I have. I started with the novel, in a Polish translation, when I was maybe 13, and it had resonated with me so much that to this day I consider it _the_ most i

I have. I started with the novel, in a Polish translation, when I was maybe 13, and it had resonated with me so much that to this day I consider it _the_ most important book I’ve ever read. A formative read, indeed. I read the short story a few years after that. I think it’s the essence; I perceive it as a distillation of the novel (rather than the novel a dilution of the story, though I’m aware the story was first.) I guess had I started with it, I’d be considering it _the_ most important short story I’ve ever read today.