Ondřej Štindl
Ondřej Štindl (b. 1966) is a renowned journalist who works as a columnist for the news site and daily paper Deník N. In his texts, like those of other members of the revolutionary generation, the starting points and legacy of the Velvet Revolution are an ever-present given. Reconciling with Czech post-war history also occupies his artistic work. Štindl has written two novels, Mondschein (Argo, 2012) and To the Frontier (Argo, 2016), and several screenplays, two of which received Czechia‘s most significant film award, the Czech Lion. In February 2020, he received the prestigious Ferdinand Peroutka Award for the Journalist of the Year. His latest novel, So Much Ash (Argo, 2022), won the Czech round of the European Union Prize for Literature.
WINNER OF THE CZECH ROUND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION PRIZE FOR LITERATURE (2023)
AWARDED THE PRESTIGIOUS FERDINAND PEROUTKA PRIZE FOR THE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR 2020
So Much Ash
February 2022, 312 pages
Available material: English sample
Another rich story with excellent narration from a beloved writer
An ageing writer and translator, Kryštof abruptly finds himself at a crossroads when he meets the young leftist intellectual Kristýna and, not long afterwards, Kamil, a guru with a strange connection to Kryštof’s deceased sister. The emerging pandemic is changing life as he knows it, making the possibility of the world’s end more real than ever. In fact, Kryštof might be headed towards a „personal apocalypse,“ plagued by melancholy, the grotesque, intrusive memories, and dark forebodings. He becomes a hesitant actor in what might be a story of great revelation or of a cruel cosmic joke. Or, a tale of love.
English summary
