The street of crocodiles.

No cover — Bruno Schulz: The street of crocodiles. (1963, Walker)

159 pages

English language

Published March 12, 1963 by Walker.

OCLC Number:: 1611429

(2 reviews)

This a magical book of short stories set in a small town in Poland during the period between the two World Wars. The writer, Bruno Schulz, wrote only two books in his lifetime but the two are so rich in vision that they contain a whole world. There are wonderful stories of childhood and how a child's imagination transforms the world; and there are more sombre tales with a sort of Kafkaesque feel to them. The author was also a graphic artist and illustrated his books with very high-quality etchings and lithographs that depict life in his town. As a curious aside, his books began as stories he told in the margins of letters he wrote to a friend. She encouraged him to expand on these little tales and the results were truly beautiful. In short, Bruno Schulz is one of the best little-known writers (little known in North America, …

This a magical book of short stories set in a small town in Poland during the period between the two World Wars. The writer, Bruno Schulz, wrote only two books in his lifetime but the two are so rich in vision that they contain a whole world. There are wonderful stories of childhood and how a child's imagination transforms the world; and there are more sombre tales with a sort of Kafkaesque feel to them. The author was also a graphic artist and illustrated his books with very high-quality etchings and lithographs that depict life in his town. As a curious aside, his books began as stories he told in the margins of letters he wrote to a friend. She encouraged him to expand on these little tales and the results were truly beautiful. In short, Bruno Schulz is one of the best little-known writers (little known in North America, that is, because I think he is more acknowledged in Europe)

5 editions

Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

Review of 'The Street of Crocodiles' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

On reading these stories through only once, I didn't really get much from them beyond a sense of having been raped by adjectives. It was after a second reading that this book came alive in utterly devastating ways. I have no doubt that I would likely get even more out of subsequent readings.

Schulz is certainly the kind of author who can haunt you in unexpected ways long after you thought you finished reading his work.

Matthew M. Conroy

rated it

April 6, 2022