暗网禁区

The third short story book by the 暗网禁区 author Ur拧ula Kovalyk (born 1969) entitled 鈥淐ommon Dead Father鈥� (the previous two volumes were published in 暗网禁区ia in 2002 鈥� 鈥淯nfaithful Women Lay No Eggs鈥� 鈥� and in 2004 鈥� 鈥淭ravesty Show鈥�), appearing in the Prague publishing house MA扭A in 2006, is a surprisingly well-informed and deeply human probe into the life of women burdened by the numbing stereotypes and mechanical activities of everyday, highlighting the Hrabal-like 鈥瀟iny pearl found on the bottom of it鈥�, which is hidden in every person and surfacing in both quotidian and most unexpected moment alike.

Including eleven stories and the author鈥檚 interview expounding her views on men and women, her artistic alias inspired by her grandmother鈥檚 name, her work with homeless people and short accounts on her own life, the book provides a gentle and deeply felt account of the life of several women, from their childhood on through adult years, motherhood, ripe age and ultimately death. Girls whose lives had been since birth shadowed by the heavy drinking of their fathers (鈥淏etrix and I鈥�, 鈥淔ish Salad鈥�, 鈥淐ommon Dead Father鈥�) find refuge in escaping from their harsh reality, which they find no longer surprising: 鈥淕randma was great. A great bitch. (鈥�) Really, she was quite disgusting, but not even remotely like the father. With his socks on and what were once his teeth.鈥� (鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥�) They can take care of themselves and still be playful and daydreaming while fully facing reality. Their world is rough, full of violent men, yet, at the same time abundant with lovely humanity, gentleness and dreams. A genuine, childishly naive way of seeing, awakening and a harshly sobering experience of a young woman who, in an odd twist of fate, became a mother (鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥�); again genuine, sincere, harsh and yet so human is the rendition of dying (鈥淭hree Women鈥�, !Common Dead Father鈥�).

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ur拧ula Kovalyk鈥檚 short stories resurrect, with breath-taking precision, the half-forgotten atmosphere of the 1970s and 1980s: people queuing up for bananas, the deadening grey of new Socialist housing developments, uniformity of schools, restaurants and people. This world, though, is occupied by plenty of helpless and strained people, portrayed here as beautiful and unusual souls, innocent and unvarnished like children: madwomen (鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥�, 鈥淏athroom鈥�), blind young man (鈥淩暖啪ena鈥�), aged female singer (鈥淭ravesty Show鈥�).

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ur拧ula Kovalyk鈥檚 women, in their day-to-day existence of mechanical repetitiveness of movements, processes and actions seemingly representing a well-organized life, sooner or later see this surface of 鈥渃ivilized鈥� daily existence crack to open up dreams, crying into the darkness so hard until their emancipatory drive overpowers everything they have known and learned. The dreamy poetic quality of the short stories 鈥淟unary鈥�, with its heroine finding herself alone with the night, the moon, a picture of a boy and fish on seashore, 鈥濨athroom鈥�, whose protagonist, a woman, cannot resist the all-encompassing world of the jungle, and 鈥濩ircus鈥� with is peculiar, cruel atmosphere of the night.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Ur拧ula Kovalyk鈥檚 men are portrayed on a rich scale of emotionality: blind Jon谩拧 seeing through his fine fingers (鈥淩暖啪ena鈥�), ugly old Zden臎k, who, during a single evening, shows more empathy, understanding and humanity than all the dreamt-about princes of the former singer (鈥淭ravesty 拧ou鈥�), childishly charming and comprehending cousin (鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥�), 鈥瀟he flapping sweating buttocks of satisfied, selfish men鈥� (鈥淛ulie鈥�, 鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥�), violent drunk fathers (鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥�, 鈥淐ommon Dead Father鈥�, 鈥淭hree Women鈥�)

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The author鈥檚 style is austere, yet speaks volumes. The longest introductory piece 鈥淏etrix a j谩鈥� of twenty-four pages covers its protagonist鈥檚 life since childhood, on through adolescence marked with a beautiful friendship, motherhood, ending in accomplished聽 age sharing her musings over her current life among guinea pigs, small and lovely and vulnerable and awaiting their death. Shortly-clipped sentences that materialize things inanimate and their images are intertwined with perceptions of their heroines, making up dramatic, yet dreamy atmosphere: 鈥淚 love the town鈥檚 outskirts. The concrete pavement gives way to a graveled road. It is snow-white. It leads into a vast park. Everything is dark. The color black is sight-killing like the band over a jabbed-out eye. Not a single light around. Only Eleonora鈥檚 watch is shining blue when its hand passes half-hour. The night swelling like a big bubble, and she is now entering the suddenly silent forest. Her shoes dip into humid gravel. Eleonora knows that the road is grinding its teeth. Angry, it is out to bite her soles. As a punishment for this nuisance. At half past two in the morning. She smiles, and dips her soles even more deeply into the gravel 鈥︹€� (鈥淐ircus鈥�)

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The perhaps only weaker point is the story entitled 鈥淔ish Salad鈥�, where the book鈥檚 main idea, i.e. women鈥檚 right to make free choices in their life, sounds almost clich茅-like and unconvincing. As a whole, the book will surely have its readers touched by its peculiar and gentle poetics.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Rather paradoxically, the Czech translator is a man, Tom谩拧 Weiss; he does a very good job in finding Czech equivalents for all the fine nuances of its author鈥檚 soul imprinted in the text. Weiss鈥� Czech is flawless; considering that Ur拧ula Kovalyk is writing in the Ko拧ice dialect, an informed reader might wonder what this hasn鈥檛 found its way into the Czech translation. As one reader of Weiss鈥� translation of Ur拧ula Kovalyk鈥檚 short stories I find the translator鈥檚 job very skillful, and the book will surely be welcomed by young Czech readers who, unfortunately, have no longer such command of 暗网禁区 as their previous generation.

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Translated by 慕uben Urb谩nek