THE GATES OF PARADISE by Jerzy Andrzejewski | Book Review

A book review of Jerzy Andrzejewski's The Gates of Paradise (trans. James Kirkup).

Paperback, 125 pages
Published 1967 by Panther Modern Fiction (original published as Bramy raju)

Please note that the English edition of this book, though not his others, anglicizes his name to "George Andrzeyevski."

Books/articles/reviews mentioned:
Gary Dickson, The Children's Crusade: Medieval History, Modern Mythistory (London: Palgrave, 2008).
Jonathan Riley-Smith, "Crusading as an Act of Love," History 65.214 (1980): 177-192.

For more on Andrzejewski's homosexuality and how he explores gender and sexuality in his novels, check out Wojciech Śmieja, "A Piece of Fedora Cake: The Male-Centric Imagination of Jerzy Andrzejewski and the Scholarly Reconnaissance," Teksty Drugie 2 (2017): 179-199.

The engraving in the intro clip is Gustave Doré's "The Children's Crusade in 1212" (1877).

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[AnnNovella]

all your Dutch speaking viewers will immediately think of the most popular YA novel about this crusade. Kruistocht in spijkerbroek by Thea Beckman. I’m told that more and more historians believe that this crusade never took place.

[Patrick.__]

There is a reasonably priced copy on ebay right now for this book in case anyone is interested. About $30.

[brbosen]

This book sounds incredible! Thank you for such a well-presented review - I will be on the hunt for an English copy!

[tobinmoffatt]

Wow, a partially historical children's crusade. Hope Archipelago or NYRB have plans for getting this one out.

[SpringboardThought]

Ooo nice that you were able to get it, even if it’ll be rough for others. Sounds amazing, maybe NYRB is paying attention 🧐
Time to pull a KD Books and narrate it on YouTubes. Haha!

[BrandonsBookshelf]

wow, this sounds absolutely fascinating! Crusade history is really interesting to me, and I have never really heard of the children's crusade. Your description of the book has got me, now just have to find a copy lol.

[EricKarlAnderson]

This sounds so fascinating and you gave an excellent review. It’s so compelling how you describe the representation of interlinked consciousness. You picked some very evocative quotes. I hope it does get reprinted.

[authorleetee]

A few dozen readers now hunting for an impossible to find book! Great review, Sean.

[BooksYouHaventRead]

Do you have any other recommendations for Crusade-era fiction?