BOOKSHOP IN KRAKOW

Bookaholics beware. Research is the aphrodisiac you will get in truck loads when you find in every foreign city bookshops that have shelves containing English language books. Kraków was no exception. 

We live in Spain and one city that has remained foremost in my mind is Salamanca. Apart from being both grand and beautiful and spacious it has an important university. So, really it was no surprise to find shelves of book in English alongside other languages. I bought and took home with me a couple on Sir Winston Churchill that still rest on a shelf. 

There are many other places we have visited where we have found authors that we have not encountered before. I can give many examples ranging from Sanibel Island in Florida to New Orleans. Kraków was no exception. 

 MASSOLIT BOOKS & Café occupies a corner spot on Felicjanek 4 in Kraków. As of many buildings in this city it seems to hold the history and the mystery within the fabric of the exterior to throw its vibes on passersby. I still have that image in my mind. I think it is the events that Poland has had to endure through the era of Nazi suppression and then locked behind the barriers created by Joseph Stalin and the resulting Cold War years that reinforce my images. Inside we stepped into a world of many rooms loaded with books, pamphlets, and people sitting comfortably with coffee and cake. It has though someone had created another world. We loved it. The downside was that we did not have sufficient time to explore and discover more than we could. Michelle, of course, bought two books — she had to, you know! 

I browsed looking at writings on femininity displayed on a shelf near to where I was sitting. If only we had all day! Our main interest is in crime novels so the allure on mystery and death shouted from the front covers. We acquired, The Disappearance’ by Remigiusz Mróz that tells us —‘A Missing Girl, A Murder, A Lawyer On The Edge, and it’s ‘eyecatchingly’ orange and black cover with the magic of colour designed to make the hand reach out to grab it. The author has 46 books to his name so it should be well written and therefore a good read. ‘Final Appeal’ by the same author, this time advertised in an appealing blue is about — ‘It’s your first day in COURT and you have to defend a MONSTER. That says enough, I think, to encourage a read. 

 I was interested to know about MASSOLIT and why that name. Google does have its advantages and an AI overview I ignored but I found this. In Literature MASSOLIT (Bulgakov): An acronym for “Massovaia literatura” (Mass Literature) in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and the Margarita, representing a state-controlled literary union that promoted propaganda over art.  

 In the Real World MASSOLIT (Educational Platform): A digital library of short video lectures by university professors, designed for students (especially for GCSE and A-Level) and teachers, covering subjects like English, History, and Philosophy. Massolit Books & Cafe (Budapest): A famous English-language bookstore and café in Budapest, known for its wide selection of English books, community events, and cozy atmosphere. 

And now a trip to Budapest could be of interest although not for a while. I am now intrigued by the above information and another interest I could pursue. I had the feeling that the shop in Kraków was very different. There is a saying about a travelling broadening the mind, is there not?