{"id":470,"date":"2024-07-11T21:18:32","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T19:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pluh2.wordpress.com\/?page_id=470"},"modified":"2024-10-23T11:41:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T11:41:06","slug":"kloktat-dehet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/kloktat-dehet\/","title":{"rendered":"Kloktat dehet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(The Devil\u2019s Workshop)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Book of the Year 2005
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About the Book<\/summary>\n
Original Title<\/strong><\/td>Kloktat dehet pr\u00e1ce<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/strong><\/td>2005<\/td><\/tr>
Publisher<\/strong><\/td>Torst, Prague<\/td><\/tr>
Pages<\/strong><\/td>284<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n
Rights Sold<\/summary>\n
The Netherlands<\/strong><\/td>Ambo Anthos – Amsterdam<\/td><\/tr>
Germany<\/strong><\/td>Suhrkamp – Berlin<\/td><\/tr>
Hungary<\/strong><\/td>Kalligram – Budapest<\/td><\/tr>
Poland<\/strong><\/td>WAB – Warsaw<\/td><\/tr>
Spain<\/strong><\/td>\u00a0<\/strong>Lengua de Trapo – Madrid<\/td><\/tr>
Norway<\/strong><\/td>Bokvennen – Oslo<\/td><\/tr>
France<\/strong><\/td>Noir sur Blanc – Paris<\/td><\/tr>
Italy<\/strong><\/td>Einaudi – Turin<\/td><\/tr>
Turkey <\/strong><\/td>\u00d6nce Kitap – Istanbul<\/td><\/tr>
United Kingdom<\/strong><\/td>Portobello Books – London<\/td><\/tr>
Israel<\/strong><\/td>Achuzat Bayit – Tel Aviv<\/td><\/tr>
Romania<\/strong><\/td>Editura Art – Bucharest<\/td><\/tr>
North Macedonia<\/strong><\/td>Antolog – Skopje<\/td><\/tr>
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\u2018If anyone lied that they hadn\u2019t stolen a matchbox, they had to gargle soapy tar-water [\u2026] . We had to gargle tar for other lies as well.\u2019 This is the punishment inflicted on the orphans ‘scum, bastards, psychopaths, sons of whores and foreigners’ in the Home. These words set the tone for a formidable adventure of the boy Ilya, in which many events alternate at an increasing, murderous pace. It is a quest for liberation reminiscent of playing a computer game. By Ilja’s hand, we look for a way out: we grope around, take side paths, investigate, get trained, meet different character actors, learn from them and carry out assignments. This is how we develop our traits to be able to go to the next level. And when Ilja finally opens the right door or fatal door, the game only breaks loose in full force. The game gets fiercer, more dangerous, becomes a phantasmagoria and, as is common in action games, ends in an apocalypse, allowing Ilja to finally free himself. The essence of such a game is not to die, and that is what Gargling with Tar<\/em> is about. It is about survival, about the instinct for self-preservation at any cost and under any circumstance. And what then is good and evil, and what is guilt?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is set against the post-war history of Czechoslovakia. The backdrop is communist rule and the Prague Spring, and the pages are populated by gypsies, nuns, communists, villagers, and even circus performers. The style is unpolished, raw and poetic and penetrates to the bone. Topol is an author who writes as he breathes, and he lets his imagination run wild in this book without becoming implausible, or as Ilya writes on the last page: \u2018I\u2019ve written down the truth about everything I\u2019ve been through. I\u2019ve written about the war of the Czechs and Slovaks with the armies of the five states, and it\u2019s all true. There isn\u2019t enough tar water in the world for me to gargle if I told a single lie.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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As the acrobat says, \u2018up this Czech end of shit creek\u2019, those in the middle have to survive. Few Czech novelists have tackled 1968 head-on. Topol does so with bracing irreverence as well as pity\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 The Independent<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cRe-enactment of a trauma: Czech writer J\u00e1chym Topol presents the suppression of the Prague Spring as a provincial farce – the historical drama as absurd theatre.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cDefinitely, Topol expresses both the continuity and originality of Czech literature. Weird and clever, he is both. \u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 De Volkskrant<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Translations<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Spoelen met teerzeep<\/summary>\n

Ambo|Anthos, Amsterdam, 2006<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Edgar de Bruin<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Zirkuszone<\/summary>\n

Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 2007<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Milena Oda and Andreas Tretner<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Strefa cyrkowa<\/summary>\n

WAB, Warsaw, 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Leszek Engelking<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

K\u00e1tr\u00e1ny<\/summary>\n

Kalligram, Budapest, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by P\u00e9ter Kolosz\u00e1r<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

G\u00e1rgaras con alquitr\u00e1n<\/summary>\n

Lengua de trapo, Madrid, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Kepa Uharte<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

\u00c5 gurgle tjaere<\/summary>\n

Bokvennen, Oslo, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Kristin Kilsti<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Zone cirque<\/summary>\n

Noir sur Blanc, Paris, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Marianne Canavaggio<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Artisti e animali del Circo socialista<\/summary>\n

Einaudi, Rome, 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Laura Angeloni<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Sirk B\u00f6lgesi<\/summary>\n

\u00d6nce Kitap, Istanbul, 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by M\u00fcnire Turan<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Gargling With Tar<\/summary>\n

Portobello Books, London, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by David Short<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

\u05dc\u05d2\u05e8\u05d2\u05e8 \u05d6\u05e4\u05ea<\/summary>\n

Achuzat Bayit, Tel Aviv, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Pierre Friedmann<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Gargar\u0103 cu gudron<\/summary>\n

Editura Art, Bucharest, 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Lidia Nasincova<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

\u0413\u0430\u0440\u0433\u0430\u0440\u0430 \u0441\u043e \u043a\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0430\u043d<\/summary>\n

Antolog, Skopje, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Margareta Karajanova<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(The Devil\u2019s Workshop) Book of the Year 2005 \u2018If anyone lied that they hadn\u2019t stolen a matchbox, they had to gargle soapy tar-water [\u2026] . We had to gargle tar for other lies as well.\u2019 This is the punishment inflicted on the orphans ‘scum, bastards, psychopaths, sons of whores and foreigners’ in the Home. These […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":468,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-470","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1744,"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions\/1744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pluh.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}