With widely varying characters and plots, these seven short stories describe everything from a young Czech girl coming of age to an Imperial Chinese chef who is increasingly unable to be truly creative and venture beyond his previous experiences. The common thread running through the tales is the idea that one must accept one’s emotions and desires as being real, but only embrace the imagined as a way to find and express one’s true self.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The range of tone and material in this collection of seven short stories attests to Fischerova's mastery of the genre. Best known for her plays, this is the first book by the prolific and critically acclaimed Czech author to appear in English translation. The first few stories describe intellectual and moral developments in young women. "My Conversations with Aunt Marie" conveys a four-year-old girl's growing awareness as she tries to put her family in context. Sent from Czechoslovakia to spend the summer in Germany with a mentally unstable aunt, the girl unwittingly facilitates and then destroys her aunt's alternate reality. "Far and Near" measures a young writer's love affair with a married man in dispassionate, cold language. Speaking from a distance of 14 years, the narrator recalls "lethargic, wobbly, pointless conversations, at a safe distance from anything that could touch us." "What did we talk about?" she wonders, delving into the dark and somewhat ugly subject of what each had to gain from the relationship. Fischerova is equally adept at conjuring stories from far-flung vantage points. For instance, in "The Thirty-Sixth Chicken of Master Wu," an elderly master chef in an unnamed Far Eastern country is pressed to concoct a new chicken dish for each of the emperor's birthdays. When the chef's nephew, a young poet, seeks refuge in his kitchen with a subversive poem, the verse serves in the creation of a strange and wonderful dish. Adroitly translated by Bermel, this collection is an excellent introduction to one of the most influential Czech writers in the literary generation following that of Milan Kundera, Ivan Kl ma and Josef Skvorecky. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The seven short stories in Fischerov 's collection ask profound existential questions in a rambling, stream-of-consciousness style. Nonetheless, they are deeply moving. In "The Thirty-Six Chickens of Master Wu," for example, the Chinese emperor's aging chef ponders loyalty, familial obligation, and friendship. This somewhat tired theme is revitalized by the setting: Master Wu's musings are juxtaposed with an act of impending violence to be directed against his rebellious, free-spirited nephew. In "Boarskin Dances Down the Table," a teenager flees from her parents' home in search of stability and calm. Although she thinks she has found it in the apartment of Mrs. P, a return visit decades later reveals the underside of the domestic veneer that initially captured her heart. In "A Letter for President Eisenhower," Cold War angst meets burgeoning adolescent sexuality. Like a voyeur, readers will experience the ribald fantasies of a young girl and cheer her as she eludes the despair that has deadened the adults around her. Fischerov 's language is unusual and her images odd, yet the overall impact of this anthology is unmistakable. Highly recommended for all libraries.
-Eleanor J. Bader, Brooklyn, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-Eleanor J. Bader, Brooklyn, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two fingers pointing nowhere else but up,
By "aag6um" (Tuscon Arizona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fingers Pointing Somewhere Else (Hardcover)
If you want to read the best Czech women's fiction has to offer you should definitely try Fischerova's collection of short stories. There is something there for everyone. Gentleness, irony, laughter and tears. The first five stories are coming-of-age stories seen through both the lens of an adult, funny, witty and throught-provoking. The last two stories takes on a magical fairy tour to Asia, where truth, of the existential kind, is closer than fiction. I highly recommend it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two fingers pointing nowhere else but up,
By "aag6um" (Tuscon Arizona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Fingers Pointing Somewhere Else (Hardcover)
If you want to read the best Czech women's fiction has to offer you should definitely try Fischerova's collection of short stories. There is something there for everyone. Gentleness, irony, laughter and tears. The first five stories are coming-of-age stories seen through both the lens of an adult, funny, witty and throught-provoking. The last two stories takes on a magical fairy tour to Asia, where truth, of the existential kind, is closer than fiction. I highly recommend it.
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