Journey to the South by Michal Ajvaz

Journey to the South Reviews

• 
  Vit Babenco

  Strange people meet in strange places… Strange people tell strange yarns…
  There is an unbelievable adaptation of The Critique of Pure Reason as a ballet and during its performance the murder is committed…
  

  “I didn’t kill him, no,” said Martin. “The murderer was The Thing In Itself.”
  “I don’t get the joke.”
  “It’s not a joke. The murderer was the person playing The Thing In Itself in the ballet. Das Ding an sich.”

  
  Narrations within narrations… Everything is far-fetched and hammered together very poorly and clumsily… The style is amateurish and the language is flat… Premises and details are preposterous and often inane…
  

  The lone diver thrust his hand in among the pulsating anemones and felt the hardness of metal. What he was holding appeared to be wire; lifting it out of the bed of anemones, he saw that the twists in the wire described carefully shaped letters of the alphabet. He bent to read, with astonishment, the following: As Richard’s car plunged toward the green hillside of the Chapultepec, a dark figure holding a submachine gun leaned out of the back window. There were three flashes and the sound of three short bursts of gunfire.

  
  Fantastic heroes adventure in their fantastic universe and trashy bozos die in their trashy world.
• 
  Glenn Russell

  
  
  
  The Greek island of Loutro, off the southern coast of Crete, serves as the location where a Czech named Martin sits at a restaurant by the sea and relates his tale to a fellow countryman who is also a lover of literature.
  
  Or, more accurately, a series of tales: stories nesting within stories. It begins with Martin recounting his time in Prague, where he witnessed a murder during a ballet based on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. The victim was Petr Quas, seated in the front row, and the perpetrator was the Thing in Itself. Does this sound fantastic? It is indeed fantastic, and this is just the warm-up.
  
  Turns out, the ballet was the creation of Tomáš Kantor, Petr's stepbrother. Tomáš was also murdered; he had been stabbed thirteen times in mysterious circumstances while in Turkey, in the sea at the age of thirty-eight. Martin learns all of this from Kristýna, the beautiful young redhead who was Tomáš' ex-lover.
  
  Kristýna goes on to relate the lives of both Petr and Tomáš, including details of the novel Tomáš wrote in his tiny Prague apartment and while working as a train dispatcher in an isolated tower. Tomáš's novel takes place in the imaginary port city of Parca in Southern Europe. At one point, the novel's main character, Marius Sten, sustains a serious injury during a demonstration in the street and is taken by Rita, his girlfriend, to her grandparents' apartment to recover. While there, Marius listens to old Hella as she conveys an elaborate tale created by her husband, Hector, who is, without a doubt, as we come to learn, a phenomenal storyteller.
  
  The setting for Hector's yarn is a Central American country in political turmoil. A war breaks out with its southern neighbor. Enemies of the president kidnap Fernando, his son and a writer, holding him prisoner and isolating him in a shack at the edge of their prisoner-of-war camp in the jungle. Despite being devoid of paper and pen and enduring sweltering heat, Fernando devises a method to write a novel during his captivity. Eventually, the war ends, and although Fernando is never seen again, his novel survives. The way the novel was written and the circumstances of its discovery are truly mind-blowing, serving as a prime example of Michal Ajvaz's high-octane, turbo-charged imagination.
  
  What about the nature of Fernando's novel? Fernando's father and everyone else in the country expected a fictionalized account of his life as a prisoner-of-war. Surprise! Fernando wrote a futuristic science fiction novel, à la Philip K. Dick, about a man named Leo, initially held captive on the top floor of a modernist skyscraper by the svelte daughter of a billionaire. Leo eventually escapes and befriends two gorgeous women - but then comes the shock: they are not human; rather, one is a robot and the other is an immortal daemon. Do you sense a drama clicking into PKD overdrive? Actually, I found Fernando's novel, retold by Martin in 100 pages, the most compelling and enjoyable part of Journey to the South.
  
  
  
  All that I've written above only serves as a quick overview. Michael Ajvaz bestows numerous stunning details upon each story, even as those stories unfurl and spiral into further iterations. For example, we are provided with the history of Parca, tracing back to Roman times and extending through the Renaissance, right up to the present day, with a special emphasis on architecture and a particular movement rooted in antiquity. Another instance involves Linda the robot - her development, the abuse she endured at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her eventual flight to freedom.
  
