speed fiend Andrzej "Nails" Robakoski presents himself, in hyperbolic stream-of-speech, as an ignoble chump morbidly obsessed with death whose trampy blonde girlfriend Magda has just dumped him. Living at home with a working but absent mother and felonious "bro," Nails adheres to a busy schedule of snorting lines, scarfing "Bird Milkies" (or chocolate-covered marshmallows), text-messaging and denouncing both American consumerism and Russian bootlegged goods. After Magda, Nails--mindlessly nationalist, misogynist, homophobic, racist and anti-Semitic--turns to anorexic virgin Angela, a Goth girl in black whom he feeds drugs and sexually assaults. Eventually, Nails is incarcerated for stealing a soda and walkie-talkie from a local McDonald's. In a hokey metafictional twist, he encounters "Dorota Maslowska," a teenage writer working as a typist at the jail, and then, after a collision with a prison wall, enters a hallucinatory state not much different from his waking life and from which the rest of the novel emerges. Paloff's translation is pitch-perfectly speedy, and with political ironies resounding throughout, it's clear that Maslowska is not exactly endorsing her blank generation, though the claustrophobic narrative presents few avenues of escape. 
http://www.amazon.com/Snow-White-Russian-Dorota-Maslowska/dp/0802170013/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1310221641&sr=8-1

I grew interested in reading more Polish literature recently and this is one of the books I was recommended. I wanted to read works by Polish authors since I had only read books set in Poland or mentioning Poland or about Poland, but usually by foreign authors and rarely translated from Polish (usually written in English only and not having been translated from Polish). I look forward to reading this more contemporary piece instead of running instantly to classics, along the lines of Pan Tadeusz and other Polish Romantic works.

"Can't Wait to Have My Own Show Again..."

Recent activities:
-Walked and shopped (mostly book-related when it comes to purchases...) along Third Street Promenade area in Santa Monica (Barnes & Noble, Disney Store, Sur La Table, and Anthropologie were a few of the stops) [http://www.santamonica.com/visitors/what-to-do/shopping/downtown/]. I was close enough to the beach to almost feel and smell it. I saw the pier and beach area in Santa Monica a bit when leaving.
-Ate Japanese at Torafuku [http://www.torafuku-usa.com/]: clam soup, side salad, seaweed salad, and marinated eggplant.
-Saw Conan O'Brien documentary (shown above), which was great and hilarious. :) La Bamba - a member of Conan's shows' bands - he was in the bands for both shows on NBC and is in the current TBS one - was outside the theatre as I entered; maybe he was at the showing right before. The movie theatre was a cute little place with one screen, located in Westwood/West Los Angeles - a really nice area near UCLA. There were a lot of colorful lights on the several other nearby cinemas, plus numerous nice shops and restaurants/bars/cafes (saw pizzerias, sushi bars, and American Apparel to name a few spots).
-More light grocery shopping and a tad unpacking.

DISNEY MONDAY! Also, there may be a trip to the San Diego area on Wednesday, but not too much else is that solidly-planned yet (everything else is just ideas thrown into the mix that could be done). I am glad the weather has been quite pleasant since my last time in California was rainy.

Polish Favorites: Bookstores

1. Traffic Club, Warsaw (there is at least one other in Wroclaw, but the Warsaw store is pretty epic)

http://www.traffic-club.pl/

Over 4 levels of merchandise

Basement has music and movies, ground has cafe, periodicals, gift items/cards, and some top sellers of music, books, and movies, next two floors have books, and the top floor had a birthday party when I was there once. This place has materials in both Polish and English (the amount of English is not too much, but still very good).

2. Empik, all over Poland (I particularly like the Megastore in Krakow's rynek)
http://www.empik.com/

Ahh, the memory of walking in here and stumbling into the Sephora 5 years ago...

Empik is basically a good Barnes & Noble or Borders (since I think Borders beats BN in the free rewards program and the media area - music and movies - but BN seems better in atmosphere, cafe, and ties for overall and books). However, Empik also advertises and sells tickets for concerts in Poland and offers classes in foreign languages (I know people who take English lessons offered).

3. Massolit, Krakow
http://www.massolit.com/

Want books only in English? Then this place is great. It offers a good selection of Polish authored books translated into English, plus a wide variety of genres (poetry to specific area studies to general literature). I was saddened to leave empty handed, but my list of books to buy did grow. And, yes, there are comfy seats, couches, and a cafe in this two-level store.

4. American Bookstore, all over Poland
http://www.americanbookstore.pl/

Again, only in English. BUT, this one is a chain! There is one on Nowy Swiat in Warsaw, plus several in many malls across the country. Helping English-reading expats and travelers (or those fluent enough in English looking to improve their reading skills) find books easily.

5. Museum Bookstores/Gift shops
Many museums, especially art ones, have great bookstores/gift shops. I was surprised that many had English-language books as well. I remember some cool books at the Zacheta National Art Gallery and the Center for Contemporary Art.

There are definitely many other bookstores that I did not have a chance to see or did not know about. There were also many cities that I visited and did not stop at bookstores. But these are some definite good ones if in need of a book, in Polish or in English. If another language is needed, well... that depends.

For the Personal Library

More books to add...

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/news/the-cults-top-10-books-of-2010

I trust other Chuck fans...