(English below)
Jozef Karika je
jeden z mála slovenských autorov ktorých čítam. Píše krimi, horrory a trilery.
Jeho kniha Trhlina dosiahla úžasný úspech a bola dokonca sfilmovaná. Bola to
tiež prvá kniha z jeho pera, ktorú som čítala a bola perfektná! Bola
strašidelná a napínavá; celú recenziu nájdete tu.
Tento článok je
ale o jeho najnovšej knihe - Priepasť.
Bývalý lezec trpiaci panickým strachom z výšok
narazí na legendu o skalnej plošine v Tatrách, kde neznáma sila núti ľudí,
ktorí tam zablúdia, skočiť do priepasti a zabiť sa. Nezvyčajné množstvo
smrteľných nehôd v tejto oblasti mu nedá spávať. Rozbehne pátranie na vlastnú
päsť, lenže skutočnosti, ktoré odhalí, sa vymykajú ľudskej predstavivosti a
chápaniu. Za svoju zvedavosť kruto zaplatí – sám sa ocitne na hrane priepasti.
Je stará legenda horských vodcov o nadprirodzenej
sile zhadzujúcej ľudí do hlbín iba strašidelná fáma, alebo obsahuje zrnko
pravdy?
Príbeh znie naozaj zaujímavo a vo svojej podstate je veľmi sľubný, hlavne pre ľudí ktorí
žijú v blízkosti Vysokých Tatier a poznajú okolie, pretože táto kniha
je založená na reálnom mieste a záhadné úmrtia tiež nie sú fikcia. Viem si
predstaviť, že Slováci, ktorí nikdy neboli v Tatrách sa budú poriadne báť, pretože nevedia ako to v horách chodí (všetci sa bojíme neznámeho).
Napriek tomu ma
táto kniha nevystrašila tak ako som očakávala. Je dlhá, okolo 300 strán, a počet
vecí, ktoré sa môžu odohrať a ktoré môže povedať hladný hrdina zaseknutý na 2 metrovej plošine 29 metrov nad zemou je limitovaný. Tým pádom sa väčšina knihy odohráva len v jeho
hlave. Po určitom počte strán sa metafory a synonymá a prirovnania
opakovali a boli otravné. Odobralo to na napätí a strašidelnosti. Chýbal moment prekvapenia, niečo nečakané a šokujúce.
Čo ale musím
vyzdvihnúť je prepracovanosť psychiky hlavného hrdinu. Adam bol výborne
zobrazený, jeho vnútorný boj aj motivácia sa postarali o zaujímavé časti
v knihe. Prelínanie sna, reality, halucinácie boli rovnako úžasné
a častokrát som nevedela čo sa deje naozaj a čo nie. Rozštiepenie
jeho osobnosti v závere knihy bolo pozoruhodné.
Celkovo táto
kniha však nebola strašidelná. Oproti Trhline, keď som sa dva týždne bála ísť
v noci na záchod, Priepasť bola slabšia a tak trochu sklamanie. Jozef
Karika je však výborný spisovateľ a určite si prečítam aj jeho ďalšie
knihy.
One of the
few Slovakian authors I am actually read is Jozef Karika. He writes crime, horror
and thriller books. His book Trhlina (the Rift) was a huge success and was made
into a film. It was also the first book I read from his pen and I loved it. It
was scary, it was tense... You can read my full review here.
This
article is about his latest book – Priepast.
I will tell
you briefly the plot of a book but if you don’t want any spoilers skip this
section and go to the next paragraph.
The book tells a story of an ex-climber Adam
who is afraid of heights since his father (also a climber) fell off a cliff and
tragically died. He, by coincidence, comes across a mysterious legend about
rocky ledge in the Slovakian mountain range of High Tatras where unknown force
makes people jump into the chasm and kill themselves. There was an unusual
number of unsolved deadly cases in the same area over the years that do not let
Adam rest. He decides to investigate on his own but the things he discovers are
not what you would expect. He pays a price for his curiosity – he finds himself
on the edge of the abyss.
Adam gets stuck on the ledge with the horrible power crushing him in waves. His best friend Miro dies in the attempt to help him and when things get worse because of the changeable mountain weather Adam calls the mountain guards for help. Two men show up to save him but the power of the sprunggeist (as he calls it) is too strong and the two saviors dive into the abyss too. Adam, trapped and scared on the cliff, 29 meters above the ground, goes thought psychological terror and physical harm as his personality slowly changes. At the end of the book he gets to the conclusion that no one can save him but himself. Barely alive and with spilt personality Adam manages to get off the cliff and crawls from the mountain valley to the closest village. After this terrible experience he spends weeks in hospital and talks to the police about the deaths. When he is released from the hospital he is not the same. Up there he understood something and life will never be the same. The jump into the abyss is not the end, but the beginning. Hence he returns to the cliff and the rocky ledge just to finish what the sprunggeist was asking for.
Adam gets stuck on the ledge with the horrible power crushing him in waves. His best friend Miro dies in the attempt to help him and when things get worse because of the changeable mountain weather Adam calls the mountain guards for help. Two men show up to save him but the power of the sprunggeist (as he calls it) is too strong and the two saviors dive into the abyss too. Adam, trapped and scared on the cliff, 29 meters above the ground, goes thought psychological terror and physical harm as his personality slowly changes. At the end of the book he gets to the conclusion that no one can save him but himself. Barely alive and with spilt personality Adam manages to get off the cliff and crawls from the mountain valley to the closest village. After this terrible experience he spends weeks in hospital and talks to the police about the deaths. When he is released from the hospital he is not the same. Up there he understood something and life will never be the same. The jump into the abyss is not the end, but the beginning. Hence he returns to the cliff and the rocky ledge just to finish what the sprunggeist was asking for.
Is the old legend just made up by the mountain
guides or is there something real in the story?
The story
might sound interesting to you and in its core it is very promising, especially
for people who live close to the mountains and know the area as this is based
on the real place and real mysterious deaths that indeed happened. I can
imagine that people who live in Slovakia and never been to High Tatras might
even be terrified as they don’t know the mountain environment (we are all
scared of unknown). I do understand that this is not interesting for the
foreigners who don’t know Slovakia well.
Nevertheless
the book didn’t scare me much. It was too long and there is only limited amount
of things you can do and say if your main character is stuck on a 2 meter
square of a rocky ledge at 29 meter high cliff. Most of the book was
happening only in Adam’s mind. After certain number of pages the metaphors and
synonyms were just annoying. It took the tension and the fear away. I was missing
some kind of surprise or maybe a mindfuck moment.
What was
really good in the book was the detailed psychological picture of the main
character. Adam was perfectly pictured, his internal conflict and motivation
were sources of some very interesting parts of the book. The way the reality, dream and hallucination blended was perfect. I wasn’t sure what is really
happening and what is just in his head. The split personality at the
end was portrayed in a great way too.
Overall the
book wasn’t scary. Compared to Trhlina, when I was scared to go to toilet at
night for two weeks Priepast was weaker and a bit disappointing. Jozef Karika
is great writer though and I will definitely try his next book as well.