  One Thousand and One Nights, Sinbad the Sailor, Borges, and Calvino all come to mind. From my own reading, I'd like to add Escher's Loops by Serbian author Zoran Živković, a novel modeled after the artwork of M.C. Escher. In point of fact, toward the end of its 600 pages, Martin's mesmerizing tale even makes a direct reference to the famous Belgian illustrator. As I turned the pages, I envisioned Escher's art on several occasions, such as when I read Martin's account of Tomáš musing on his own writing process:
  
  "Tomáš was so fascinated by the voice he was hearing that he knew he would listen to it forevermore. He acknowledged that fate had cracked an excellent joke: Emptiness and what filled it most were one and the same thing. Wrapped up inside it were thousands of stories; in each image and sentence of these stories, other stories were wrapped, in the others yet others, and so on. And the stories didn't just lie there unconcerned - they pushed their way out, demanding to be developed, and that every image, tone, melody, and thought contained within them should be opened out."
  
  The second and concluding part of Journey to the South undergoes a shift to an Odyssey-style adventure, wherein Martin and Kristýna assume the roles of amateur detectives, pursuing clues in their quest to uncover who was responsible for the deaths of the two brothers, Petr and Tomáš. Their travels lead them to Hungary, where they engage in discussions about art, origin, and meaning with the artist József Zoltán. These discussions are primarily centered around his artwork, "Meditating Ant," and his utilization of a symbol that they recognize from the city of Parca in Tomáš's novel. Much like an Escher illustration, signs, symbols, characters, and actions from all the stories become linked and interconnected, thereby prompting the pair to persist in their travels and undertake a more extensive and profound investigation.
  
  I could go on, but I'll stop here. I've posted reviews for Michal Ajvaz' three other novels published in English: The Other City, The Golden Age, Empty Streets. All are marvelous displays of the Czech author's imagination on fire, but I would think many readers would judge Journey to the South his true masterpiece, a novel I can't recommend highly enough.
  
  
  Czech author Michal Ajvaz, born 1949
• 
  Joseph Schreiber

  Although I've wanted to read Ajvaz for years, this 600-page unusual murder mystery is my first experience of his idiosyncratic storytelling—a kind of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink adventure that, so far as I can tell, includes the kinds of ideas and narrative-within-narrative stylings he favours including forays into science fiction, comic hero stories, car chase scenarios and philosophical detours. The form will not work for everyone—it is tell, don't show with a narrative that at times becomes deeply layered—but if you accept the journey it takes you on, it is, in the end a mystery with a satisfying conclusion and many interesting ideas about the source of the creative process along the way.
  A much longer review can be found here:
  https://roughghosts.com/2023/03/06/ou...
• 
  Kevin Adams

  One of my favorite reads of the year. Layers upon layers. Stories within stories. All are riveting. None are boring. And it comes together at the end. My first Michal Ajvaz, not my last.
• 
  Pakobylka

  Po dočtení celé knihy, když jsem si už udělala ucelený obrázek, pospojovala souvislosti a je to celé tak nějak uzavřené, musím konstatovat, že hodně dobrý.
  Na druhou stranu, v průběhu čtení jsem dostala na Ajvaze docela vztek za to nekonečné řetězení příběhů, kdy v jednom příběhu někdo začíná vyprávět zase jiný příběh a v tom jeho příběhu nastane totéž a dál a dál... to už jsem fakt naštvaně prskala a ztrácela v tom přehled.
  Naštěstí se to potom zase rozmotá, příběhy se ukončí a jako po schodech se vrátíme k tomu původnímu o co vlastně od začátku šlo. Takže pochopení celku je učiněno zadost a můžeme se trochu pokochat i poeticky vylíčenými krásami Středomoří, zvráceností lidských vztahů, nevyzpytatelností osudu a tak.
• 
  Krzysztof Maciejewski

  Literally one of the best books I've read in my adult years. Imagination, language, ideas... Yet the greatest reason that popculture as a puzzle is capable to create high-end literature.
• 
  Ана Хелс

  Наричат такива романи многофасетни, мета-романи, романи – матрьошки, романи-спирали, романи-пъзели, усложнени до невъзможност кутии на Шродингер с повече от две възможности за съществувание. Затова и не много хора се унасят в порива си да се зачетат след първите няколко реда, водещи в една прилично голяма заешка дупка, където те чакат толкова странно свързани събития от реалността, че просто терминът реален съвсем губи своя смисъл откъм рационалност или предвидимост. Това не е нова книга, не е мащабно събитие, не е бестселър. Но е безумно лично пътешествие, включващо всичко без единия личен момент – по-скоро ви очакват моментите на нещо, което условно можем да наречем Легион – защото някои сме съставени от много.
  
