(By Means of the Cat)
“ He was an excellent writer.”
— Aktuálně

About the Book
Original Title | Přostrednictvím kočky |
First Published | 2014 |
Publisher | Knihovna Václava Havla, Prague |
Pages | 176 |
Rights Sold
The Netherlands | Voetnoot – Antverp |
Juráček left behind an archive donated by his son to the Václav Havel Library several years ago. An inventory of the archive revealed a series of short stories Juráček had written in his twenties in the 1950s, the existence of which was unknown – so they had never been published before. One would normally characterise these stories as “youthful”, “adolescent”. But as the foreword to the Czech edition rightly states, these are not the first timid steps of a great writer in the making: just as in his diaries, Juráček’s stories manifest himself as a sovereign author who has ‘arrived’ and ‘completed’ in every respect.
“In his early prose by ‘Means of the Cat’ his talent – narrative and observational – is undeniable. In short, Juráček was able to write captivatingly and insightfully from his youth.”
— Lidové noviny
“A frequent theme of the stories is the pitfalls of conversation and interpersonal communication in general. Almost without action, episodic micro-stories analyzing moments of passing and difficult communication. Juráček is also interested in moments of a kind of inner transformation of characters, as in the short story ‘By Means of the Cat’, in which a boy overcomes his fear of the spectral figures of a night street.”
— iLiteratura
Translations

Een straat zonder ambitie
Voetnoot, Antverp, 2016
Translated by Edgar de Bruin