Peter Gregor: Idiots Guide
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2008
Characteristics:
The book of aphorisms and epigrams which, uncompromisingly presents a satirical mirror not only for readers. A pert, sometimes a cynical, but honest insights, basic ideas, cues with a low dose of black humour, all of those, were sensitively lived through. In any case, you should not miss this book, if you are looking for the most beatiful jewels of contemporary slovak poetry in prose.
Anna Valcerová: Summer Snow
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2008
Characteristics:
As to the motivation, the latest poetry collection from Anna Valcerova Summer snow, brings the miscellaneous poems reflecting another piece of author’s life. Anna’s life is mercilessly touched by her husband’s death. The lyrical actress brings back the moments spent with him before he died. She appreciates his care of the closest one’s, which is representing by a wood and stone handmade log cabin as a symbol of their common home-place. With a decent thankfulness, she recapitulates the husband’s importance in her life. An interest about the other human destinies, especially about the women, acquires a different taste in this poetry collection. The author emphasizes the power of women, their ability to cope with difficult living situation, which the loss of their man definitely is...
Ľudovít Petraško: Bygone Times
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2009
Characteristics:
Far away from home, in Canada, Karol Manik has completed his memories of the childhood spent in the region of Upper Šariš, memories of the First World War and Italian front line, coup d’état and emigrant anabasis. He has never met with Anuška, author’s grandmother, with his grandfathers or father, protagonists of the second narrative line, despite this; similar experience binds them together. The family chronicle begins in summer 1914 and it includes the transformations that the history has undergone from this moment: both World Wars, first and second Czechoslovak Republic, Slovak State between them, short period of relative democracy after the war and its dissolution after February 1948. Petraško draws from other people’s and his own memories, from the press of that time and documents of the State Security. National oppression during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, national tension in the Czechoslovak Republic, Jews deportations and uprising, deportations into the Soviet Union and persecution of the political adversaries after the war – this period was evidently not loaded selflessly in favour of the man. He tried to conform, but finally didn’t avoid the confrontation. Talking about the turning points in the flow of the time does not sometimes avoid the risk of political incorrectness. Because the history is not the chorale, it is a mixture of voices where everybody has his own place and right – sometime polyphony, another time cacophony.
Peter Karpinský: Antisumption
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2009
Characteristics:
Peter Karpinský represents his second book for adults Antisumption after 12 years since the debut Notice for all owners of graves (1997). It was worth waiting for so long. Antisumption is a mature and conceptually sophisticated prose collection. Comparing to his debut, in Antisumption author manifestatives the sense of irony, comical elements interfere into the tragical situations. Indubitable refinement of this book related to author erudition, is shown in Allusion to the Bible, myths and world literature. The multiple plans are interacted and blended together in his stories, reality with the irreal, transformed myth with the story from today. The difficult is also the semantics of his latest prose, cause Karpinský can create and keep the secret until the end of text. In everyday situations in block of flats, hospital, newspaper stand, city and odd contryside too, the strange things begin to happen, as the author’s characters often have the supernatural power – some phenomena (of our lives either) we cannot understand. Antisumption is an attractive, but not a vacantion book, in which the open conclusions of the stories leaves Karpinský to the reader’s concretization.
Andrijan Turan: Origami
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2010
Characteristics:
Collection of poems Origami was not written, but whispered. It is a pure crystal and realistic record of the feeling’s genesis which is said not to last for a long time. These verses were created during sleepless nights and gloomy days, in the morning with the dawn’s light and first ray during awakening. Author offers a reader the poems written in blood, poems about searching, finding, loosing, experiencing and enchanting the most genuine feeling. Poems about a woman with the secret of silence accompanied by angels. About a being which we’ll meet only one time during the whole life in order to light us up for a while.
Roman Kaliský-Hronský: Give the Elevator to Sisyphus!
Pectus publishing house, Košice 2010
Characteristics:
Author’s prosaic debut Give the Elevator to Sisyphus! brings the inexorably realistic stories of various characters – from homeless man through soldier in love or peculiar opera lover to the drug addict model. World in which the heroes of short stories are living does not always look kind and happy. Author does not sermonize; he rather states the merciless facts in a dry manner. References to the everyday life are evident, fitting and appropriate – it is not possible to escape the reality or to keep out of it. Experienced narrator tells the real catchy short stories, mature in style. He lets his characters walk by their own ways, often to the end with a tragic form. Although majority of people would rather avoid the depicted situations, these stories can drag into their nets anyone.