The Polyglots

By William Gerhardie,

Book cover of The Polyglots

Book description

The Polyglots is the story of an eccentric Belgian family living in the Far East in the uncertain years after World War I and the Russian Revolution. The tale is recounted by their dryly conceited young English relative, Captain Georges Hamlet Alexander Diabologh, who comes to stay with them during…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Polyglots as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Almost every one of the hundreds of books I’ve read in the last few years was published in 1925, and The Polyglots was among the most fascinating.

Gerhardie is rarely read now—although republished by NYRB Classics—but at the time, he was widely hailed as a genius: Graham Greene, Isaiah Berlin, and Evelyn Waugh are said to have spent their college days walking around with copies of his books; Greene said Gerhardie was “the most important new novelist to appear in our young life.”

The Polyglots has a Rabelaisian level of goofy mayhem and a Tristram Shandy-like wry understatement, with…

Want books like The Polyglots?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Polyglots.

Browse books like The Polyglots

Book cover of Death on the Nile
Book cover of The ABC Murders
Book cover of Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,188

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in East Asia, World War 1, and Isaiah Berlin?

East Asia 19 books
World War 1 933 books
Isaiah Berlin 9 books