6.6 /10 1 Votes
Language Polish Media type Print (Hardback) Country Poland | 3.3/5 Goodreads Publication date 1776 Originally published 1776 Genre Novel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Original title Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki Similar Poland books, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom (Polish: Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki; in English, more accurately, The Adventures of Nicholas Experience), written in Polish in 1776 by Ignacy Krasicki, is the first novel composed in the Polish language, and a milestone in Polish literature.
Plot
Krasicki's novel is the tale of Nicholas Experience (Mikołaj Doświadczyński), a Polish nobleman. During sojourns in Warsaw, Paris, and the fictional island of Nipu (based on Japan, known to natives as Nippon), the protagonist gathers numerous experiences that lead him to a rationalist outlook and teach him how to become a good man, and thus a good citizen. This rationalist outlook, often emphasized in Krasicki's writings, constitutes an apologia for the Enlightenment and physiocratism.
The Adventures of Nicholas Experience offers a portrayal both of the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and of the broader European culture of the time.