This second, and at the same time the most eminent and weighty, novel from Gombrowicz is - you can say - sensation in polish literature history, XX century. What could be interresant, different title have been never explained. "Ferdydurke" could be english "Thirty door key", what could be probably on account of ambiguous opportunities interpret this literary work, or perhaps reference to character Freddy Durky from not so popular novel foreign novelist, however Gombrowicz never had talked about him. "Ferdydurke" is almoust grotesque, burlesqe, comedy, nonsense... This novel has got as much interpretation as narratee, as much commendation as abomination and sneer. This is a story of a 30 years old Józio, who wakes up any morning and realize idle his life. Different accident (because of prof. Pimka) he goes to school, to catch up with backlog from past. Then he goes in digs mrs. Młodziak, and third place is uncle''s Hurleccy manor-house. But storyline is not so important, beacuse it''s only background for metaphor whole book. It is glut of nonsense and comedy, which is out in every page (fight for... faces - so human!, polish lesson and blind inculcate knowledge into students, and many, many another moments). In essence Gombrowicz had appointed 3 environments, triing to recount exactly theirs charachteristics. First is a.m. school, where Józio becames a part of big machinery of inculcate knowledge into students without rational explanation advantage it and this legitimacy. Man stays before towering scholarship, which he gets it from grandfathers, what is inaccessible for average individual. Młodziak''s house is a picture of middle-class, which desperately want to make one''s way towards fashion and West. Inside rules cult of study, rationality, so distant, that Młodziaks carefully keep under wraps everything, what can''t grow up inside they, like wanted ideals.
Gombrowicz adumbrates warped lifestyle modern familly, which can''t understand changes idea, but goes with this. Opposite Młodziak''s familly is manor - house, where comes Józio with his friend Miętus. This is tower of yore, traditional familly, where caste makes rules between people. This effect Józio left this place, because Miętus is hail-fellow-well-met with fieldhand, what get up Hurleccy''s nose. But we have to rember, that not storyline is here the most important thing in Gombrowicz''s novel. Action, which is – telling truth – as bad, as unreal, is only background to show real relations between people. This is one big metaphor, which explain must narratee. In addition, story is clear as mud and ridiculous, what makes narratees laugh (important to see, that another Gombrowicz’s novels aren’t so different from “Ferdydurke”…). This is too a kind of lingust prose, where a game with words is important piece of this literary work. In book’s text many times appear “dookies” (?), “calfs” (?) etc., what in unorthodoxity is metaphor. “Ferdydurke” – have to vest it with rights – hard and indigestible and, somebody could think – chaotic. Not many people see in any valorises, routinelly students catcall it. It’s worth to think, does it should be, when book is obligatory and many literature invastigators recognise it one of a kind…