Case Closed by Patrik Ouředník

Case Closed Reviews

• 
  Glenn Russell

  
  It gives me great joy to let everyone know this is my Goodreads book review number 1,000. Many thanks to friends across the globe. I've been writing book reviews now for 8 years and look forward to sharing many more in the years to come.
  
  
  
  
  Case Closed, 140-page novel as multilayered literary cake by turns provocative, caustic, hilarious, curious and frequently baffling.
  
  I can imagine many readers pausing at Chapter 20 (the novel is 40 short chapters long) and asking: What the hell am I reading? Is this a mystery or metafiction or social satire or a meditation on language? Did Patrik Ouředník set out to construct a unique Czech chess game with the city of Prague as chessboard and characters as pieces? Would I have a clearer comprehension of what's going on if I were Czech and more familiar with the peoples and history of that nation?
  
  Legitimate questions since Case Closed is anything but your traditional narrative. So, what type of novel are we talking about here, a novel featuring a first chapter composed entirely of chess notation, one written by an author from the land of Franz Kafka, Karel Čapek, Jaroslav Hašek, Bohumil Hrabal, Libuše Moníková and Milan Kundera? Far beyond my capacity to even attempt a partial answer. However, what I can do is share a batch of Case Closed snips (I hesitate to call them themes or even highlights) I found particularly memorable:
  
  Prague Park Pundit - Retiree Viktor Dyk sits on a bench in front of a park entrance, an old timer whose acerbic wit provides the venom, the stinging juice, to kickstart much of the tale's drama. How? For one, Dyk misdirects an attractive young lady tourist who asks him for directions, sending her off to a seedy section of the city where she promptly gets raped.
  
  Secondly, Mr Crotchety, the cantankerous curmudgeon, continually drops Bible references - Proverbs 8; 125; Ruth 6.4 - real or fake, little difference, since years ago "he had come to realize that repeating what someone else had once said was considered the utmost expression of intelligence in his country." Ouch! Someone enjoys sticking a long, sharp satiric needle into his fellow Czech's soft spots - and that someone just might also be author Patrik Ouředník.
  
  A Mrs. Prochazka can also wield a needle dipped in back humor, as when she approaches V. Dyk on his bench and asks, "Have you heard? Mrs. Horak was hit by a car."
  "No! Is it serious?"
  Serious or not, she'd dead from it, dead as a doornail."
  
  Oh, Youth and Beauty - "Teenagers! Adolescents! Yuck! That calf-eyed look! Those squeezed-out faces! That herdlike confidence in their own uniqueness! That stupidity dating back to the depths of larval prehistory! That dinosaur-size ego, tamed by the merest whisper of Sieg Heil, Long live communism or Think different!" Rant on, rant on, Viktor Dyk! Or, should I say Patrik Ouředník? Probably both as one has the keen sense our Czech author closely identifies with said main character.
  
  Urban Planning Poopsticks - V. Dyk rails at all the dummkopfs who have infested and continue to infest his city of Prague. "Abutting the church on the park side was a small graveyard, which, remarkably, had withstood both communism's enthusiasm for dismantling and early capitalism's zest for construction." Again, another page into his tirade, "The neighborhood also had the park to thank for its peaceful reputation: too public for prostitution, too far away from downtown for drug dealing."
  
  I'm including oodles of direct quotes - and for good reason: so much of Patrik Ouředník's short novel is bound up with comic timing and the exactitude of language (appreciative nod to translator Alex Zucker).
  
  Sagacious Sleuth - Police Inspector Vilém Lebeda combines his literary and intellectual interests with sniffing out criminals in his ordinarily peaceful district. "When a real crime did occur, it was usually an unfortunate accident, a husband banging his wife''s skull off the kitchen floor, failing to realize how fragile a vessel a woman's brainbox is, or some pimpled retardate accidentally shooting a friend while showing off his new gun." Let these words serve as a warning: much of Case Closed turns its back on political correctness.
  
  Family Values, Czech style - Years ago V. Dyk's wife Anna died, leaving him with a four-year old son he would have gladly handed over to an orphanage. He slowly grew old and bald but there was some upside as women usually took pity on his premature widowhood: "Every now and again he would bang a female colleague."
  
