My Two Polish Grandfathers: And Other Essays on the Imaginative Life [Hardcover]

Witold Rybczynski (Author)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Scribner (Feb 3 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743235983
ISBN-13: 978-0743235983
Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 14.6 x 2.1 cm
Shipping Weight: 358 g
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #84,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #78 in Books > History > Americas > Canada > 20th Century
- #80 in Books > History > Canada > 20th Century

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Product Description

Quill & Quire

In this lurid era, when the majority of memoirs seem to be written by tweakers, dopers, dipsomaniacs, kleptomaniacs, or nymphomaniacs, it is indeed a relief to encounter the reminiscences of a diligent and industrious man who exhibits no appetite for infamy. Witold Rybczynski states that his new collection of linked essays “is not quite a memoir,” but it is, in places, almost exactly that – a sort of curriculum vitae that’s bolstered by family history and travel vignettes – and it’s one that’s mercifully free of the ostentatious dysfunction infecting the genre of late. Rybczynski, an eminent architect, academic, and author of 14 previous books, rightly begins his story with his birth in Edinburgh to parents who had escaped the German invasion of Warsaw just four years earlier. From there, he describes his move to Montreal; his upbringing in a musical, multilingual, and story-rich household; his studies at McGill and subsequent Grand Tour of Europe’s architectural marvels; and his early professional work on social housing projects and children’s theatre sets. The book’s title essay lays the groundwork for what will become Rybczynski’s defining dilemma: does he strive to become a worldly and affluent figure like his maternal grandfather, or does he lead a more cloistered existence like his paternal grandfather? My Two Polish Grandfathers proves to be a careful and considered book, written in straightforward, journalistic prose, but one can’t help but feel that it’s too modest for its own good. From a man hailed as “one of today’s most original thinkers,” the reader anticipates some prodigious synthesis of his decades-long career as creator, or a startling revelation about the artistic mind. Instead, the book meekly draws to a close after describing a portico renovation to the front of the author’s house. Fellow architects, do-it-yourself homebuilders, and craftspeople of all kinds will find much of the content instructive; those with less utilitarian concerns who were lured in by the book’s promising subtitle may be left wanting more.

Review

"My Two Polish Grandfathers is an absolutely delightful book, which is no surprise to me, being one of Witold's greatest admirers." -- David M. Childs, architect of One World Trade Center and the Time Warner Center

"A very enlightening book by one of our very best architectural critics. The story of Witold Rybczynski's Polish forebears during World War Two, and how they ended up in Canada, is fascinating. His account of his architectural education, and how his distinctive perspective on architecture developed, helps explain how he became something of a maverick in this age of modernism." -- Nathan Glazer, professor emeritus, Harvard University, and author of From a Cause to a Style

"Disarming, charming, sweet-natured, large-hearted--all these adjectives describe this little book, and I imagine they describe the architect-author as well." -- Carolyn See, Washington Post

"Wide-ranging, compulsively readable... A satisfying and valuable addition to a still growing literature." -- Helen Epstein, Phildelphia Inqurier

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Being Polish in America, May 19 2010

By Linda C. Wisniewski - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: My Two Polish Grandfathers: And Other Essays on the Imaginative Life (Hardcover)

I love the premise - a memoir in essay form - and the gentle, affectionate way the author uses to inform us about his background and speculate on his ultimate career in architecture. A well-examined life, to be sure. Being Polish outside Poland places his family in one of the many 'outsider' tales that form some of the best literature. The book reminded me a tiny bit of Ewa Hoffman's "Lost In Translation" though Rybczinski's attitude is much more positive.
He's inspired me to take another look at my own Polish Grandpas ...and Grandmas too! Bardzo dobrze!

Linda Ciulik Wisniewski, Author of Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review 5.0 out of 5 stars