  Навлизаме в доволно странна история, включваща театър по философска книга, труп в ложата, още един труп в мрежите някъде по турския бряг, и двама непознати, пиещи узо в крайбрежната красота на Кипър. На сцената се появява купчина книги и четящият ги, който разказва отново за книги, но други, сякаш демонстрира с каква плеяда лица разполага, и въпреки това си слага още някакви други, напълно неочаквани и допълнителни маски, колкото да ни намекне, че се заемаме с твърде напрягащо сетивата ни дело.
  
  В противоречиво повествование научаваме за създателя на философския театър, по съвместителство и вече отдавна изстинал кадавър. Дисектираме душа, стремяща се към всичко красиво и творческо, но обсебена от милиардите възможности за претворяване на всяка искра живот наоколо до степен, че се отказва от всичко в полза на пълната липса на какъвто и да е творчески мотив в битието си и се отдава на спасилата го от безумния шум на толкова упоритите възможности празнота. Докато един ден не успява да се справи с образите, прелитащи под прозорците му, и нашият герой създава книга, в която въпреки опитите му да няма главен герой, се озовава без да иска насред толкова объркана история с безброй лица, че сме просто обречени да го следваме без ариаднева нишка в лабиринт от вероятности, които нищо чудно да се случват и сега.
  
  В измислен град някъде по италианското крайбрежие един преподавател търси изкупление в празнотата, но намира една странна и непълноценно споделена любов. Всъщност, не е една. Но в основата на тази история е как се ражда и развива една масова истерия по привидна фикция като древна раса, населявала преди измислено време, по измислен начин и с измислена етично-морална система малкото градче. Как се създава една илюзия, как се подхранва, докъде се достига в лудостта на масовото желание за смислени корени и връзка със земята. По средата на този абсурдизъм обаче се спъваме в друг – една странна картина в бароков стил и водолаз, вадещ книга, създадена от огъната тел.
  
  И се пренасяме в джунглите на някоя несъществуваща бананова република, с малки тирани, концлагери, местни битки на дребно, силно мистично настроено население, и един изгубен син, от който има един-единствен, напълно погрешно разбран завет под формата на стотици метри огънати в странни думи тел. И влизаме в поредната, но не и последна книга, която ни отнася в алтернативно бъдеще, населено с роботи за забавление и забравили силите си демони, красиви отегчени наследници с безкрайни възможности и тъжни творци, търсещи вдъхновение на странни места. Намесват се ловци на глави, нарко дилъри, мексикански местни величия, картини, бягства, и изгубени спомени. След което се завръщаме назад по спиралата, търсейки отговора на нечий въпрос, който сме изпуснали, докато сме се оглеждали за отдавна изгубената земя под краката ни.
  
  Връщаме се в началото, за да разберем, че книгата на основния не-жив в историята, се е превърнала в нещо далеч по-сложно и от най-фантастичната ни представа за самостоятелен разум. Авторът ѝ до такава степен е искал да вложи в една-единствена творба всички възможности, породени от нея, че от простичката история се раждат музика, картини, комикси, филми, теории, есета и псевдо научни открития, допълващи малката вселена в ръцете ни. Ситуацията излиза извън контрол, отдадеността на нищото, чакащо някак нещо да се случи, неусетно прелива в абсурдното преследване на всичко, минавайки пътища, по които човешки крак дори и на ум е опасно да стъпи дори и за секунда.
  
  Усилията не винаги водят до заветната цел, разочарованието от хвърлените в безумен труд лични жертви, които не винаги се увенчават с лелеяният награден фонд, могат да обсебят не по-зле от който и да е позитивен копнеж съзнанието. Защото хората не получават това, което заслужават, или това, за което са се борили, а само онова, което някой друг реши да им даде, или сами решат да си вземат въпреки всичко, готови да платят поисканата им в последствие цена, каквато и да се окаже тя. За единия миг, или за едната вечност – понякога границите се събират твърде неуместно.
  