  Literature, Czech Style - In his younger years V. Dyk actually wrote a novel, a novel he knew amounted to nothing more than a pile of crap but it did confer a measure of social status. Well, at least he finished the book without a lot of help from others. "To which we must add the traditional handicap facing every Czech writer: they take their books seriously."
  
  Sainthood, Czech Style - Before Vilém Lebeda became a criminologist, back in his teenage years he moved through life with the heart of a saint. As the narrator reports, if Vilém were born in medieval times, he might have been another Francis of Assisi but "in early-seventies Communist Czechoslovakia, he was inevitably taken for an ass." Also unfortunate, randy Vilém had little luck with the lasses - "he couldn't have gotten laid if he'd been an egg."
  
  Honest Author - Midway through Case Closed, the narrator (Patrik Ouředník himself?) comes right out to address us directly: ""Readers! Does our story seem rambling? Do you have the feeling that the plot is at a standstill? . . . Sometimes a person gets tangled up in his own life without realizing it: and the same is true of characters in novels. . . . How it will turn out, we do not know; whether it will turn out, we haven't a clue."
  
  Patrik Ouředník told an interviewer, "Most of the time I introduce myself as a translator rather than a writer; it has nothing to do with using an alias, or being modest: I just believe that translating gives me more satisfaction than writing. Let''s say that I have much more fun with Rabelais or Queneau than I do with Ouředník." On reflection, that's why I stick with book reviewing - I have much more fun with writers like Ouředník than I do with Glenn Russell.
  
  
  Czech author Patrik Ouředník, born 1957 - Photo taken around 2006, date of publication for Case Closed
• 
  Nora Barnacle

  Hvala ti, Vasiono, što nisam nastavnica srpskog! Onda bih morala da pregledam pismene zadatke. I ne bih znala šta da radim, ako bi mi đak na temu "Lik Smail age Čengića u istorijskom spevu Smrt Smail age Čengića" predao vežbanku u kojoj je haiku o brkovima (bez preciziranja da li je reč o Smail aginim brkovima). E, taj što piše te haikUe je ovaj Patrik Ouržednjik.
  
  Nema šta da kukam: lepo je u recenziji pisalo "nesvakidašnji fragmentarni metafizički triler" u kome pisac "sa lakoćom prevazilazi tradicionalni hendikep čeških pisaca da shvataju svoje knjige ozbiljno".
  Sve i da Kafku ne računamo u Čehe, alo, bre, ti, osobo koja dozvoljavaš sebi da izmišljaš latinske citate bez značenja i igre nemačkim rečima koje jedino ti razumeš! Ko je, bre, hendikepiran?
  Ukratko, žešća taština u još žešćoj praznini.
  Prevodioci (Marija i Alekandar Ilić) su, koliko shvatam, bohemisti od čuvenja. Ne znam češki, nemam predstavu šta je u originalu i ne mogu da cenim koliko je dobro urađen prevod: neke igre rečima se vide, no sve je to na nivou "Sedi dole, vole", ali imam osećaj da ovde i nije bilo mnogo prostora za razmahivanje.
  Ako bi baš tražila elemenata za 1+, evo: ima nekih zanimljivih opaski, javi se po koja zanimljiva crta nekog od likova, nađe se neka zabavna sličica, ali, ubrzo - pljuć! - u vodu besmisla.
  Spremna sam da stavim ozbiljne pare na opkladu da će ovaj, ko onomad Koeljo za Džojsa, uskoro izjaviti da je, recimo, Ibzen ili tako neko ozbiljan - hendikepirani ništak.
  Što se mene tiče, sve te moderne konceptualnosti i ostale eufemizme za umetničku disleksiju i bezizražajnost treba u ognju sažeći, ne bi li ih plamen pročistio od sulude ideje da je prevrednovanje tradicionalnih vrednosti znači menjanje starog (vrednog) za nešto novo, da, ali, najmanje isto toliko vredno, ako ne i vrednije. To se uči negde na pola gimnazije, kad završiš sa pubertetskim Weltschmerzovanjem i prestaneš da grafitiraš grad zaokruženim A od Anarchy. Ako nisi mimo sveta.
  Nula, Patriče, nula!
  Uz napomenu: ima jedan (pravi) latinski citat: Nomen est omen. Zoveš se isto ko onaj Sunđer Bobov roze drugar. Da ostanemo na tom nivou, evo još jednog citata (iz srpske sinhronizacije tog crtanog karaktera): "Napusti moje prisustvo!"
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  MJ Nicholls

