Нема друга

by Jela Krečič, Јела Кречич

Оригинална и комична приказна за сложените човекови односи во современите времиња. По разделбата со долгогодишната девојка, Матјаж паѓа во тешка депресија. Но, по некое време, донесува одлука дека патот до нејзиното срце води преку друга врска. Односно врски. Но планот излегува позамрсен од тоа што очекувал. Тој тргнува на одисеја од „мувања“ на една вечер со редица девојки по познати места во Љубљана, но и од поранешна Југославија. Средбите и жените се најразлични, но Матјаж секогаш доаѓа до истиот заклучок: дека нема друга како бившата. Кречич создала метафора на љубовта во денешното општество, но и урнек на прикриен женомразец типичен за новиот милениум, кој ни го ставила на тацна.

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Jela Krečič Žižek (b. 1979) is a Slovene journalist, columnist and philosopher. She writes for the largest national newspaper Delo, where she notably published an exclusive interview with Julian Assange in 2013. She is married to popular philosopher Slavoj Žižek. None Like Her, her literary début, sold out quickly after its publication and was received extremely well in the media.

Reviews

[Camille · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started it today after buying it last week at a reading and Q&A here in New York, which was unsurprisingly dominated by the good Dr. Žižek. I bought the book before the reading -- that is to say, before witnessing Jela's near complete lack of charisma and Žižek basically describing the book as the stuff of American cable sitcom (I think he said it was "kinda like Girls"). Žižek and Krečič also boasted about how fantastic the English translation was, but I used to work as a Slovenian to English translator and this translation is grating on the eyes. It feels only a step above Google translate. It must be a better read in Slovenian and regret that I didn't know to grab it when I was last there.

So far the book is not very good but it's not terrible either so I will soldier on. Reviews below all seem to confirm my suspicions but mediocre books need love to, a ne?

Update 150 pages in:
This book is trash but not even good trash full of banana peels and chicken bones and rubbers and old shoes. It is one of those clear bags of shredded paper. I'd call it shit but shit has heft and an odor. This isn't even that interesting. It's like a stale and moldy loaf of bread. I soldier on to the end out of some bizarre loyalty but leave this note here in hopes others will steer clear of this extremely not good book.

Update DONE: If you find yourself trapped with this book, do yourself a favor and skip the last chapter. It is 70 of the most pointless pages I've ever begrudgingly skimmed. NONE of it was in service of the plot at all. It's like someone accidentally stapled another sh*tty book on to this sh*tty book. Unbelievable.

Ms. Krečič, please don't quit your day job...or your marriage.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so glad I am participating in a translated works challenge, because of the challenge, I picked this book.
Matjaz (pronounced Matyazh) is on his own after a 10 year relationship with Sara. He loved his life with Sara, the comfort of always having someone by his side, he has a hard time moving on. In fact Sara wants him to date other people and (in my words, grow up), then maybe they can get back together.
I really enjoyed the journey that Matjaz takes, how he changes. I loved the flow of the story, and the glimpses of Slovenian life, whether it was in Ljubljana, Slovenia or trips to Hvar, Croatia or Serbia.

[Daša · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tudi sama sem podlegla evforiji, ki je zajela izdajo prve knjige žene Slavoja Žižka. Knjiga je bila v spletni prodajalni založbe v začetku tega meseca razprodana, v knjižnicah smo nanjo čakali v čakalni vrsti rezervacij (kar se mi v moji petindvajsetletni pripadnosti lokalni knjižnici ni zgodilo še nikoli).

Knjiga pa žal svoje fame ne upraviči.
Na platnicah jo opisujejo kot duhovito (kar upraviči le redko) in ljubezensko odisejado. S slednjim se ponovno ne morem strinjati, saj je verjetno edini kanček ljubezni, ki se ga v knjigi začuti, med zakoncema Aleksandrom in Klaro (stranska lika), protagonist pa v resnici še sebe nima rad.
Ne bi ji škodilo niti malo več urejanja, ker so bili očitno dialogi pogosto popravljani po tem, ko so bili napisani, tako da na koncu odgovor enega lika večkrat v bistvu nima smisla na prej izrečeno; Facebook je kategorično vedno pisan z malo začetnico (kot provokacija?) v knjigi pa tudi mrgoli nesrečnih direktnih prevodov iz angleščine, kot npr. "raketna znanstvenica" in ponavljajočih se neumnih šal.