  Пътуването на юг е свидетел на смъртта на една човешка вселена, като историята се превръща в почти криминално разследване със въображаеми артефакти като трошици вълшебен прах, отнасящи ни до брега на парче от действителността, където животът добива солидност и смисъл отново, до следващото споделяне и игра на случайността – разтворила се книга, дочута фраза, музикален фрагмент, които отново ни връщат в нескончаемото преследване на есенцията на съзиданието. В многоличностното откриваме съкровеното, в чуждото – своето, в другия – себе си. Проследяваме с пръст плетеницата от събития, довели ни в края на началото на нещо, което много прилича на живот. Къде е юг, освен там, където сърцето ни води, защото то си иска своето, и не признава разстояния, логика или наличието на пулс дори. По-ясен Павич, по-смислен Браун, по-близък като душевност Борхес. Или нещо друго. Айваз.
• 
  Robert Banovský

  Opravdu zvláštní kniha, pro mě na pomezí mezi 4 a 5 hvězdami. Tváří se jako částečně detektivní román, ale rozhodně jím není, je to příběh o Prázdnotě, s velkým P. Prázdnotu (s malým p) si často spojíme s absencí čehokoliv, ale zde je Prázdnota naopak zdrojem tvoření, věčnou inspirací, začátkem i koncem. Teď to po sobě čtu a jsou to hrozný bláboly. Ale tato kniha není blábol ani náhodou, je vlastně fantastická, poutavá, dojemná, a má smysl, děj i adekvátní zakončení. Na Ajvaze jsem po přečtení Druhého města trochu zanevřel, ale Cesta na jih je něco úplně jiného - mnohem lepšího. Akorát se to težko popisuje.
• 
  Jacek Zadrożny

  Uwielbiam takie książki. To jak kupowanie na promocji: czytam jedną książkę, a w środku mam ich kilka lub kilkanaście (zależy jak liczyć). Powieść szkatułkowa, chociaż z tego formatu też się wyrywa. Pierwsza warstwa opowieści Martina piszącego doktorant z Kanta najbardziej dopracowana literacko. Im głębiej wchodzimy w kolejne historie, tym bardziej są naszkicowane, czy lepiej powiedzieć - streszczone. A jest to też powieść drogi, metapowieść o pisaniu powieści, kryminał, dramat, SF i co tylko chcecie. Znajdziecie tam nawet tajne sprzysiężenie, książkę wygiętą z drutu i wezwanie o pomoc z żelków. Zazdroszczę ludziom takiej fantazji i żeruję na niej.
  jest to też książka, w której można się zgubić. Mnogość wątków, postaci, historii, miast i pomysłów daje czasem poczucie przesytu. Trochę mam też zarzutów do języka, chociaż zdaję sobie sprawę, że to był zabieg literacki. Jednak pewna niechlujność, czy może raczej surowość językowa w niektórych historiach mnie zmęczyła. Tylko dlatego nie dałem pięciu gwiazdek.
• 
  Robert Wechsler

  It’s about time that this excellent Czech novel was published in English. I had read some of Ajvaz’s earlier writing (and even published an excerpt in the anthology
  Daylight in Nightclub Inferno: Czech Fiction from the Post-Kundera Generation) and found it well written, but too surreal for my taste. But this novel, which came out originally after I’d stopped publishing, is much more up my alley. I enjoyed its playfulness, its focus on storytelling (almost everything exists between quotation marks, but there is very little actual dialogue), in stories within stories about stories being told, etc. The only negative here is that the first half is better than the second half, which goes on too long and actual has some dull moments in its attempt to tie up loose ends. But that’s storytelling.
• 
  Mahira

  Přesně to, co bych od autora očekával... kdybych autora znal a neměl knihu zprvu mylně za cestopis a poté z části opět mylně za detektivku.
  Musím přiznat, že jakožto nepříliš rychlý čtenář jsem měl chvílemi pocit, že se v ději ztrácím, což, čta ostatní recenze, soudím, ostatně asi nebylo až tak těžké, když se tam dějů odehrávalo v rámci metapříběhu v první polovině knihy hned několik; celé je to ale napsáno tak, že vše ztraceno bylo během dalšího čtení a vylézání z hlubších a hlubších vrstev příběhu opět nalezeno, za což klobouk dolů.
  