  No idea what the experiment is in this novel, and the characters and plot are too threadbare to propel it from the trebuchet of aimless absurdism to the realm of supersexy textual derring-do. The weakest Ouředník I’ve (half-)read so far.
• 
  Banu Yıldıran Genç

  daha yeni yaşlılar üzerine bir yazı yazmışken nefis bir yaşlılık hikayesi olarak başladım “dava kapandı”yı okumaya. ana karakterlerden dyk huysuz, aşırı zeki, yalancı, her şeyden ve herkesten nefret eden bi ihtiyar. daha en başta yol soran bi kıza gıcıklığından yanlış tarif etmesinin kız açısından berbat sonuçlarını görüyoruz.
  ihtiyarlar, emekliler derken yaşlı bir kadının şüpheli intiharı ortaya çıkıyor. komiser vilém lebeda nevişahsına münhasır bir tip. ailesi onu hümanist ve entelektüel bir birey olarak yetiştirmiş ve sonra ne büyük hata yaptıklarını anlamış. burada açıkçası kahkaha attım çünkü oğlanı büyütürken sık sık ben de aynı ikilemde kaldım 😁
  pek çok ipucu lebeda’nın dyk’tan şüphelenmesine yol açıyor ama kanıt yok, herhangi bir şey öğrenmeye çalıştığı yaşlılar da her şeyi unutuyorlar. 40 sene evvel işlenmiş bir cinayet de var, bir dağ evi var, sonra intihar eden bir yaşlı daha var, var da var… sonuç: yok.
  hiçbir gizem çözülmüyor zaten yazar da bize sonlara doğru “anlamını anlamadığımız bir kitaba doğup zaten hiç anlamadığımız bir kitaba veda ediyoruz” diye başlayan bi bölümde bizimle nasıl oyun oynayarak dalga geçtiğini belirtiyor.
  sonuç olarak çözülmeyen gizemleri bir tarafa bırakırsak diğer bölümleri inanılmaz zeki, iğneleyici mizahı, komünizmle, stalin’le, çek baharıyla ve çekoslovakya’nın kendisi, halkı, habire bölünmesi, değişen isimleri, şimdi geldiği yerle dalga geçen, enfes bölümler. biz zaten çek mizahı denen şeye pek çok yazardan aşinayız. gerçekten farklı bir tarzları var. politik doğruculuk denen şey de dahil her şeyi, herkesi itin dötüne sokuyorlar.
  bu arada kanada firmasının bir mezarlığa çökmek istemesi, çingenelerin gördüğü ayrımcılık, tecavüz failinin “sadece bir an içinde kaldım, sayılmaz bile” demesi, andy warhol’un slovak ya da çek sayılarak tüketim malzemesi haline gelmesi neoliberal dünyada her şey ne kadar aynı dedirtiyor insana.
  bence romanda en kafa karıştırıcı bölüm dyk jr’dı. cidden onun varlığına hiç mana veremedim. bu arada çeviri çok iyiydi, dil oyunları, espriler gerektiğinde ustaca türkçeye uyarlanmış. göktuğ börtlü’nün eline sağlık. kitap 2. baskıyı yapmış bu arada, nerede bu okuyanlar, niçin hiç yorum yok? (@eylulgormus hariç)
• 
  Linda Tomase

  Vairāk nekā simt lappušu politnekorekta humora, intensīvais kurss... Labākajās labsirdīga cilvēknīdēja tradīcijās. Ar interesi uzmeklēšu un izlasīšu Ouržednīka populārāko grāmatu "Europeana, īsa divdesmitā gadsimta vēsture".
  Tulkotāja pēcvārdā min, ka P. Ouržednīks ir visvairāk izdotais čehu rakstnieks, pārspējot arī M. Kunderu un J. Hašeku. Lasot visu laiku vilku paralēles ar M. Kunderu - ja tā padomā, bez pamatota iemesla. Lai gan arī M. Kundera ar savu darbu palīdzību visiem un visam "sadod pa kaklu", tomēr viņa instrumenti ir melanholija, distance un rezignēts smaids.
  
