ALEKSANDRA ZIÓŁKOWSKA
DREAMS
AND REALITY Polish Canadian Identities
Toronto 1984
ISBN
0-9691756-0-4
(...)I was delighted also to receive the books, and I
have already started reading my copy. It is written with genuine feeling for
the very special circumstances that the Polish immigrants encountered upon
setting in Canada and I’m certain that it will give the Polish reader a new
appreciation of what the Polish settlers have accomplished. Needless to say, I
was particularly gratified by the chapter regarding my father.
I would be happy to send you copies of my most recent books,
provided there was some way of making certain that they reach you. If you have
a suggestion, please let me know.
With kind regards,
Zbigniew
Brzezinski, January 5, 1987, Washington, DC USA
„Here is another important addition to the history of
the human side of immigration to Canada. This book by Aleksandra Ziolkowska,
translated by Wojtek Stelmaszynski, contains 31 narratives about Polish
immigrants in Canada. The stories depict the difficult beginnings of these
immigrants, some ending in disappointment, some leading to an outstanding
success. All the profiles in this volume describe real people and actual
events. The author’s goal is to give a true cross-section, an honest
representation of attitudes, personalities, careers and ways of thinking”.
George Bonavia, Books Noted For You, NORTHERN MOSAIC.
Dec-Feb., 1985
„In her 1984 short-story collection „Dreams & Reality”
Polish Canadian Identities”, published in Polish as „Kanada, Kanada”,
Aleksandra Ziolkowska-Boehm chronicles the daily struggles of postwar Polish
immigrants in Canada. With characters such as Maciej, a recently arrived
laborer in Canada, who finds himself employed by a miserly farmer who refuses
to take him to the doctor after he injures his arm, and Stefan, a shoe factory
janitor, who gives his address to an ill-mannered priest in hopes of getting a
job at the parish’s Polish school, only to receive Sunday offering envelopes
instead, the stories capture the daily tempests weathered by many postwar
displaced-persons. With a well-trained eye and concise writing style,
Ziolkowska-Boehm, a recipient of the Kontrasty and Zloty Exlibris awards,
allows the reader to experience the uncertainty, joy, and discrimination
endured by the masses of twentieth-century Polish immigrants to North America”.
Charles R.Kaczynski, THE POLISH REVIEW, New York, No
4, 2004.
“Information
concerning cultural maintenance is provided in William Makoski "The Polish
People in Canada: A Visual History " (Montreal, 1987), which also includes
an extensive bibliography of commemorative publications on the cultural life of
Polish Canadians. Anna Zurakowska, ed., "The Proud Inheritance Ontario's
Kaszuby" (Ottawa, 1991) describes the oldest surviving Polish rural
settlement in Canada. Polish identities are the topic of an article by Henry
Radecki ,"Ethnic Identities in Contexts,", "Laurentian
University Review, vol 13, no 1(1980), while Aleksandra Ziolkowska presents
thirty-one individual views of self-identity in "DREAMS AND REALITY:
POLISH CANADIANS IDENTITIES" (Toronto, 1984).” ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CANADA'S PEOPLES by Paul R.
Magocsi, Multicultural History Society of Ontario, University of Toronto Press,
1999, pg 1075, ISBN 0-8020-2938-8
INTERNET
Talent of
observations, August 12, 2001
Reviewer: A reader from Toronto, Canada
|
The book
is written beautifully and I learned about my fellows Polish immigrants a lot.
I can be proud of them. It is written with genuine talent of observation,
showing interesting details, thoughtful thoughts, impressions. I recommend the
book for everyone who wants to immigrate, not to scare him/her, but to appreciate
the circumstances the others had to go through. This book helps to appreciate
the new adopted country, and... to love the old country - Poland.
Very
touching and true stories!, January 13,
2001
The talented writer shows her interest in
Polish immigrants to Canada - their life and struggles, their hopes and
disappointments. It shows the achievement and happiness they found in a new
country and a new environment. The book is true, touching and very well
written. The original title in English "Dreams and Reality".
LETTERS
“I have read over 100 pages of “Dreams and Reality”
finding it interesting and absorbing. The personal stories and opinions of the
characters make it worthwhile reading (…)
Erik Boehm, November 11, Layton, Utah
Aleksandra’s book is very interesting and I like the
fairness of her reports. One gets very good an impression about the
difficulties and the life as it was at that time. Many people nowadays could
learn from the ones who had to rebuild their existence in a foreign country”.
Christa Kraft, 5 December 1994, Bad Kissengen, Germany
FRAGMENTS
WERE PUBLISHED IN:
*GOOD
NEWS (Miami)1997, “Down the Farm” str. 71-73, In English
*LANGUAGE
BRIDGES (Richardson, Texas) In English, Summer 1992, pg. 17-20
*NORDOST-ARCHIV VIII/ 1999. Luneburg 2001, Germany str.765-787
(In German)
