Literatura ze środka Europy · Marcin Piotrowski

Pavel Vilikovský 🇸🇰 OSTATNI KOŃ POMPEI (2001)

·23 min·2 clips

Marcin Piotrowski argues that Pavel Vilikovský's 'Ostatni koń Pompeji' is the great Slovak novel nobody talks about.

The episode opens with host Marcin Piotrowski introducing Pavel Vilikovský's 2001 Slovak novel 'Ostatni koń Pompeji', published in Polish in 2005 by Wydawnictwo Sejny in the Meridian series. Piotrowski positions it as a potential 'great Slovak novel' that is underrated in Poland. The plot centers on a Slovak filmmaker on a language scholarship in mid-1970s London, a city still reeling from the loss of empire. The protagonist is writing a study on Joseph Conrad's Slavic emotionality, which serves as a springboard to explore Eastern European identity under Soviet influence. The novel is highly intertextual, with each chapter opening with a Seneca quote and themes of reincarnation and the titular 'last horse of Pompeii' appearing subtly. Formally, Piotrowski compares it to James Joyce's 'Ulysses' for its episodic London pub-crawling narrative. A significant subplot involves the protagonist's ironic foray into the 1970s 'Porn Chic' film industry, where he critiques films professionally, noting details like an actor's dirty nails to ponder truth in art. The host emphasizes the novel's sharp, understated irony in critiquing Western capitalism and superficial relationships. Additional layers include letters from friends abroad humorously describing life in capitalist countries and a diary from a 12-year-old Austrian girl in early 20th-century Vienna, adding a timeless dimension. Piotrowski praises translator Piotr Godlewski for adeptly handling Slovak-English linguistic humor and providing contextual footnotes. He links the novel to Josef Škvorecký's work, noting shared themes of emigration and the 'normalization' era's impact on the 1968 generation. The episode concludes with Piotrowski recommending the book as one of the best Slovak novels he has read, fresh and distinct, and promising future episodes on Slovak literature.

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