"I've been commuting to work every day for half a year, and it takes more than two hours a day. I hop on the tram at one terminus, and get off at the other. I have managed to catch up on the books from the last few years," says Radosław from Maślice. "You have no time to read at home, because there is dinner, there are children, there is always something urgent you need to do.It took me a week to read Dukaj's "Ice", which has more than one thousand pages. I have read about twenty different books over the last six months."
Radosław says that novels make for the best read on the tram, and although he personally prefers fantasy books, he saw lots of fans of detective stories, mainly Scandinavian. He often saw the following names on the covers: Stieg Larssson, Jo Nesbo, Henning Mankell.
"It is mainly people in their thirties who read on the tram. The majority of them read books, but more people are using e-books as well," says Radosław.
A cover, a beard and a cap
I have been joining people who read on the tram for several days. It is a sin to disturb and ask bluntly: what do you read? I sometimes manage to get a glimpse of the title, but little signals may also speak volumes about the literary tastes of our fellow travellers.
I often see a dark-haired girl with delicate features and spectacles on Tram 33. You can see that she loves crime stories: she has her huge volumes wrapped in a newspaper printed all over with obituaries.
When I go to Leśnica I sit face to face with a young man. He is a hunky man with a long ginger beard and a heavy metal T-shirt. In his hands he is holding Wilson's "Fortress", which tells a story about German soldiers who mysteriously disappear in a gloomy castle somewhere in the mountains in Romania. I can imagine that he could be an ancient aeon that kidnaps the Germans.
I often meet a middle-aged man with a face of an educated person on Bus C, which travels on a route from Plac Grunwaldzki to Kozanów. He is well-dressed and always wears a beret or a smart cap on his head. Always focused on what he reads, he seems not to notice what is going on around him.
I have managed to spot a characteristic layout on the page: poetry. Author: John Milton, title: Paradise Lost.
What does the 17th-century English poetry sound like on an evening ride to Kozanów?: 'Is this the region, the soil, the clime,' Said then the lost Archangel, 'this the seat That we must change for Heaven? This mournful gloom For that celestial light?
Repent you who never return books
The Lost Property Office at the Wroclaw MPK has a special cabinet filled with books. At first sight, an e-book reader in a black-and-grey case seems the most valuable item in the collection. Unfortunately it probably went flat and we know nothing about the literary taste of its owner. "The e-reader has been here since May and nobody has come to reclaim it," wonders Urszula Paszel from the MPK Customer Service Office.
The books are wrapped in plastic bags. The first bag contains an old and thick German-Russian dictionary with a dry little plant in between the pages. It holds no signature or a book plate.
The next book contains a set of books published by Jehovah Witnesses, such as: "You Shall Live Forever in Paradise" and "Follow Me". They are nicely illustrated, clear and in mint condition. You can easily see that no one has read them yet.
The title of the next find is also promising: "The Way to Paradise". Apparently, a lot of people felt tempted to buy Mario Vargas Llosa's novel. Evidence? Signs of wear on the spine and a dog-eared cover.
Someone's favourite volume from their home library? Nothing of the sort. The stamp and sticker of the city library on ul Prusa on the title page indicate the owner. Someone lost the book and did not even bother to find out what happened to it. Perhaps they even paid the fine and forgot about the whole affair. Or perhaps others are still waiting for their turn to read "The Way to Paradise".
There are more sinners like these. The next bag contains: Jung, "Alice's Tulips", features written by the film director Jerzy Gruza, officially the property of the library on ul Grabiszyńska in Wroclaw. Lost by someone who loves psychology and romance, they got stuck in the MPK storage room.
Yet another bag: a book and a diploma for a Mateusz from Kindergarten No. 3 for participation in the arts competition for the best portrait of a bird that lives in the city.
"The book was probably bought as a present because it was new and in a nice bag," investigates Urszula Paszel. The person who was to receive the book was probably just as disappointed as the little Mateusz when it turned out that Igor Janke's "Fortress" was lost somewhere on the way.
Another shelf contains: high school handbooks in biology and "Believe in God with All Your Heart" in seven brand new copies. "A young woman called but never came to collect them," says Urszula Paszel.
There are also tram lit classics: Agatha Christie and a bag full of brand new books for children and young people.
How to study readership
"The best thing you can do is sit by the window, as far as possible from the doors or the validating machine. If you're on the bus, choose the front because the bus jolts too much at the back," Radosław shares a few tips on how to choose the best place to read in public transport.
The management of public transport companies in Wroclaw are perfectly aware of the fact that people read a lot on the bus. Together with Wroclaw's Mediatheque they organised a give-away to celebrate the World Book Day in April. Everybody took the opportunity, both the young and the old.
"It is quite likely that if someone made a study on readership on Polish trams, buses and commuter trains, the figures would be much higher than several books a year per person," says Radosław from Maślice.
