User:Kristina Komova/Alchemy of the Word (book)

Alchemy of the Word is a fiction book written by Polish writer, translator, critic and essayist Jan Parandowski (11 May 1895 – 26 September 1978). This book can hardly be compared with any other fiction. Apart from Alchemy of the Word, other books by Jan Parandowski such as Heaven in Flames (1969), Mythology (1971), The Olympic Discus (first published 1979) and Alchemy of the Word (1972, 1990) were published in the territory of the former USSR. In 1978 (the year of the author's death) Lviv publishing house Kamenyar published Ukrainian translation of Niebo w płomieniach by Bogdan Gavrishkiv with circulation of 165 000. Currently, his books can be found in the on-line libraries or an audio version of Alchemy of the Word can be downloaded.

Major Theme of the Story
It took the author almost 20 years before the first edition of Alchemy of the Word was published in 1951. The idea was conceived in 1930, while Jan Parandowski was giving lectures on art in Vilnius. The author himself wrote about the history of the idea in the Introduction to the 2nd edition of the book (1955).

The book deals with the psychology and philosophy of the writer's profession and the mysteries of a master's of the word work. The book highlights the vocation of the writer, the influence of life events on the formation of the author, inspiration and his own works, and the glory and immortality of writers and poets.

Other important issues disclosed in the book are the relationship between genius, talent, work and perseverance in the process of creating a masterpiece, the author's victories and failures, the circumstances and conditions of the creation of literary works, and the word.Concerning the influence of real life and surroundings on the artist, Jan Parandowski remarked:"The irresistible urge to penetrate into the very essence of the phenomenon to be embodied in the word," J. Parandowski concludes, "sometimes the urge to penetrate into the very essence of the phenomenon to be embodied in the word. Sometimes turns into a nightmare for the writer - he literally suffers if his creative idea leaves empty and unclear places, which can be filled and clarified only by further study or deeper penetration into the described phenomena".

Main content
Jan Parandowski's book contains many facts and examples from the lives and works of poets and writers, which are scientifically and philosophically reinterpreted by the author and then artistically embodied in the text. Alchemy of the Word mentions about 5000 names of the writers. The author reflects on the life experiences of such writers as Aeschylus; Gorky; Petrarch; Arthur Rimbaud; Oscar Wilde etc.

Jan Parandowski's great merit also lies in the fact that European readers, accustomed to European and American writers, got an excellent opportunity to read about the literature and writers of Slavic countries, including Polish ones.

The book's format can be described as a collection of fictional essays united by their unique mystery of the writer's creative process.

The book contains stories about the experiences of many writers and poets of different eras which help answer eternal questions about the essence and meaning of the craft of writing, about the importance and correlation of genius, talent, hard work, the ability to organize oneself and consider the experience of predecessors, about fame, immortality, ups and downs, moral fortitude, about the circumstances and conditions of literary works, about the word.

Consequently, the title Alchemy of the Word can be explained through the metaphor Alchemy. In other words, the author means that the craft of writing is like the process of creation of gold, a precious metal from simple ingredients, by ancient alchemists. The so-called "alchemists" of the word - writers and poets - work in a similar way, using seemingly simple words, combining them in ways known to them only through inspiration and a spark of God and creating something astounding and magical. The reader is implicitly "asked": how do the artists of the word, who belong to the same ethos, culture, generation and language, manage to create such different texts - different in meaning, talent and impact on the reader?By using the same words, one can run a graphomaniacal blog and the other a highly qualified column? Besides, how to explain the difference between the masterpiece Faust and the propaganda Mein Kampf, written in the same words? Jan Parandowski tries to unlock all the secrets of the writer's art, trying to explain the 'alchemical' processes with words triggered by writers.

According to the Russian critic Sergey Zalygin: «Jan Parandovsky's work is entirely focused precisely on concreteness, on specific writers, on the actual conditions of their existence and creations, he seldom draws such conclusions and conclusions of this kind, for example: „The writer lives in two time dimensions at the same time - the one he creates himself and the one he submits to when looking at the hands of the clock..., his work is mainly a collection of entirely concrete information about specific writers  ''».

Book structure

 * Foreword
 * Vocation
 * Life
 * Мастерская
 * Inspiration
 * Work
 * The Word
 * Mysteries of craftsmanship
 * Literature resources
 * In the labs of literature
 * Style
 * From the first to the last opinion
 * Hidden accomplice
 * Fame and immortality

Link

 * С. Zalygin. On Jan Parandowski's The Alchemy of the Word — Accessed online: http://dshorin.com/liter/parand.html

Source

 * The text of the book is available on the website: http://chtyvo.org.ua/authors/Parandowski_Jan/Alkhimiia_slova/