Chiedi a papà by Jan Balabán
The Italian translation of the book “Zeptej se táty (Ask dad)” by Jan Balabán has been published. From the title a bitter irony transpires because “asking dad how things really went is no longer possible”. After the death of doctor Jan Nedoma, literally translated as “homeless”, his children Hans, Emil and Katerina along with their mother must face not only mourning, but also allegations of his alleged complicity with the communist authorities and corruption from who was once his best friend. “Ask dad” is a book that deals with themes on the meaning, quality and the path of human life, on family relationships, on illness and death, but also on what one encounters later on. Balabán manages to describe in an extremely precise way the tragic aspect of individual destiny which inevitably leads to its final point. The author asks several questions: is it not true that it is from birth that one begins to die? Who are we and what do we do in the meantime?
Jan Balabán
Chiedi a papà
Translated by Alessandro De Vito
Publisher: Miraggi Edizioni, 2018
192 p.
