Miranda (novel)

Miranda is a novel written by Antoni Lange in 1924. It is the last great work of Lange  and his most famous book today. It is said that Miranda is an "occultic fiction"A. Niewiadomski, W kręgu fantazji Antoniego Langego, w: A. Lange, Miranda i inne opowiadania, Warszawa 1987, p. 227 and a "romance ranked to a philosophical treaty".Ibid. The novel is also known as a mix of dystopia and utopia.A. Smuszkiewicz, Zaczarowana gra. Zarys dziejów polskiej fantastyki naukowej, Poznań 1982, p. 141 
The novel was translated into English (in 1968), French, Spanish and Italian.

Explanation of the novel's title
The novel's title refers to the character Miranda, from Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Miranda also has been influenced by work such as: Men Like Gods by Herbert George Wells; The City of the Sun by Tommaso Campanella; Lenore by Edgar Allan Poe,;Genezis z Ducha by Juliusz Słowacki; poems by Cyprian Kamil Norwid; writings of Friedrich Nietzsche (criticism of concept of the Übermensch); Arthur Schopenhauer; Plato; and Sanskrit epics of ancient India.

Plot summary
The novel tells about a civilization of Brahmans who have powerful skills. They can speak with their minds, and levitate (float in the air). The Brahmans in the book value freedom, peace, and free love about all. Their country is led by the Ministry of Love, Ministry of Power and Ministry of Wisdom. The Brahmans use a strange chemical named Nivridium to keep their self-perfect idea. The story is the of a Polish emigrant named Jan Podobłoczny (Lange's own parte-parole) falling in love with a woman named Damayanti. The book ends in a tragedy. In the last chapter of the novel, Damayanti sacrifices her body in order to let her spirit fly to a greater level of though.

Miranda is a Scottish spiritual medium, who lives in Warsaw. She can talk with the soul of Damayanti and make a woman named Lenore appear. She meets Jan Podobłoczny when he is close to his death. In the moment when Damayanti dies, Miranda disappears.

References

Category:1920s books
Category:Novels
Category:Polish literature