  Halinas Lapiņas tulkojums ir lielisks. Nevaru novērtēt pārnesumu no valodas, kuru nepārvaldu, taču lasot jutu pilnīgu valodas komfortu.
  Iesaku!
• 
  Kurkulis (Lililasa)

  Īpatnēja grāmata. Galīgi nevarētu teikt, ka nepatika, bet kopumā arī no sajūsmas nelaužu krēslus. Jālasa pie noteikta noskaņojuma. Tiešām - stāsts spēle. Atsevišķos momentos biju sajūsmā - par pārspriedumiem (par to pašu demokrātiju), par dialogiem, par ironiju. Savukārt Dika dēla lomu / vietu nesapratu.
  Te var padalīties tikai ar sajūtām, jo īstenībā jau visu teikšanas vērto pēcvārdā ir pateikusi tulkotāja Halina Lapiņa.
  Sajūtu līmenī man vienbrīd asociācijas 'savilkās' ar Bankovska "Trakajiem večiem".
  
  <"Valsti cilvēkiem. Labāku valdību labākais dzīvei. Ar mums kopā pret korupciju."
  Katrā gadījumā Lebedu jautājums par demokrātiju apmulsinātu. Vai tad komunists ticēja vai, precīzāk sakot, cerēja, ka eksistē gaa dižciltība. Savienot gara dižciltību ar demokrātiju, kā zināms, nav iespējams: demokrātijā valda tauta, ne cilvēks, bet tauta netic ne dižciltībai, ne garam.
  Tauta atzīst citas vērtības. >
  
  <"Paklau, darīsim to ātri." teica leitnats Valāšeks. "Atzīstat, ka esat izdarījis noziegumu?"
  "Kādu noziegumu?"
  "Izvarojāt viņu, vai ne?"
  "Nūūū, varbūt. Bet tikai mazliet."
  "Kā tā - mazliet?"
  "Nu es viņā pabiju tikai pavisam īsu brīdi. Gandrīz nemaz.">
• 
  Eylül Görmüş

  Bu kitaba ne demeli bilemiyorum ya. Asıl "Europeana: Yirminci Yüzyılın Kısa Tarihi" kitabıyla tanınan Çek yazar Patrik Ouředník'le ilk tanışmam oldu ve sanırım çok doğru bir tanışma olmadı, zira fazla deneysel buldum kitabı ve yazarın neyi denediğini de tam anlayamadım açıkçası; sadece bir şeyin denenmekte olduğunu anlayabildim. Ahah saçmalıyorum şu an ama yani, kitap da biraz saçma açıkçası.
  
  Ouředník'i sevebilme potansiyelimi sezdim bu kitapla - en azından onu söyleyebilirim. Çünkü epey iyi yazılmış bir metin ve çokça da komik; Kundera'dan, Hrabal'dan aşina olduğum Çek mizahının izleri var. Ama fazla dağınık, bir yere bağlanmayan, tuhaf bir anlatı bir yandan da. Bir parkta banka oturmuş yaşlıların konuşmalarıyla başlayan roman dallanıp budaklanıyor ve 5'ten fazla ayrı hikaye okuyoruz. Bir cinayet var, tecavüz öyküsü var, şüpheli intiharlar, gayrımeşru ilişkiler, post-Sovyet dönemde sıkça karşılaştığımız yasadışı anti-kapitalist eylemler var. Haliyle de bolca karakter var.
  
