Considered the leading Czech author of his generation, English PEN Award-winner Jáchym Topol was well known for his work as an underground poet, songwriter and journalist before turning his hand to writing dark tales about life in his country during and after communist rule.
In his latest outing, Nightwork [Amazon.com], which is set against the bleak and violent backdrop of the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the protagonist, Ondra, a teenage Praguian, is sent by his family to his father's birthplace in the north, a village surrounded by an eerie forest in the wilds of Bohemia, with his little brother "Squirt".
Settling into his rustic adoptive home, he tells his new acquaintances, a motley assortment of “Ruskie”-hating teenagers who live in caves in the forest: “There’s shooting in Prague, mate! I saw a tank. The day we left, mate! It was firing at the Patent Office. The machine gun smashed the windows, the walls. There were people inside. They were running down the corridors. Dad and I made a run for it. What were we supposed to do? Everyone was scampering.”
Later, in a scene that will remind some readers of Jerzy Kosinki's dark and disturbing novel The Painted Bird, about a boy who wanders around Eastern Europe during the Second World War encountering horrifying human behaviour at every turn, the local women discuss an incident in which Jewish parents chucked their children through holes in the floors of the boxcars they were trapped in as they passed by the village en route to the death camps. Rather than rescue the little ones, however, the village women drowned them one by one, fearing there would be reprisals from the Nazis if they took them in.
One village woman, reminiscing about that terrible day, says to another: “They were slippery, those young ones, eh? Did they wriggle in your hands by the stream back then?”
Among the freakishly colourful cast of characters is a supernatural entity known as The Evil One, the real existence of which is unclear: “He’s not a dog, but he can howl, he’s not a wolf, but he can run so fast that you can’t see him, between the trees in a grey field, sometimes you can hear him when his claws slide over a rock or when he’s flying through the branches above you… and he lives off what people do to each other… but he’s a human being too!”
But the most implausible characters are actually the more realistic ones, mainly owing to the fact that the dialogue is so riddled with cheesy Britishisms such as "pillock" and "easy peasy" that people often come across like extras on soaps like Coronation Street or EastEnders – the translator, Marek Tomin, grew up in England after his family was exiled under communist rule, and it certainly shows.
Topol clearly set out to write an unconventional novel – and he more than succeeded. The narrative is rather disjointed, murky and cryptic in parts, shifting back and forth between the real and the surreal, and sometimes merging in a way that may be a bit confusing for those accustomed to a more straightforward approach to storytelling.
But those are minor quibbles given the book’s overall merits, particularly Topol’s descriptive prose, which is for the most part both elegant and evocative: “Thunder rolled over the sky, suddenly there was lightning everywhere above them, the lightning was splitting the sky, breaking it asunder, fiery lines lacerated the sky, it tilted like an enormous plate, a bolt of lightning came snaking out of it, dazzling them, slicing a pine tree in half, a chunk of the tree ripped out by the lightning strike hurtled through the air above them, sinking into the thickets by the footpath its end sticking out. The tree scintillated with quivering radiance, little sparkling lights slithered around the trunk like tiny purple snakes.”
Paul Muir is an assistant editor at The National.
pmuir@thenational.ae
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
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Specs
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Range: Up to 610km
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