Pisać jak Gaboriau. O Po nitce do kłębka Kazimierza Chłędowskiego

Abstract

When it comes to novels, the literary output of Kazimierz Chłędowski is often forgotten. It does not appear on the lists of compulsory readings nor in literary-historical syntheses and it is not the subject of scholarly reflection. Chłędowski is known, above all, as the author of works devoted to the Italian Renaissance and of Pamiętniki (The Diaries). The novel Po nitce do kłębka(To follow the thread to the end) was written at the time when crime fiction was evolving in Poland (it was published in 1872). It is not an outstanding novel. The article shows it as an example that illustrates the beginnings of crime fiction in Poland: an attempt at following Western writings, especially French and English ones, in which the elements of a crime thriller are interwoven with romantic poetics.