Čeprav je roman lepo berljiv in se le mestoma vleče, sem imela tekom branja občutek, da je sama zgodba zelo prazna in da služi le povezovanju delov besedila, ki so pisani kot kolumna/blog. Izkaže se, da v tem občutenju nisem sama, saj je podobno komentirala tudi Anja Radaljac, ki je za LUD literaturo napisala odlično kritiko (Pozor, kritika vsebuje tudi dele vsebine aka spoiler-je!): http://www.ludliteratura.si/kritika-k...
Ker je zgoraj omenjena kritika odlična, se bom v nadaljevanju dotaknila le še točk, ki v kritiki niso omenjene oz.se z njimi ne strinjam.

Za razliko od Radaljčeve menim, da avtorica svojemu protagonistu sploh ni naklonjena. Čeprav sovraži puhloglave ženske like še bolj kot njega, mu preko cele knjige na pot postavlja prav klišejsko grozne dogodke/ženske in moralno dvomljive situacije, kot da knjiga služi namesto Voodoo lutke za nekega bivšega, ki ga še ni prebolela. Iz moralno najbolj neugodnih situacij pa ga (verjetno zato, da ga ne bi še bralci sovražili) kot Deus ex Machina vedno znova reši s tem, da ženska med ali pred seksom čudežno zaspi in se dogodka kasneje ne spominja.
Knjiga res zabavlja čez ženske (ki naj v inteligentni obliki sploh ne bi obstajale - in kaj to pove o samopodobi avtorice?), poleg tega pa smo deležni tudi avtoričinega gneva nad mladimi slovenskimi Yuppiji (ok, pošteno samo odvetniki), pa tistimi z denarjem in vikendi, zmotilo pa me je tudi to, da otroke v knjigi predstavlja kot male pošasti, ki ti uničijo življenje in jih nihče (niti njihovi starši) ne more imeti rad.

Pod črto je knjiga dosegla svoj namen izključno v primeru, da je celoten roman napisan kot provokacija. Predsodkov in sovražnosti polna knjiga pa se konča še s tezo, da je homosekusalnost itak samo svobodna odločitev posameznika.

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

Married to Žižek.

The Complete Review ::
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[Blazz J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pompozno medijsko podprta čtiva je najbolje brati z nekajletno "zamudo". Ciničen roman cinične avtorice o ciničnem ciniku, ki žaluje za izgubo ne-cinične punce, a na ciničen način išče cinični nadomestek. Nekaj intelektualno dobro izbrušenih dialogov (kakopak ciničnih). Menim, da ciničnemu mojstru Sloterdijku že težko konkurira. Slavoj pa je kuhal čaj.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 2 out of 5]

via my blog https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
“Did she say that to you?”
“No, of course she didn’t sat that, but it makes sense- only when you move forwards can you then go back,” Aleksander said reasonably.
Maybe it’s my age, but this one didn’t quite work for me. Matias (Matjaž) is over his ex-girlfriend and is going on a series of dates around the city of Ljubljana. In a sense, the reader is on the dates too, privy to the conversations, his thoughts, the morning afters. “And who are you?” he looked at her confusedly, failing to remember who this girl in his bed was, with the tousled hair and smudged lipstick.
Saša laughed. “I’m a mirage.”
Does he act like a dog? Yes. Dissecting him wasn’t much fun though. Men with their ‘maybe she’ll get over it’ about lesbianism ,as if it’s a cold you catch ,was something I had to laugh at and slap my forehead over the ridiculousness of such thinking. But sometimes it felt like Matias was just a collection of the worse in a man shoved into one character. Men and women alike have their games, sexist or not. Throw into the mix women who may be men and I suppose you see the complications of modern dating. A lot of conversations and drinking going on, dancing, complaining, man vs woman which gets a reader wondering how on earth any relationship could last past a year with this lot. It may well be after reading a book gorgeously written about a woman confronting the world and herself this may have come off as less absorbing. It is much lighter than I expected, considering it’s about a misogynist, he came off more as just childish and hard to take seriously. I had a hard time finishing the book and wasn’t invested in the characters. It had moments of laughter, some eye rolling from me as well but I just didn’t enjoy it as I had hoped. Again, maybe I am just not the right audience for it.
Publication Date: May 1, 2017
Trafalgar Square Publishing

[Røbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, somewhere between a philosophical novel and Hollyoaks. Young characters, drinking lusting and partying with lots of late-night setting of the world to rights. That, and simple prose mean it wouldn't be too out of place in the YA/teen section of a library.

