Authors

Tomáš Kolský's first novel - Ruthie and All the Colours of the World - was receiving critical accolades almost as soon as it was published. The work's skilfully crafted narrative is full of ideas, although it gives the impression of simplicity. Its subject matter - seen through the eyes of a young man - is topical and attractive and also of great and obvious social importance; nevertheless, it does have its light-hearted moments. Although Kolský's tale is heavily autobiographical, it succeeds in maintaining a certain natural detachment; hence we see the author remain philosophical about his own circumstances as well as those of his characters. The success of this young writer's debut work can perhaps be ascribed to the ability he demonstrates to observe unflinchingly the mental catastrophes and psychological traumata of today's civilization, while at the same time remaining a spokesman for a minority which has held on not only to its "common sense" but also, more importantly, to its pure sense of the unconcealed, uncontrived "colourfulness of the world". Although until recently Tomáš Kolský was a student of the natural sciences, his abilities as a scholar of Hebrew made it possible for him to stay in Israel for study purposes. His story has its basis in experiences gathered during this stay; the reader initially reads the work as a documentary-style description of impressions formed in the course of a stay of several weeks in the "Promised Land". The hero (who, with the exception of a few minor details, is identical with the author) is overjoyed to be - as a Hebrew enthusiast - in the region he has always longed to visit; but at the same time his own experience now serves to convince him that all he is seeing and learning about Israel is marked by an atmosphere created by the almost daily Palestinian terrorist attacks, which often result in the deaths of innocent people on both sides of the conflict. The major foci of his work are on how these tragedies can be comprehended, on how life in Israel can go on without respite from the immediate prospect of death. The most impressively lyrical passages in the book are those which involve Ruthie, a Jewish immigrant from the East who becomes a symbol of earthly glory in the face of the daily torment of mass spillings of blood. But the novel contains other storylines, episodes and situations, too, which allow for no possibility of a happy ending. (One such episode involves an encounter with a non-personalized, racist neo-Nazism which is obviously awaiting its chance.) The dénouement is inescapably tragic: this is the way of today's Middle East, whether or not the interpretation we give it is an existential or a documentary one. At times Kolský captures this world of conflict in the form of a modern fairy tale; more commonly, however, he perceives it as the harbinger of a coming apocalypse. But the overall tone of his prose is lyrical, and the effect of his work is that of an epic memento for society. The ultimate message of this debut novel is a plea to humankind: remain a man.

Deutsch Tomáš KOLSKÝ, Deutsch.doc

E chabib@seznam.cz

Agency (foreign rights)

Pluh, www.pluh.org