  Bir noktadan sonra kafam fena halde karıştı ve üstelik kitabın sonunda bu okuduğum tuhaf suç hikayelerinin 1'i hariç hiçbirinin gizeminin çözülmemesi (çözüldüyse de ben anlamadım açıkçası) canımı sıktı, tadımı kaçırdı. Yani yazar ne yapıyor, niye yapıyor, amacı nedir kesinlike içinden çıkamadım.
  
  Ama tuhaftır ki yine de keyif aldım okumaktan; çünkü dediğim gibi, çok iyi yazılmış bir metin. Tabii olayı anlamayı ve okuduğum 150 sayfanın sonunda bir yere varabilmiş olmayı tercih ederdim.
  
  Okuyup anlayan olursa beni de bilgilendirsin lütfen. Teşekkürler.
• 
  Elīna Jurberga

  rotaļīgi, asprātīgi un tieši tā, kā man literatūrā patīk būt visvairāk.
• 
  Ingrida Ceple

  Labs! Ironija, dialogi, pats stāsts, īpaši jaukais Diks...
  Mans variants bija, kā tulkotāja aprakstīja beigās, aizverot pēdējo lappusi, grāmatu pāršķīru no jauna, labticīgi cenšoties atrast noziedznieku :) Pēc tam pati par sevi pasmējos. Bet varianti jau tikai divi - kāds te ir stulbs - vai nu autors vai jūs.
  
  Īpaši skaista vabole uz vāka Kriša Salmaņa izpildījumā!
• 
  haroon_90

  الرواية باختصار
  
  السلام عليكم ، وعليكم السلام
  
  نهاية سيئة مع سنة 2023
  
  
• 
  Quiver

  Čitaoče! Čini li vam se da je naše pipovedanje rasejano? Da li imate utisak da se radnja ne pomera sa mesta? Da se u knjizi koju držite u ruci na kraju krajeva ništa bitno dešava?
  

  
  
  Da. Padam li u zamku? Početak knjige deluje donekle nestandardno i pomalo intrigantno: stariji čovek na klupi juri bubice da ih ucmeka štapom, a pritom ima opori i bezobrazni unutrašnji tok misli. Šalje na pogrešnu stranu fuficu bez brusa koja ga pita za uputsva kako da stigne do te i te ulice. Dolaze drugi penzioneri i saznajemo da je jednu komšinicu juče udario auto. Krimi roman?
  
  Pa ne znam.
  
  

  
  Čitalac je definitivno shvatio da definitivno ništa neće shvatiti: šta može romanu da pruži smislen kraj?
  

  
  
  Obraćanje čitaocu na sred romana je prihvatlivo pod posebnim okolnostima, a ne kao poslednji adut da se prizna očekivana mlaka pažnja koja se posvećuje radnji. To je neopravdano.
• 
  Agris Fakingsons

  ..sasodīti labs romāns. ļoti ironisks. dialogi vispār spridzina. un tā doma, kas zem tā visa slēpjas, tā ir fascinējoša :D | mans vērtējums 4,5 *
• 
  Milan

  „AD ACTA“ je definitivno jedan od onih književnih biserčića koji nam prođu ispod radara jer nisu toliko izvikani i koji se utope u moru knjiga koje nisu ništa bolje (često i naprotiv), ali uz iz raznoraznih razloga popularnije.
  
  Lošoj primećenosti romana nije išlo na ruku ni to što je češki pisac Patrik Ouržednjik odlučio da napiše roman koji nije baš konvencionalan. Jedan je od onih pisaca koji računaju na same čitaoce. Na one koji vole da istražuju, tragaju za nepoznatim, neobičnim, skrivenim… I znaju da cene kada pronađu nešto takvo.
  
  Kao što sam na početku već spomenuo „AD ACTA“ je jedan od tih romana koje nalazimo tek ako odlučimo da zaronimo i da otvorimo baš mnogo školjki koje nas čekaju na policama knjižara.
  U pitanju je jedna totalno blesava i neizmerno duhovita (sa onim pravim, oštrim, britkim, vrcavim humorom) priča koja se odigrava u posttranzicionoj Češkoj. Glavni inspektor Vilem Lebede mora da razreši dva neobična požara u domu penzionera, sumnjivo samoubistvo, silovanje studentkinje, kao i nerešen slučaj ubistva star preko četiri decenije.
  