The main character is utterly unlikeable, and his friends aren't great either, but this is surely a deliberate provocation to the reader to think more closely about the reallife attitudes they mirror. Partway through I wondered if there were parallels to be drawn between the main character's breakup, and subsequent flings with other women -- and this echoing Slovenia's recent history and necessity of finding a new place in the world post-Yugoslavia. A fun game to play, but ultimately I'm not sure I know enough about the country to be sure this reading works (I'd love to hear other readers' thoughts on this!)

Ultimately, for me, it was a bit too episodic, and lacked any real depth. But that probably says more about my biassed expectations that translated fiction should be highly literary! Approached as a exploration of what it is to be in your twenties in the 2010s in Slovenia and beyond, it is a fun and readable. Pleased that Peter Owen / Istros Books and translator Olivia Hellewell have made this available in English.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jela Krecic is a Slovenian journalist, and I believe that this is her first novel. The novel takes place mostly in Ljubljana, and I have to say, I enjoyed reading parts of the book that were set in places that I had been to.

I remember seeing this book in the book store in Ljubljana. I pestered the staff for recommendations and we discussed many Slovenian authors. She did not recommend this one (she did in fact recommend the book Angel of Oblivion, which I did end up buying) , but I had seen it at another store so I inquired about it. It is a very popular book there. I asked if there was any depth to it or if it was just a commercial piece of fluff. She said that there was depth so I filed that info in the back of my mind and ordered it when I got back to the states.

It is a very entertaining, funny, sexy read and I enjoyed it immensely. The "layers" of the book came about when the characters had discussions, and they discussed things often, about philosophical ideas and contemporary issues. Quite often the discussions were humorous and flippant, but the ideas were taken seriously.

But I don't think these discussions represented the true theme or heart of the book. I think the profundity comes in the portraits of young 30 somethings in Central Europe and their life styles and beliefs. All the characters are white collar and frequently hang out at bars looking for love. I think there is some subtle criticism, or maybe not so subtle, of the characters and especially the main character and the author uses humor to show the flaws of these characters and their belief systems.

Specifically, the main character, Matjaz, is a misogynistic protagonist who can be mean and rude to people and the women he dates, though he always rationalizes his actions and words to demonstrates how flawed the characters around him are. So he's an asshole, but he's right.

It is always interesting to me when an author writes about a main character that is the opposite gender of themselves. Because the author is a woman and the main character is male, the first thing one might conclude is that this is a criticism of male machismo, and it is in a sense - except Matjaz is always right. In the past, when I have pondered this phenomena of authors writing about the opposite sex, fantasy and stereotypes seemingly always arises in the discourse. So, is this a female fantasy? Here we have the bad boy misogynist who ends up having the heart of gold because he finally met the right strong, yet very flawed woman to set him straight. After all, his thinking wasn't flawed - he was always "right". But he is a better person now that he's going to finally settle down, at least that seems to be the conclusion. Or perhaps its more about how two strong but flawed people can find happiness - but that seems too simplistic.

One last idea, which doesn't really relate to much of the above discussion: Sometimes this story drags on too long. At first it was exciting and scintillating, but after a while it became repetitive, the young people and their problems and their always discussing these problems. It makes me think of a very different book, a non fiction book called Black Hawk Down which was made into a film. When I read that a decade or two ago, it was fascinating how screwed the American troops were as soon as they hit the ground in Somalia. The violence was magnificent and action packed from the get-go. But after a while, it continued at the same pace through out the whole book, and frankly, I became a little numb to it all. Of course, perhaps that was the point.

