A collection of short stories by the winner of the 2012 Magnesia Litera Award for prose. The subject is relationships: dangerous, destroyed, burnt-out, stale.
Literary fiction
At the same time, the stories are intimate and straightforward, they are sensual and sensuous. These powerful texts let us observe relationships which were once beautiful but are no longer, or were failed from the start but without the protagonists’ knowledge.
More information in Dutch on the publisher’s website.
Praise
“This is grandiose literature […] Please, more of Šindelka”
— Peter Swanborn, De Volkskrant
“Masterfully composed”
— Anne Oerlemans, CLEEFT
“Hats off for this intelligently written and elaborate book, bringing together ten well-chosen texts which undoubtedly deserve to be called short stories. In it Marek Šindelka demonstrates that this prose form does not have to be – as many writers mistakenly believe – only a skilfully related record of an entertaining anecdote from life, but also a distinctive form of literary thinking and a linguistically refined testimony.”
“Šindelka is a thoughtful writer who carefully chooses words and sentences in the hope that he will succeed in capturing states of mind and therefore create a literary depiction of a particular type of human existence.”
— Pavel Janoušek, Tvar
Information about the original Czech edition
Other selected published translations (2)
Mapa Anny Polish
Карта Анны Russian