What do you think?
Rate this book
Blijf bij ons
'Blijf bij ons' is de kreet van de tv-presentator waarmee hij de kijkers aanspoort niet weg te zappen. Maar het is ook een roep tegen de eenzaamheid. Eenzaamheid wanneer mensen langs elkaar heen praten, zoals in de langzamerhand doodgebloede relatie tussen de tv-presentator en zijn partner Andrea. Marek Šindelka legt haarfijn de kracht van de taal bloot en confronteert ons met alle ongemakken, venijnigheden en de daaruit voortvloeiende hilarische momenten, kortom de miscommunicatie die tussen de moderne mensen bestaat en waarop relaties stuklopen. Of zoals Šindelka zelf zegt: 'We hebben de ander nodig om onszelf te zien. Desondanks krijgen we een vertekend beeld en onze relatie wordt er een van ongelukkige afhankelijkheid die niets goeds kan brengen.'
74 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2019
10 people want to read
About the author
Marek Šindelka
18 books74 followersStudoval kulturologii na Filozofické fakultě UK v Praze a scenáristiku na pražské FAMU, kde navázal doktorským studiem.
Za básnickou prvotinu Strychnin a jiné básně (Paseka, 2005), kterou napsal jako dvacetiletý, mu byla udělena Cena Jiřího Ortena. V roce 2008 mu v nakladatelství Pistorius & Olšanská vyšel román s názvem Chyba o překupníkovi, který si do těla zasadí vzácnou rostlinu, aby ji mohl propašovat kupci. Následovala kniha povídek Zůstaňte s námi, vydaná v roce 2011, a po ní další povídková sbírka Mapa Anny v roce 2014.
Za povídkovou knihu Zůstaňte s námi obdržel cenu Magnesia Litera 2012 v kategorii prózy a v téže kategorii bodoval o čtyři roky později také s knihou Únava materiálu, inspirovanou osudy běženců.
Publikoval i v časopisech Souvislosti, A2 a Host.
Za básnickou prvotinu Strychnin a jiné básně (Paseka, 2005), kterou napsal jako dvacetiletý, mu byla udělena Cena Jiřího Ortena. V roce 2008 mu v nakladatelství Pistorius & Olšanská vyšel román s názvem Chyba o překupníkovi, který si do těla zasadí vzácnou rostlinu, aby ji mohl propašovat kupci. Následovala kniha povídek Zůstaňte s námi, vydaná v roce 2011, a po ní další povídková sbírka Mapa Anny v roce 2014.
Za povídkovou knihu Zůstaňte s námi obdržel cenu Magnesia Litera 2012 v kategorii prózy a v téže kategorii bodoval o čtyři roky později také s knihou Únava materiálu, inspirovanou osudy běženců.
Publikoval i v časopisech Souvislosti, A2 a Host.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 3, 2019
Stay Tuned
What we do not name is not there. What you cannot talk about, you should not mention.
I picked this novella to get a taste of the writing of the Czech poet and novelist Marek Šindelka after stumbling on a review in a magazine which called this story no less than brilliant, its multi-layered-ness reminiscent of Joyce’s. Last year, several magazines and newspapers in Belgium and the Netherlands ranked Marek Šindelka's novel Únava materiálu(Material Fatigue) among the best books of 2018, some chose it even as the best book of 2018.
More or less hailed as the prodigy of contemporary Czech literature, I won’t deny the – as a Czech author almost inevitable? - comparison to Milan Kundera somehow holds water: Šindelka’s take on relationships is like Kundera’s deceivingly light and breezy, in truth however piercing and also the effervescent concoction of perky conversations and philosophical observations on art, modern life and careerism and language reminds of the great Czech master. Central theme is the relationship of the narrator, a tv presentator, and Andrea which is falling apart. Loneliness and miscommunication lurk at the backdrop of a zeitgeisty setting, depicting critically the emptiness of contemporary life. M’as-tu vu party life and the non-stop chattering shelter the party-goers in a safety-blanket of happy despair.
Chats in the fog, nothing. Somewhere it slowly started to move, it started to pump like the heart of a salamander, sleeping under a rock. We have buried ourselves in our positions, defined the border with razor wire, with bloodshot eyes watching the terrain, no man's land, the dead minefield where even weeds no longer grow. I can't see you from that far away. Our wasteland is wide. Love? No. Loneliness for two. Loneliness in duplicate. Where did I lose you? You didn't lose me, you naive idiot, you never had me. You have nothing, just a dead, translucent skin that molts every minute, every second. You don't even have that. You only have vague ideas about the shell on my outside. You only have yourself.