  Sve bi to bilo mnogo manje neobično da Lebede ima jedan hendikep. Naime, njegovi roditelji, vrsni intelektualci i humanisti koji veruju u progres i čovečanstvo, vaspitali su svog sina da veruje da su svi ljudi dobri i da voli književnost. Kada su shvatili da su se debelo z… li, već je bilo kasno. Njihov sin bio je prepušten vrlom novom svetu, apsolutno nesposoban čak i da komunicira sa drugim bićima (osebujan rečnik i čitav niz fraza i izraza koje je savladao čitajući more knjiga nisu baš pogodni za trivijalne i svakodnevne međuljudske odnose i ljudi su mahom mislili da ih ovaj zavitlava).
  
  Taj i takav inspektor još mora da se suoči za grupom džangrizavih penzionera koji mrze… pa ceo svet.
  
  Ovo je jedna od onih retkih knjiga koje su uspele da me od srca nasmeju i da zažalim samo zbog toga što ja nisam napisao ovakvu knjigu.
  
  Autor ove knjige jednostavno odbija da upadne u čestu zamku u koju pisci upadaju – da samog sebe i svoje pisanje shvate kao nešto ozbiljno. I upravo je to ono što ovu knjigu čini tako zabavnom i drugačijom od drugih.
  
  Preporuka, ali samo za ljubitelje pustih ostrva i neobičnih knjiga.
  
• 
  Evelīna Astrātova

  ja kādreiz esi aizdomājies par to, ko pensionāri spriedelē, parkā sēžot uz soliņa, tad izlasi šo. vai arī izlasi tāpēc, ka vairāk par prāta rēbusu un šaha alegoriju šeit nav un nebūs.. vai varbūt tomēr te slēpjas, kas vairāk?
  
  “lasītājs ir galīgi sapratis, ka galīgi nesapratīs, kas stāstam var sniegt jēgpilnu nobeigumu.”
  “mēs piedzimstam stāstā, kura jēga mums aizslīd garām, un aizejam no stāsta, kuru neesam sapratuši.”
  
  joki par čehu inteliģenci (vai drīzāk tās neesamību), pašnāvībām, jaunību, personiskajām vērtībām, demokrātiju, rakstniekiem un papildus tam visas citas nejēdzības apspēlētas ar tiešumu un paslēptas spēlē.
  
  man patika un bija visnotaļ uzjautrinoši sižeta pavērsieni un iekšējie varoņu dialogi, bet tā noteikti nav literatūra ikvienam.
  
  
  -“šodien neviens neko neiztēlojas. visi tik runā.”
  -“tāda tā demokrātija ir.”
  -“visi tikai pauž savas domas. pat nesaka, ko domā, tikai nepārtraukti par visu runā. katrs muļķis. agrāk runāja tikai daži muļķi.”
  -“tā ir demokrātija!”
  
  “cilvēku muļķība ir vienīgā lieta pasaulē, kura var dot kaut aptuvenu priekšstatu par bezgalību.”
  
  “jā, draugi! tā mēs te stāvam- svārstīgi un mācību neguvuši.”
  
• 
  Melek

  Güzel başlayıp, keyifli şeyler vaad etse de son elli sayfası ile kötü bir bitiş yaptı. Okumasanız da olur bence.
• 
  Malcolm

  I finished this feeling about as puzzled as I could be about what happened – on the one hand, like Godot nothing happened (but in this case, only once), whereas on the other hand an awful lot went on, but I-as-reader finished up not being sure what any of it was. Readers of (the marvellous) Europeana are likely to find this somewhere between disappointing and perplexing, in part because the narrative (such as it was) of the earlier book is more obvious than the one here. In a sense, Europeana is quite traditional, whereas in Case Closed we readers walk into a set of events already in train, and leave before anything is really resolved. That is to say, Ouředník has made us interlopers and eavesdroppers in events we never really get a hold of.
  
