Kinderszenen

An old manpoet, playwright, essayist, and scholarsiftsthrough the broken fragments of his memory as he recounts what it was like togrow up in Warsaw during the German occupation of World War II. The result is Kinderszenen,a searing and controversial memoir by a major post-war Polish writer that hasevoked both debate and praise, now translated into English for the first time.The books title comes from the suite of piano pieces byRobert Schumann which evoke the innocence and joy of childhoodthus providing awrenching counterpoint to the violence, destruction, and madness thatcharacterize Jarosaw Marek Rymkiewiczs coming of age.While the scenes of his youth are depicted in vivid detail,from his boyish encounters with cats, horses, and turtles up to the shockingbrutality of murder and mayhem witnessed at first hand, what really sets Kinderszenenapart is its extended meditation on the nature of war, oppression, andfanatical nationalism, and the possibilityhowever doomed it may seemof humanresistance to those forces. Here is an enduring testimony that remains starklyrelevant to our own time.