I am covered with chatter as with lace, with a fragile lace structure dipped in sugar water.
Šindelka’s books have been published in English, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, Arabic, Hungarian and Bulgarian. Stay Tuned (or 'Stay with us') is the titular novella of a volume of eight short stories and novellas which hasn’t been translated into English yet, Zůstaňte s námi (so far only his debut novel Aberrant was translated into English; he also turned this novel into graphic novel, together with the illustrator Vojtěch Mašek).
As a first acquaintance with Šindelka's work, I thought this very well-written and intriguing, but it a bit thin as a story. The strength of this novella isn’t as much in the plot as in the use of language, dreamlike evocations and ideas. The flavour of it is however succulent enough to keep this author in mind in the future and to look forward to read ‘Material Fatigue’ as well – that he happens to allude gently on Leoš Janáček’s opera The cunning little vixen for sure adds to that wish.
(Artwork by Eva Kmentová)
What we do not name is not there. What you cannot talk about, you should not mention.
I picked this novella to get a taste of the writing of the Czech poet and novelist Marek Šindelka after stumbling on a review in a magazine which called this story no less than brilliant, its multi-layered-ness reminiscent of Joyce’s. Last year, several magazines and newspapers in Belgium and the Netherlands ranked Marek Šindelka's novel Únava materiálu(Material Fatigue) among the best books of 2018, some chose it even as the best book of 2018.
More or less hailed as the prodigy of contemporary Czech literature, I won’t deny the – as a Czech author almost inevitable? - comparison to Milan Kundera somehow holds water: Šindelka’s take on relationships is like Kundera’s deceivingly light and breezy, in truth however piercing and also the effervescent concoction of perky conversations and philosophical observations on art, modern life and careerism and language reminds of the great Czech master. Central theme is the relationship of the narrator, a tv presentator, and Andrea which is falling apart. Loneliness and miscommunication lurk at the backdrop of a zeitgeisty setting, depicting critically the emptiness of contemporary life. M’as-tu vu party life and the non-stop chattering shelter the party-goers in a safety-blanket of happy despair.
Chats in the fog, nothing. Somewhere it slowly started to move, it started to pump like the heart of a salamander, sleeping under a rock. We have buried ourselves in our positions, defined the border with razor wire, with bloodshot eyes watching the terrain, no man's land, the dead minefield where even weeds no longer grow. I can't see you from that far away. Our wasteland is wide. Love? No. Loneliness for two. Loneliness in duplicate. Where did I lose you? You didn't lose me, you naive idiot, you never had me. You have nothing, just a dead, translucent skin that molts every minute, every second. You don't even have that. You only have vague ideas about the shell on my outside. You only have yourself.
I am covered with chatter as with lace, with a fragile lace structure dipped in sugar water.
Šindelka’s books have been published in English, Dutch, Polish, Croatian, Arabic, Hungarian and Bulgarian. Stay Tuned (or 'Stay with us') is the titular novella of a volume of eight short stories and novellas which hasn’t been translated into English yet, Zůstaňte s námi (so far only his debut novel Aberrant was translated into English; he also turned this novel into graphic novel, together with the illustrator Vojtěch Mašek).
As a first acquaintance with Šindelka's work, I thought this very well-written and intriguing, but it a bit thin as a story. The strength of this novella isn’t as much in the plot as in the use of language, dreamlike evocations and ideas. The flavour of it is however succulent enough to keep this author in mind in the future and to look forward to read ‘Material Fatigue’ as well – that he happens to allude gently on Leoš Janáček’s opera The cunning little vixen for sure adds to that wish.
(Artwork by Eva Kmentová)
September 13, 2025
Niemand schrijft zo dissociatief als Šindelka. Een pagina of twee met enkel dialogen die haast nergens op elkaar volgen? Een scène waarin je de zattigheid voelt toenemen tot-ie compleet ontspoort, extreem zwalpend houvast zoekt om te eindigen waar het niet anders kan, de volgende dag, alsof je in het hoofd zit van de ik-verteller? Dit is geen klassiek geschreven verhaal. Schrijftechnisch een hoogstandje in proza, het groeit naar een climax, zowel in inhoud als in stijl, dit verhaal lijkt een vingeroefening voor Klimaatverdriet.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews