This week Go Readlooks at 9by Andrzej Stasiuk Vintage and the Lonely Planet guide to Poland
9
Andrzej Stasiuk
Vintage, £7.99 in UK
This is not a book that will make you want to visit Warsaw, which is a shame, as the Polish capital is a cracking destination. It is, however, an incisive, razor-sharp novel. Young businessman Pawel, struggling to pay off his loan sharks, turns to some of his old comrades, now criminals in their own right, for help. What follows is a pitiful chase through the decrepit streets of Warsaw's shabbier neighbourhoods. Stasiuk has an instinct for gripping detail that captures a part of society that is being left behind, or is refusing to change, as Poland realigns itself as the heart of central and eastern Europe. The character with the most depth is the city itself, jutting out from Stasiuk's pared-to-the-bone prose, redolent of James Ellroy. The pulse of the language and the punches from the plot, though hardly an advert for Polish tourism, will easily melt away a few hours spent waiting for a flight in any terminal.
Poland
Lonely Planet,
£14.99 in UK
There's a lot more to Poland than grim cities trying to shake off their communist past. For starters, there are the spectacular Tatra Mountains, in the south, the rugged beaches and sand dunes near Leba, in the north, and the essential summer destination of the Mazurian lake district. This guide has a decent history section, to help put Poland's bewildering history in context, and some good sections on active holidays, but it is disappointing when it comes to some of the city guides. The section on Warsaw and Cracow's nightlife and restaurants, for example, contains few of the places most popular with the locals.