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Best Polish Books

1

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3.81 avg rating — 21,789 ratings
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2

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3.78 avg rating — 18,464 ratings
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3

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4.10 avg rating — 212,313 ratings
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4

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3.99 avg rating — 110,979 ratings
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5

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4.01 avg rating — 38,539 ratings
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6

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4.02 avg rating — 13,019 ratings
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7

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3.73 avg rating — 18,432 ratings
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8

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4.26 avg rating — 121,816 ratings
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9

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3.86 avg rating — 14,440 ratings
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10

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4.16 avg rating — 147,074 ratings
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11

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3.97 avg rating — 10,053 ratings
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12

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 17,592 ratings
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13

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3.17 avg rating — 15,129 ratings
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14

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4.22 avg rating — 102,899 ratings
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15

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4.13 avg rating — 362,318 ratings
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16

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4.09 avg rating — 84,881 ratings
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17

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4.09 avg rating — 8,312 ratings
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18

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4.27 avg rating — 190,304 ratings
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19

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3.40 avg rating — 5,304 ratings
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20

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4.23 avg rating — 9,878 ratings
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21

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3.80 avg rating — 11,396 ratings
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22

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4.05 avg rating — 6,057 ratings
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23

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3.64 avg rating — 6,528 ratings
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24

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4.16 avg rating — 2,361 ratings
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25

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3.91 avg rating — 26,792 ratings
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26

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4.01 avg rating — 5,613 ratings
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27

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4.14 avg rating — 13,062 ratings
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28

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3.76 avg rating — 3,935 ratings
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29

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4.27 avg rating — 14,358 ratings
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30

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4.10 avg rating — 3,791 ratings
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31

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4.12 avg rating — 10,169 ratings
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32

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3.58 avg rating — 7,684 ratings
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33

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3.98 avg rating — 2,350 ratings
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34

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3.31 avg rating — 9,883 ratings
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35

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3.42 avg rating — 15,741 ratings
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36

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4.23 avg rating — 2,633 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 3,814 ratings
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38

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4.16 avg rating — 2,470 ratings
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39

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3.94 avg rating — 4,485 ratings
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40

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3.78 avg rating — 4,126 ratings
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41

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4.18 avg rating — 13,279 ratings
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42

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4.42 avg rating — 3,396 ratings
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43

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4.11 avg rating — 1,227 ratings
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44

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3.10 avg rating — 12,004 ratings
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45

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4.10 avg rating — 6,111 ratings
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46

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4.28 avg rating — 3,992 ratings
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47

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3.37 avg rating — 6,027 ratings
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48

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4.14 avg rating — 2,760 ratings
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49

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3.83 avg rating — 2,969 ratings
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50

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4.18 avg rating — 6,825 ratings
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51

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4.22 avg rating — 5,856 ratings
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52

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3.73 avg rating — 2,608 ratings
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53

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3.39 avg rating — 830 ratings
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54

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4.02 avg rating — 11,714 ratings
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55

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4.06 avg rating — 1,428 ratings
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56

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4.26 avg rating — 3,389 ratings
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57

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3.97 avg rating — 2,928 ratings
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58

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4.23 avg rating — 2,032 ratings
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59

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3.57 avg rating — 2,163 ratings
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60

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4.34 avg rating — 2,480 ratings
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61

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3.72 avg rating — 2,599 ratings
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62

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3.63 avg rating — 3,059 ratings
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63

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4.01 avg rating — 4,207 ratings
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64

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3.38 avg rating — 2,771 ratings
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65

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4.28 avg rating — 4,053 ratings
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66

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4.23 avg rating — 9,289 ratings
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67

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3.64 avg rating — 5,202 ratings
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68

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4.37 avg rating — 2,599 ratings
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69

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3.77 avg rating — 1,709 ratings
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70

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3.90 avg rating — 3,456 ratings
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71

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3.89 avg rating — 2,990 ratings
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72

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4.32 avg rating — 4,581 ratings
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73

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3.79 avg rating — 3,916 ratings
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74

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3.17 avg rating — 5,981 ratings
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75

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3.72 avg rating — 1,409 ratings
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76

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4.25 avg rating — 1,718 ratings
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77

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3.33 avg rating — 10,972 ratings
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78

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3.63 avg rating — 826 ratings
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78

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3.71 avg rating — 2,421 ratings
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80

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3.76 avg rating — 31,876 ratings
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81

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4.31 avg rating — 5,096 ratings
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82

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4.34 avg rating — 2,048 ratings
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83

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3.88 avg rating — 1,391 ratings
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83

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4.07 avg rating — 1,616 ratings
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85

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4.12 avg rating — 1,342 ratings
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86

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4.36 avg rating — 6,958 ratings
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87

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3.07 avg rating — 2,943 ratings
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88

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3.76 avg rating — 2,321 ratings
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89

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1,268 ratings
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90

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3.77 avg rating — 1,558 ratings
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91