  We have a pretty cranky old guy (Viktor Dyk) who hangs round in a park in Prague – it might be Letenske sady and there are parts of the description that make me pretty sure it is, but others had fairly sure it is Stromovka and then at times I edged towards Vitezne náměsti – being vaguely misanthropic; a police officer (Vilém Lebeda) investigating a series of crimes – mostly minor, but he is interested in a 40 year old disappearance of woman, who might have been Dyk’s ex-wife but we’re never entirely sure, just like the park’s identity, evidence points in several directions, with what appear to be red herrings galore.
  
  Then there is the sense that the book has veered away from any particular narrative to become a playful meditation on the instability of language and the invention-through-language of experience and events so in places the dialogue turns to witty word-play banter; at times it descends into absurd cross-purposes and incomprehension leading to attempts to ‘reset’ to begin again.
  
  So, it is a book for indulgence, for abandoning the goal of comprehension in favour the uncertainty of the moment that we are in the middle of but are not sure either where we have been of where we are going, and by the end remain unsure. Delightfully indulgent, if more than a little perplexing.
• 
  Angela Woodward

  I loved his earlier "novel" Europeana so much--it's not a novel, and like nothing else I know of, elegant, repetitive prose poems about the history of Europe in the 20th century. Case Closed is completely different. I found it hilarious, and thought much of its humor must nevertheless have been lost in translation. Lots of linguistic jokes, slight, quick, and smart without parallel. I only lost my interest on the last page, when I couldn't believe it was over, and I had no idea what had happened. Either I have to read it again, or just say oh well, and keep recommending his other book. The back cover says it's disguised as a thriller, and there is a police detective, and perhaps a crime or two. I needed a little more in order to feel satisfied. But up until that final point, I really enjoyed it. I would read anything by this author I could find.
• 
  Pečivo

  Detektivka je žánr po kterém rád sáhnu, když mi shoří všechny knížky a vypadnou mi oči. Ani jedno se však nestalo a já i tak přečetl detektivku. No a jaké to bylo? Inu dle očekávání. A proč jsem to udělal? Protože jsem byl zase napálen.
  
  Namlsán Europeanou a Šmírbuchem jsem v knihkupectví zahlédl Ouředníka a tak rovnou pám: tak pojď. Kdo mohl tušit, že Ad acta je detektivní příběh o důchodcích? Já teda ne.
  
  Knihu jsem přečetl za den s tím, že mi unikaly různé brilantně vymyšlené a schované náznaky, kterej důchodce teda co přesně udělal a komu. Celý to je rafinovaně bez konce a tak když to v doslovu nějakej fanda detektivek vysvětluje a staví hypotézy jak to všechno mohlo bejt a jak to teda vlastně číst, nechalo mne to úplně chladným. Což nebylo vůbec na škodu, protože dneska bylo zase vedro. 3/10.
• 
  Staci Woodburn-Henry

  An utter waste of time. Ouředník is a clever writer and there were multiple moments where a particular sentence made me sit up straight and admire his skill (or perhaps that of the translator, Zucker, who did a brilliant job with all of the wordplay) but a few sentences does not a novel make!
  At most, we have here a few characters that did a few things, said a few things, and never came together in any sort of conclusion or meaningful way. I'm not saying that I can't appreciate an artist playing with what literature is understood to be or the way words are supposed to work together, but if you can't make it into something relatively intelligible or cohesive then for god's sake stick to to crossword puzzles.
• 
  Aliaa Mohamed

  أشعر وكأنني لم أقرأ شيئًا
• 
  Imre Bertelsen

  Geïnspireerd door Jorge Luis Borges heeft de schrijver van Een afgedane zaak er een sport van gemaakt om een zo postmodern mogelijk boek te schrijven. Hoewel het begint als een detectiveroman, heb je als lezer al snel door dat je nooit ook maar in de buurt van een plot of een oplossing van de zaak gaat komen.
  "Vindt u dat ons verhaal alle kanten op schiet? Hebt u het gevoel dat er geen beweging in de plot zit? Dat er in het boek dat u in uw handen hebt niets wezenlijks gebeurt? Wanhoop niet: of de auteur is een ezel of u; de kansen zijn gelijk.
  