But that seems to happen in this book too. It was fascinating at first, then it became a little tedious. I am not sure what the solution is. I hate when I hear critiques of films that says that the film makers shoul have cut 20 minutes from the film. That seems like a cop out and it implies that people shouldn't have patience with a longer, less action oriented film. Maybe those 20 minutes that some people deem as unnecessary, are the 20 minutes that the film needs to breathe. So again, I am not sure what the resolution is. Perhaps, that's art. No piece is perfect and the artist adds the things that they deem are important even if we find those parts a bit dull or tedious at times.

I have finished reading another book by A Slovenian ethnic author (She's actually Austrian) called Angel of Oblivion. None Like Her is definitely an easier more enjoyable read, but it isn't as precious or as profound as Angel of Oblivion. This book is easier to recommend. Angel of Oblivion in not easy to recommend, though I do.

[Serena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed that this felt like a time capsule of a young person in Slovenia of 'generation Y' and I do very much support the message that love isn't/shouldn't be one size fits all, or for everyone. I thought the tour of Ljubljana was great, I learnt a lot about life there and I think it is important that people who have been through this history speak up, and for us to find out about them.

I think there were some parts that we didn't need; I'm not sure how much e.g. Maria or Mini add, and some of the storytelling in the wedding section were really quite rambly. I do like the idea of a whole tour of people explaining what feminism means to them, especially to each woman, but I still think this could have been done in a more punchy and more succinct way.

My biggest difficulty was Matjas himself. I know there is a lot of benefit to narrating a story from the more dislikeable character's point of view, but (a) it was really annoying and grating to have to listen to him so much and (b) he was vindicated a lot. I probably would have preferred if Brigita, for example, had found a lovely woman but Matjas had made the speech that he did anyway. I think the undertone is right, and he did start to question some of his values, but there were some gaps in his character development and really the whole journey was ruined a bit by his crass comments to Aleksander.

So overall; support the messages, reasonably refreshing, good insight into city life in Ljubljana, probably would have preferred the delivery to be punchier and for the misogynist to have learned his lesson a bit more.

Some great quips in the translation; "Now I understand why you're hot, I mean you've not, got a girlfriend" - do they rhyme in Slovene too? And "How's it going with the combabes"... "I'm sickle of them!"

[Jai Lau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure how many of the problems of this book can be put down to a simple poor translation. The premise of following a character around a number of dates after he got out of a long-term relationship was a dicey one to begin with, the repetitive nature of the structure requiring good writing and lashings of humour. Sadly, this book demonstrates neither. Matjaž is obviously written as a deliberately one-dimensional, provocative character intended to be loathed but equally appalling, are the female characters willing to cheat, forget about their children and their self-respect in order to spend the night with this pig. I find it hard to believe that any such people genuinely exist in this world (or if the writer has come across them - I pity her from the bottom of my heart) and as a result, this book just does not offer anything useful.

[Stevo B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Umm not sure. I didn't really take to this book. I felt nothing for the central character and his childish, peevish approach to dating. I'm sure modern dating can turn an otherwise decent person into a crypto-misogynist but I just felt this book laid it on too thick. There was nothing else to the story than relentless date after date. After the first one or two it just got very dull. After hundreds of pages of conquests the final redemption didn't feel plausible to me. And by that time I had nothing invested in the happiness of Matjaz. All told not great. There is a book in this idea, but this one wasn't it.

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took hard will for me to finish this

[Leslie (updates on SG) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing read for my AtW challenge (Slovenia), with an extra star for the brilliant farce at the end.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

87689

[Abby G · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main character is insufferable but once you get past that, it is fun

[Fatou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recenzij ponavadi ne pisem, ampak naj bo, ker so to knjigo precej vlacili po zobeh. Jaz sem se zabavala, brala sem jo na plazi, potem ko sem se tri dni in noci mucila z 925 strani dolgim Murakamijem. Ne spuscam se v debate o tem kako so predstavljene v knjigi zenske etc. Branje je bilo lahkotno, konec pa zal razocara, ker ne morem verjeti (spoiler alert), da avtorica meni, da zenska, ki je lezbijka, lahko na koncu spozna svojo zmoto in se zaplete z glavnim junakom, ki je kao edini, ki lahko prenese njen malce zajeban karakter.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

Reviewed by The Complete Review