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4.45 avg rating — 527 ratings
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92

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3.92 avg rating — 9,997 ratings
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93

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3.65 avg rating — 684 ratings
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94

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4.13 avg rating — 758 ratings
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95

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2.96 avg rating — 5,090 ratings
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96

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3.70 avg rating — 3,854 ratings
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97

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4.33 avg rating — 669 ratings
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98

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3.93 avg rating — 3,835 ratings
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99

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3.78 avg rating — 1,683 ratings
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99

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2.81 avg rating — 11,194 ratings
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562 books · 527 voters · list created May 23rd, 2009 by Kasia (votes) .
5 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Kasia 2739 books
95 friends
Georg 934 books
192 friends
Agnieszka T. 1445 books
153 friends
Łukasz 396 books
46 friends
Synaptyk 82 books
1 friend
Ola 1270 books
33 friends
Monika 1546 books
34 friends
Piotr 193 books
8 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-20 of 20 (20 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Lucky Teapot (new)

Lucky Teapot This list is ridiculous.


message 2: by Anna (new)

Anna Lucky Teapot wrote: "This list is ridiculous."

Why is it ridicuous?


message 3: by Lucky Teapot (new)

Lucky Teapot Anna wrote: "Lucky Teapot wrote: "This list is ridiculous."

Why is it ridicuous?"


I see it has improved a bit lately. At the time I made that comment, top 50 consisted mostly of really bad books, also the rest of the list didn't represent polish literature at all. It still looks like people are simply voting for the books they've read (out of all), not those they think are any good. It also seems to me that it has too many books from the same authors, including their less successful works, while it lacks some good and critically acclaimed contemporary literature. I suggest that people who create lists should add as many (good) books as possible right at the start so the list has any chance of being representative, especially as it is supposed to be about the whole literature of a nation.


message 4: by 5538858 (new)

5538858 I am Polish. I don't think the list is ridiculous. The top five books are ABSOLUTELY amazing. I couldn't agree more. However, I cannot agree with Bruno Schulz. Also, there is too much Henryk Sienkiewicz here, a historical-fiction writer. Sienkiewicz is overrated. I found his book boring.


message 5: by Lucky Teapot (new)

Lucky Teapot 5538858 wrote: "I am Polish. I don't think the list is ridiculous. The top five books are ABSOLUTELY amazing. I couldn't agree more. However, I cannot agree with Bruno Schulz. Also, there is too much Henryk Sienki..."

Yeah, the list has changed, the top 5 is now rather good. Agree about Sienkiewicz, I wouldn't recommend him to anyone.


message 6: by Agnieszka (new)

Agnieszka I love Skienkiewicz when reading in polish. I tried to read an English translation and it was pretty awful.


message 7: by Kasia Ela (new)

Kasia Ela Note that Gunther Grass is not Polish writer but German.


message 8: by Hanae (new)

Hanae I've removed books by Boris Akunin and China Mieville - they are neither Polish authors nor were their books set in Poland.


message 9: by Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) (last edited Aug 16, 2012 06:58AM) (new)

Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Kasia The Bookworm wrote: "Note that Gunther Grass is not Polish writer but German."

I removed The Tin Drum -- I hadn't voted for it myself but suspect whoever did so added it because it's set in Gdańsk/Danzig, Grass's home town (and as Hanae indicates above, "Polish books" could theoretically refer to either the author's nationality -- which in Grass's case is German -- OR the book's location, which in The Tin Drum is Polish now, though the better part of the action takes place during a time when the city was German). As this was the only book by Günter Grass on the list, I take it that you mean "Polish" to refer the author's nationality, though, Kasia ...


message 10: by Hanae (new)

Hanae true.


message 11: by Tricia (last edited May 31, 2013 09:18AM) (new)

Tricia Olga Gromyko is definitely not Polish.


message 12: by Anna (new)

Anna Florice wrote: "Olga Gromyko is definitely not Polish."

Yeah. I think she's Belarussian


Themis-Athena (Lioness at Large) Belarussian, yes. -- Removed.


message 14: by Paul (new)

Paul Bowes Checked for duplicates: 6 books removed.


message 15: by Loreley (new)

Loreley removed Goethe


message 16: by Michael (new)

Michael i have only read these in translation so i do not know if they are 'best', i only know they are accessible...


message 17: by Natasza (new)

Natasza WHAT THE HELL IS "QUO VADIS" DOING HERE?!
It is an compulsory reading in Poland and I can say -it is painful.


message 18: by George P. (last edited Mar 14, 2019 08:26PM) (new)

George P. In position #171 is Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi. Levi was an Italian jew, not a Pole. He was imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland which is the book's subject. So is it Polish literature?


message 19: by Loreley (new)

Loreley George wrote: "In position #171 is Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi. Levi was an Italian jew, not a Pole. He was imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland which is the book's subject. So is it P..."

It's definitely not. Will remove it


message 20: by Anna (new)

Anna I posted a list on Goodlibrarians group
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...


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