Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz (also known as "Litwos"; May 5, 1846–November 15, 1916) was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. He was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his "outstanding merits as an epic writer." Born into an impoverished gentry family in the Podlasie village of Wola Okrzejska, in Russian-ruled Poland, Sienkiewicz wrote historical novels set during the Rzeczpospolita (Polish Republic, or Commonwealth). His works were noted for their negative portrayal of the Teutonic Order in The Teutonic Knights (Krzyżacy), which was remarkable as a significant portion of his readership lived under German rule. Many of his novels were first serialized in newspapers, and even today are still in print. In Poland, he is best known for his historical novels "With Fire and Sword", "The Deluge", and "Fire in the Steppe" (The Trilogy) set during the 17th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, while internationally he is best known for Quo Vadis, set in Nero's Rome. Quo Vadis has been filmed several times, most notably the 1951 version. Sienkiewicz was meticulous in attempting to recreate the authenticity of historical language. In his Trilogy, for instance, he had his characters use the Polish language as he imagined it was spoken in the seventeenth century (in reality it was far more similar to 19th-century Polish than he imagined). In The Teutonic Knights, which relates to the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, he even had his characters speak a variety of medieval Polish which he recreated in part from archaic expressions then still common among the highlanders of Podhale. In 1881, Sienkiewicz married Maria Szetkiewicz (1854-1885). They had two children, Henryk Józef (1882-1959) and Jadwiga Maria (1883–1969). *** NatPhung Thủ thư In Desert and Wilderness (1912) Henryk Sienkiewicz The renowned Polish novelist, inspired by his travels through Africa, gives us a fascinating book recounting adventures and experiences of two children during an escape from Khartoum after the death of General Gordon, and their flight through Africa to the Indian Ocean. The children's adventures in the Egyptian desert and African wilderness at the time of the Mahdi (1848 - 1885) also contain a vast quantity of information about the plant and animal life of the African swamps and jungle.
NatPhung Thủ thư Quo Vadis? (1896) Henryk Sienkiewicz In the dark, decadent last days of the Roman Empire, a pagan soldier sees a girl of exotic beauty and decides he must have her as his concubine. But unknown to him, Ligia is a Christian intent on living a pure life, even as Nero's ruthless persecution sweeps the city. As the lives of Vinicius and Ligia intertwine, they watch the world they know change before their eyes. While the apostles Peter and Paul seek to save the immoral city from ruin, Christians are brutally martyred in the Coliseum and Rome burns.
NatPhung Thủ thư So Runs the World (1898) Henryk Sienkiewicz Jadwiga.--No, I must be frank and tell you how it happened. In former times we were such dear friends, and then we have not seen each other for two years. I asked you to come, but I was not sure that you would grant my request, therefore--when the bell rang--after two years--(smiling) I needed a few moments to overcome the emotion. I thought it was necessary for both of us.
NatPhung Thủ thư The Knights of the Cross (1900) Henryk Sienkiewicz Regarded as the most outstanding and prolific Polish writer of the second half of the nineteenth century, the 1905 Nobel Prize winner, Henryk Sienkiewicz is perhaps best known for his epic historical novel Quo Vadis, which depicts early Christianity and the persecutions. Sienkiewicz was known for his gigantic scenes, bright contrasts and the epic sweep of his works. He was a master in creating mass-action scenes and battles. The Knights of the Cross is a noble historical romance. The time and scene of the story are set in the middle ages during the conquest of Pagan Lithuania by the military and priestly order of the Knights of the Cross. An interesting read-the strategic computer game, Knights of the Cross is based upon historical fact and Sienkiewicz's novel.
NatPhung Thủ thư Without Dogma (1891) Henryk Sienkiewicz Readers of Henryk Sienkiewicz who have known him only through Mr. Curtin's fine, strong translations, will be surprised to meet with a production so unlike - Fire and Sword, and The Deluge, that on first reading one can scarcely believe it to be from the pen of the great novelist. Fire and Sword, The Deluge, and Pan Michael form, so to speak, a Polish trilogy. They are, first and last, Polish in sentiment, nationality, and patriotism. What Wagner did for Germany in music, what Dumas did for France, Scott for all English speaking people, the great Pole has achieved for his own country in literature. Even to those most unfamiliar with her history, it grows life-like and real as it speaks to us from the pages of these historical romances. Only a very great genius can unearth the dusty chronicles of past centuries, and make its men and women live and breathe, and speak to us. These historical characters are not mere shadows, puppets, or nullities, but very real men and women, our own flesh and blood. In Without Dogma is presented quite another theme, treated in a fashion strikingly different. In the historical novels the stage is crowed with personages. In Without Dogma the chief interest centers in a single character. This is not a battle between contending armies, but the greater conflict that goes on in silence - the battle of a man for his own soul.
