“It’s unbelievable to find “The Physics of Sorrow” exactly among these 15 books for a course in modern literature at the Warsaw University, each of them is among my favorite”, Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov wrote on the social networks after it became clear that his novel “The Physics of Sorrow” became part of the curriculum of Poland’s biggest university.

“One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Stories” by Jorge Luis Borges, “Istanbul: Memories and the City” by Orhan Pamuk, “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco, “A Wild Sheep Chase” by Haruki Murakami and “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller are among the 15 books included in the course in modern literature at the Warsaw University. The course will be in Polish. Students will study “The Physics of Sorrow” translated into Polish by Magdalena Pytlak. The author and the translator were distinguished with the prestigious Polish ANGELUS award. The 15 novels are a selection of masterpieces of the 19^th and the 20^th century world literature.

Photo: Facebook/Georgi Gospodinov

“The Physics of Sorrow” novel came out in Bulgaria in 2011. It was translated in 15 languages, including English, French, Italian and Greek. The novel was shortlisted for 7 international literary prizes. A cartoon film was made on the novel, by one of the most prominent animation artists in the last 25 years, internationally acknowledged Theodore Ushev.

Compiled by: Vesela Krasteva

English version: Kostadin Atanasov