  Op zich is het alleen maar goed dat dit geen standaard detective verhaal is. Ourednik heeft een volledig eigen stijl en heeft met Viktor Dyk sr, een nukkige Praagse bejaarde die wellicht meer met de misdaden te maken heeft dan hij zelf toegeeft, een van de grappigste romanpersonages gecreëerd die ik ken. Zowel de verteller als de personages reflecteren constant op het feit dat dit maar een boek is en niet 'echt'.
  "We worden geboren in een roman waarvan de betekenis ons ontgaat en we verlaten de roman die ons nooit echt begrepen hebben."
  
  Tijdens het lezen was ik de draad regelmatig kwijt en genoot ik vooral van de grappige korte hoofdstukjes. Na het nawoord gelezen te hebben begreep ik de bedoelingen van de auteur iets beter en is mijn conclusie dat het toch wel mooi is dat er nog steeds zulke vreemde en experimentele boeken geschreven worden.
• 
  AURORA RU

  "Cilvēku muļķība ir vienīgā lieta pasaulē, kura var dot kaut aptuvenu priekšstatu par bezgalību."
  
  Literatūra radās, lai saglabātu un nodotu nākamības paaudzēm dziļus, episkus vēstījumus. Literatūra izbeidzas ar šādiem te gabaliem kā "Lieta ir slēgta", kas nav pat post-moderns savārstījums, bet vispār sazin kas, pat autors ir nesaprašanā. Pensionāri sēž uz soliņiem un kaut ko tukši pārspriež, pa vidu ir (it kā)(drusku)(gandrīz) erotika, (it kā)(drusku)(gandrīz) detektīvintriga, (it kā)(drusku)(gandrīz) humors. Tomēr aiz tā visa kaut kas uzmirdz, varbūt cinisks un destruktīvs, vēstījums par šo laiku. Man patika galveno varoņu pretnostatījums - visu apjūsmotais vecais mizantropiskais preteklis un neviena nemīlētais lieliskais un talantīgais paraugcilvēks. Labi, ja godīgi, es arī nesapratu, par ko tur bija, kādas atslēgas jāmeklē.
• 
  Patrizia

  Un gioco dichiarato col lettore, cominciando dalla trama, passando attraverso stili diversi legati a una galleria di personaggi (per lo più pensionati dalle abitudini consolidate), per rivelare, con un sarcasmo ai limiti della perfidia, l'inconsistenza se non l'impossibilità di legami sociali in una Praga/universo in cui si vive con indifferenza il presente, nel rimpianto di un passato idealizzato.
  Alla fine, il caso irrisolto è la vita, con le sue contraddizioni, i suoi riti, la continua ricerca di qualcosa che le dia un senso, l'incapacità di ascoltare gli altri e di comunicare veramente.
  
• 
  Lisa Hayden Espenschade

  3.4 stars.
  
  I seem to have inordinate patience with Czech humor and absurdity so I thoroughly enjoyed Case Closed, a book about (I use "about" loosely) a cranky retired man, a police inspector, and some crimes. I thought the book was oddly enjoyable, even if (or maybe because?) I'm not quite sure what I read.
  
  (There's more about Case Closed on my blog,
  here.)
• 
  Robert Wechsler

  A fun, but immediately forgettable read. It has stick characters, no plot, and occasional ideas. There is a playful, self-referential attitude to the book, a look-Ma-no-rules approach. I feel like a party pooper criticizing something that makes itself not above, but outside of criticism, but I found I could have easily put it down and not missed it, even while enjoying it.
• 
  Hoda Amer

  عجبنى فيها جدا السخرية الواضحة من الحياة الاجتماعية والسياسية في التشيك وسخرية التشيكيين من أنفسهم لكن من السلبيات اللي لقيتها إن بعض الفصول حسيتها
  مش مترابطة مع بعض خاصة في الأواخر. تجربة جميلة لإنى ما قرأتش لكتاب من التشيك إلا كونديرا
• 
  Tricia

  not sure what the point was....
• 
  Karel Karel

  Brilliant! Great !