In the novel Cracks by the Czech writer Klara Vlasakova (Bloom 2024, translated by Uroš Nikolić) a ball appears out of nowhere, just like that, hovering above the ground and doing nothing, and the people around it begin to let the threads of their lives slip from their hands. They have no idea why this is happening to them, and naturally they will identify the orb as the cause of their troubles, but that is of no use to them since it stubbornly remains in its place, with no visible intention to move from there.
In fact - that much we can say - the problem is not in the ball but in people, in the absence of good communication, in the weakness, in the unwillingness to listen to others, but it comes in handy if attention can be shifted from one's own weaknesses to something else (or, in the second step, to someone else). Genre ambivalent, Cracks are a novel that, written in the present tense, invites us to observe ourselves, preferably without excuses, so what happens.
Klara Vlasakova also writes scripts for film, radio, television and comics. He is coming to Belgrade on September 15.
"WEATHER" Your novel begins with a science fiction motif, but everything else is very "human". Why that particular motif??
KLARA VLASAKOVA: I admire science fiction, but I probably couldn't write a "hard" SF story. I usually borrow motifs and techniques from different genres. But my stories are not genre pure. It is precisely in this selection and borrowing that I see a great literary adventure for the author. It was the same with the motif of the sphere that begins Crack drops to the ground. She doesn't do anything, just floats a little above the surface and glows. People are desperately trying to understand what her presence means. Basically, the sphere is more a manifestation of the desire to get to the bottom of things, it is the hope that an answer will come - final, unambiguous, simple. I think, however, that both the whole of human existence and our individual lives are a denial of that hope. Our lives are multifaceted. We experience complexity, contradictions and friction with something greater than ourselves, which happens in everyday life - in connecting with others, in moments of realization that we belong to the whole. Heroes and heroines come to that Crack.
What makes people change??
Characters in Cracks they yearn for a change. They need a change. And change is coming - but not one that will make their lives easier. As a result of the robotization of work, many of them lose their jobs, the climate worsens, institutions gradually disintegrate... The germs of a possible rebellion exist in the world as well. Crack and in our world. We still have a chance not to give up, to get together, talk and agree on what the future should actually be. What kind of future do we want? It has become almost commonplace to think of the future only in dystopian terms. But what kind of future do we really want? And where else to ponder that question than in art?
Are you, while you were writing, understood where the fear of change comes from?
Change is always scary, but it is the only certainty in our lives. Bodies change. Relationships change. The political situation, values, ways of telling stories are changing... Fear is completely understandable. At the same time, change is the most visible manifestation of life. Stagnation is death. That said, some changes are more painful than others. And some are almost unimaginable. Capitalist realism has assured us in recent decades that there are no alternatives. Even if we were to accept it, it is clear that the current direction leads to greater economic inequalities, the plundering of the planet and the extinction of many species.
Storyteller, without exception, speaks in the present tense. What do you get with such a storytelling decision?
I wrote the text in the past tense for a long time. At one point, however, I decided to try the present tense. And I had the feeling that both the book and I took off. Readers can compare their "here and now" with the "here and now" of the characters in the book. There is a difference, but it is not that big. It is science fiction, it is hyperbole, but not to the extent that it brings relief. Often readers tell me that the book causes them discomfort, sometimes nightmares. My goal, of course, is not to make anyone feel bad, but at the same time, I don't know the purpose of writing that just slips away and leaves no impression, no scent, no memory. In that sense, I'm glad that Cracks they arouse emotions, questions. Discomfort.
The novel has a screenplay structure. - present tense, dialogues, quick descriptions "scenes"- ali Cracks are undoubtedly novel. What is the difference between a screenplay and a novel?
I also write scripts - for film, television, radio, and lately also for the theater. Each form is specific and fascinating, but literature probably frees me the most. The film script is first of all material - for the director, actors and actresses and a number of other professions. A dramatic text is more independent than a filmic text, but the play often works (or doesn't work) differently from the original text. In literature, you don't rely on other professions to bring the text to life - every book is a long conversation between the author and the reader, a conversation that transcends time, space, differences in culture, gender and class. It is a great flow of what we want to pass on, so that it is not forgotten, that we want someone else to know besides us. Cracks I imagined it as a book from the beginning. I was interested in the inner world of the characters, their fragility, sensitivity, their horrors. I think a film adaptation would Crack she could be hot. But that would definitely have to be done by someone else, not me.
Da, but that is, if I may say so, still an external difference. A script is still text..
It is, but the script is at the same time a text that cannot stand on its own - it is material. It's neither good nor bad, it's just a different kind of writing, thinking, collaboration. At the same time, it is no coincidence that all my activities revolve around writing. Directing, for example, never attracted me.
It is not easy to discover your literary ancestors.
In the foreword of the Czech edition of the book, journalist and literary theorist Jan Belíček writes that he sees connections between Crack and a book by Franz Kafka and Han Kang. Both parallels are extremely flattering, but as an author I can neither confirm nor deny them. But it is certainly true that they are both very dear to me. Kafka strongly shaped me in my adolescent years with his ability to combine the sublime and the low, the cruel and the ridiculous, the incredible and the frighteningly current. At the same time, I am a big fan of classic Russian literature - Chekhov and Dostoyevsky especially influenced me.
And Czech writers?
Certainly, a whole series. I try to read contemporary Czech literature. Apart from prose writers, we also have great poets, although poetry is often a bit neglected. At the same time, Czech literature has a significant tradition of science fiction and social themes, anxieties about the future, political currents - as, for example, Karel Čapek showed in his plays.
We hear relatively often that today there are no great writers and that the heroic age of literature has passed. The same can be said for the film.. What do you think about the state of contemporary literature and film??
I don't think we can expect a movie or a book to change the world. But I can certainly change something. Or someone. And, above all, they serve as testimony. About times, dilemmas, contradictions. About what we failed to do, what we failed to do, what we overlooked. About the missed opportunities and the places where we fought. In that sense, the "golden age" of art is actually still there. At the same time, art is not something that capitalism particularly supports - especially if it has any critical potential.
Coming to Serbia soon. Do you know what's going on here??
Yes, I follow the political situation in Serbia, and the foreign and Czech media regularly report on the events there. I admire everyone who is dissatisfied with the current situation and is ready to take to the streets. I also appreciate that they are Cracks, a book that largely talks about the need for change, appeared in Serbia.
