A Chip Shop in Poznan: My Unlikely Year in Poland

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The chapters were relatively short and easy to digest, so it was easy to pick up the book and read for a short time. The diary entries are a curious mixture between, on the one hand, scrappy, fairly light-hearted, at times funny, but often boring day-to-day accounts of Ben’s life in Poland, and, on the other, more sustained and serious reflections which are mainly about the EU and about, immigration to England and to Poland. On the other hand, I also have to recognise that the author has done something that I could not even dream of achieving. Adeptly balances personal ruminations on love, attraction, and friendship, with cultural evaluations that subvert British stereotypes of Polish citizens […] An engaging romp through Polish culture, with a resonant political message of the importance of interacting with other cultures and preserving our ties with Europe. Descriptions and the way he noticed little things and him commenting what he took photos of was cool.

I have no issue with an author giving their political opinion and I suspect that the author and myself share the same opinions on many topics. Aitken’s unabashed nature meant that he could partake in cultural immersion in Poland on a grand scale. The idea of heading to Poland to discover why the Poles were heading in the other direction was an inspiring motive. By the year's end he had a better sense of what the Poles had turned their backs on - southern mountains, northern beaches, dumplings! He soon discovered for himself how low much Polish pay was and how expensive things like coffee and beer were.He visited Katowice, Gdansk and Wroclaw from where he took a bus to Auschwitz, which moved him greatly. To preface this section, I would like to make it clear that the blurb claims many things about the book which I find to be slightly deceptive. He wanted to get away from England before the EU Referendum and chose Poznan in Poland: the flight was the cheapest, and the place was unlikely to have many people from other nationalities. We should know more than we do about Poland, a nation with which we have had centuries of interaction.

I also admire that the author is so comfortable going up to people and just asking them questions, which is something I would certainly struggle with. One would have expected the former to highlight how Poland differs from England, but, in fact, they are disappointingly deficient in that respect.He seems to like Poland in the whole, but it doesn’t seem to change him much, which if he had, I would have found more interesting. I liked the chapters in Krakow and Konin; and reading about Hubert's farm, Jerzy on the mountain, and Christmas with the Polish family was all very enjoyable.

All topics are narrated with sensitivity, and Askitt is often able to take a step back and admit his ignorance on a topic or even to explain complex thoughts in a light and funny manner.

literally going to a stranger's house in the middle of the night to have dinner, having a beer with a racist bigot to 'understand his perspective', sleeping on the sidewalk etc. Aitken includes interactions with a very wide range of folks, including ones who didn't speak (much) English from across the country (he makes several "field trips" to other cities).