Cosmos

Witold Gombrowicz · 1904–1969 · Poland

Originally Kosmos (Polish)

Why it matters

Two young men on holiday become obsessed with a series of trivial, possibly meaningless signs: a hanged sparrow, a mark on a ceiling. Gombrowicz's late masterpiece turns paranoid pattern-seeking into a metaphysical detective story.

At a glance

A deliberately paranoid, digressive narrator obsesses over meaningless detail with no plot resolution.