Legenda o jazyku

About a book

PAVOL

RANKOV

Legend about a Tongue

Original title: Legenda o jazyku

Genre: novel

Slovak edition: Vydavateľstvo Slovart

Foreign editions: 2

Czech (HOST - vydavatelství 2019), Polish (Ksiažkove Klimaty 2020),

CONTENT

Legend about a Tongue is a historical novel set in Prague, in the period of so called, normalization, several years after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviets and Warsaw pact troupes. Through the story of the students of the history and his professor, involved in the reconstruction of the part Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle, we go back in time where the avidity and naiveté of young people expectations in the research is in sharp opposite with the cruel presence of secret state police, controlling they everyday steps. Medieval legend about John of Nepomuk (his tongue was cut out, because he did not reveal the confessional secret) come alive in the „normalization“ years in Prague scenery with tragic consequences. Rankov’s reflexion of the dark Czechoslovak times, is new, fresh and continue in the best literary tradition of the academic novel.

REVIEWS

“A narrative that once again reminds us of how much paranoia the regime suffered from and how far its servants were able to go in the name of Marxism-Leninism, guided by their perversion. In the purest light, this reveals the conclusion of the book and the accompanying story from the present about a kind aunt suffering from a mysterious mental illness since her youth.

Rankov created an apt parallel between medieval martyrs and victims of normalization without imposing it on the reader. The chilling message of the book remains artfully hidden between the lines.”

Monika Zavřelová, IDnes, Czech Republic

“Pavol Rankov's novel The Legend of Language is a novel from an academic environment and at the same time, through reminiscences of school desks, also a popular story that can be attractive to a wider range of readers. On the one hand, it arouses intellectual, investigative curiosity, the desire to learn as much as possible about the life and strange death of John of Nepomuk, as was the case with the language of this "patron of the Czech lands", but also the patron of confessors, priests, rafters, sailors and the patron before the flood, diseases of language, whose statues rise out of respect in many Slovak cities and towns, but in reality not much is known about it. This book can inspire the in-depth reader to study professional literature and various historical sources. On the other hand, with a dynamic plot, tension, an interesting plot, sensationalism and a "rather drastic conclusion" (Zavřelová, 2019), the novel approaches readers who prefer the attributes of popular literature.......

Therefore, the novel Legenda o jazyku has, in addition to an entertainment aspect also on an allegorical level, but above all it is an eloquent testimony of the time depicted with a lot of realities and a rendering of the historical context (the Soviet army occupies the Czechoslovakia, the radical-extremist organization Black September attacks the Olympic village in Munich, the Serbian flight attendant Vesna Vulović miraculously survives a plane crash near Děčín, etc. ), in which the past is reflected and its potential to influence and shape current events.”

Jaroslav Vlnka, Proudy, Czech Republic

“In many cases, individual transitions or examples are a source of apparent relief; apparent because at every moment it is only preparing the ground for the final tightening of the screws... As the pages increase, the cases where the monster of that thinking, which is convinced of its own infallibility, comes to life and flourishes. Thinking for which mere suspicion is already a judgment and confirmation and from which there is no escape. And that's even if the person behaves in a bed-like manner and doesn't stick his head out.”

Boris Hokr, ART Česká televise, Čzech Republic

“This novel by Pavol Rankov has strong features of a documentary, there is a parallel between the Middle Ages and the time of normalization in the 20th century in our country, when courage was to tell the truth.”

Gabriela Rakúsová, Denník N, Slovak Republic

EXTRACT

The bearded man planned to lead the hostile person to a room in the basement, where the dog handler would be waiting.

He handcuffed her to a chair that was bolted to the floor. Táňa immediately remembered how Martin once told that it looked the same in the torture chambers of the Gestapo and the NKVD. More

even the walls were tiled so that it would not be difficult to wash off them blood. The thought of being in a torture chamber absolutely terrified her. For now, the wolf was sitting calmly in the corner and the handler in green overall she pretended not to be involved. The bearded investigator was putting a tape into the tape recorder and adjusting the recording volume. He was just stalling for time, but the frightened Táňa could no longer do that to understand. he only thought running through her mind was that she had been dragged into torture chamber. She felt herself shaking. Arms, legs, stomach, everything

she was trembling with fear. Her teeth chattered loudly.

"I really don't have anything to tell you, “She stammered.

"You may remember in a moment. At least for something," said tThe neutrally bearded clerk, gesturing to the handler.

He slowly took down the animal's basket, even more slowly hung it on his belt, checked the fastening of the belt with which he held the animal, and only then gave the command. Until then, sitting dog

he jumped up on all fours and started to reach Táni. growled, he barked and grinned his teeth. Táňa moaned quietly, she tried to pull away as much as possible, but the handcuffs did not let her go. There was no more than a quarter of a meter between her face and the animal's muzzle. Dog drops

drool fell on her cheeks. The handler gave another command, to which the dog responded he reacted as violently as if he was trying to break free from the belt.

He was jumping out and the guy really had to do something to keep him down.

Tanya started screaming. It was a thin fistula note, a long and monotonous sound that irritated the dog even more. It seemed to her thatit's been going on for minutes, maybe a quarter of an hour, and the fangs are getting closer and closer to her face. Meanwhile, the bearded man coughed and spat into the toilet the paper you brought with you.

"We'll take a break," he decided.

The handler gave the command, but the dog continued to bark. He kept barking he growled, rearing up on his hind legs. The guy had to drag the dog away and lead out of the room.

"I am surprised at how kind my colleague is to you. I don't understand at all why he kept Azor, he should have released him on you. Now I turn on the tape recorder and you tell me the names of the other members of your group.'

In an empty and bare room lined with tiles, flicking the switch turned into an unexpectedly sharp crackling sound.

The clerk looked at Tána. After a moment he raised his eyebrows feigning surprise that the detainee is still silent.

"Nothing?" he asked.

"I really have nothing to say," explained Táňa imploringly. "You're wrong. I don't know anyone. We are not a group.'

“You said that you are not a group. Who – you?”

Tanya already had the names of her three friends on her tongue, after all, the scoundrel had said them before anyway. But she was silent. The dog

he was gone and she calmed down a bit. After a minute or two there was another loud peck, and the tape recorder was turned off.

A bearded man came out of the room. He did not close the door behind him. Immediately, only a dog ran in, barking, baring his teeth and jumping even worse than before. Táňa also started to cry even worse as before. In that shock, she did not notice that the dog was still on the leash and could not reach her. After a minute or two he gave up

the dog handler commanded from the corridor, but the wolfdog didn't seem to respond.

"She whistles like a siren," the handler shook his head. "Get rid of her go crazy.'

"You can take him away," decided the bearded man leading the interrogation.

When he entered the room, he immediately saw that Táňa had peed herself from fear. He knew very well that this was already the stage fear that should be enough.