Title: Disappointingly thin
Product review: I was hoping that this book would provide details of the historical background of the trilogy, and place the literature in the context of the events it represents. Instead, the historical information is about what one would find in a typical encyclopedia article on Poland. The rest of the book consists introductions originally written for the three volumes of the trilogy in the Kuniczak translation, but no longer published with them, and some discussion on the history and problems of translating Sienkiewicz. These latter seem intended to glorify the Kuniczak translation, but I for one was not convinced by the examples provided. I read With Fire and Sword in the Curtin translation and The Deluge in the Kuniczak, and I was put off by the modernisms and obvious inserted connective material that appears in the latter.On the other hand, it was fun to read about how Sienkiewicz produced his work, and his relationship with his contemporary translators.
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