  Osobně netuším, kam tuto knihu zařadit. Po boku tak nějak zároveň hlavního a vedlejšího detektivního pátrání po vrahovi hlavní postava ve filozofické rovině hledá ve stínech domů, šumu moře a vyprávění v Loutru pravý smysl své cesty, hledá sama sebe, což je, alespoň pro mne, popisováno způsobem, se kterým se dá po čase velmi jednoduše ztotožnit, a snaží se porozumět Prázdnotě, jde-li to. V každém případě je velmi krásně napsána a, byť cítím, že budu chvíli potřebovat pauzu, těším se na nějakou Ajvazovu další knihu.
• 
  BeaP

  In spite of my relatively low rating I don't regret reading this book at all. It's a real feat of the imagination. The novel is made up of stories that are all somehow connected by their motifs, and they're all variations on the same topic: artistic creation. A vast array of genres is included: a story tells a ballett, another a film, a third a cartoon. How does an artist get inspiration? How are works of art connected to each other and how are they connected to our lives?
  Some stories weren't really good and because of this the novel felt too long. Although I think I got the gist of the message, by the end I got tired and didn't want to think about the details.
• 
  Dymbula

  Příliš komplikovaná struktura, tak trochu ve stylu gotických románů. Možná proto, že mě detektivky a sci-fi a podobné žánry moc neberou, tak knihu nedokážu docenit. Ale i autor měl, co dělat, aby se z příběhu narychlo na posledních pár stránkách vymotal.
• 
  Piotr Ferster

  REWELACYJNA SZKATUŁKA!
• 
  Ania

  Choć w pierwszym momencie ta książka przypomina skrzyżowanie kryminału z powieścią filozoficzną, tak naprawdę zabójstwo i filozofia są tu tylko punktem wyjścia i pretekstem do opowieści o... opowieści. Przedstawionej jako groźny żywioł, „diabelski pasożyt” wypuszczający „natrętne, lepkie pędy zdań” i przemieniający poczciwych ludzi w mrocznych braci markiza de Sade, oddających się nocą okrutnym i wstrętnym obrazom.
  
  Ajvaz jak zwykle funduje czytelnikowi niełatwą przeprawę, chwilami lektura robi się nużąca, chwilami nudzi, ale niebanalne pomysły autora, medytujące mrówki, roboty, demony, wciągające historie oraz momenty humoru i ironii wynagradzają wszystko. Zdecydowanie warto więc zmierzyć się z tą opowieścią! Nawet jeśli niebezpiecznie się rozrasta, pączkuje i oplata jak bluszcz...
  
  [
  http://literackie-skarby.blogspot.com...]
• 
  Cryptid

  Pátrání po pachatelích/důvodech/okolnostech podivné vraždy chvilkami se zjevující v rozsáhlé síti všemožně propletených příběhů, pohrávajících si s žánrovými cliché asi hlavně dobrodružných příběhů všeho druhu. Tyto příběhy mají v zásadě podobu vypravování o dějích i formálních stylech různorodých fiktivích knih, filmů, divadelních představeních nebo i dalších vyprávění, které bych si v nějaké alternativní realitě i celkem rád přečetl, shlédl nebo vyslechnul... mnohdy se do sebe navzájem zanořují a je skoro nevyhnutelné, aby se ve struktuře vyprávění čtenář často ztrácel (i když není nijak závratně složitá...) a ochotně rezignoval na rozlišování mezi "skutečností" a fikcí, což bylo zřejmě cílem. No, mě to bavilo velice...
• 
  Mateusz Kulewicz

  Opowieść, w której ktoś opowiada opowieść, w której... i tak dalej. W pewnym momencie dotarliśmy chyba do piątego stopnia zagnieżdżenia. Chociaż brzmi to nieprzyjemnie, czytało się zaskakująco dobrze. Mam jednak wrażenie, że autor miał kilka pomysłów na opowiadania i stwierdził, że zobaczy, czy wyjdzie mu połączenie ich wszystkich w całość. W większości wyszło.
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  Michał Franczak

  Kilka słów na temat:
  
  https://medium.com/sensu-stricte/snuj...