The Questionnaire

by Jiří Gruša, Peter Kussi (Translator), Josef Škvorecký (Preface)

Originally circulated in Czechoslovakia in an underground edition of nineteen typewritten copies (which landed the author in jail for "initiating disorder"), The Questionnaire is Jiri Grusa's internationally acclaimed masterpiece. In completing a standard employment questionnaire, narrator Jan Kepka manages to write a beautifully impressionistic history of his life, his family, and his hometown as he obeys - with mock solemnity - the handwritten command on top of the form: "DO NOT CROSS OUT."

Genres: Czech Literature, Fiction, Classics, Novels

278 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

That the reading of this novel coincided with a stressful weekend (resulting in the brief inheriting of a dog) has invariably biased my final opinion. I put books of this kind into a mental category known uncreatively as The Interrupted: novels that were not served by rational-minded readings on the bed (where I do 95% of my reading) in a state of calm and comfort, but read in the wake of unwanted life-dramas. Escorting a former lover to A&E in the middle of Vollmann’s The Rainbow Stories made that text suffer (and I suffer reading it), ploughing through Mosley’s Hopeful Monsters while in exile from New Year revelries: these are examples of the sort of unbearable interruptions that can scramble the mind and assault a judgement. This novel, a Czech classic, while not something I might have considered a masterpiece, with its rambling whimsical stories-atop-stories and a pile-up of Czech references, was read post-stress in a zoom (one condition that effects The Interrupted is a frustration at being stuck looking at book one is unable to read), and so I exited with an indifferent shrug on p.234. There will be time in the next life to treat these books to a proper reading. That is all I ask of you, Our Lord.

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, compressed narrative that suffers from its proximity to The Tin Drum the way a candle suffers when placed next to a searchlight. Nevertheless, something uniquely "Czech" about the narrative, and I think it's the countryside (mysteriously present, though rarely described...could this be the map)/use of grotesques. Everyone has their little world, and Grusa knows how to abut these in a way that moves the plot along without it ever seeming like a plot (more, a history). Just don't read anywhere near Oskar's window-shattering.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rarely read a book from the (former) Eastern Bloc that I don’t enjoy. The writers from this background are poetic yet realist, heavy yet humorous, and always of a unique voice. The themes of astrology, numerology, oneiromancy, and time travel, amongst Christian doctrine and scriptural references, lent this one a particular occult charm.

[Eszter · Rating 5 out of 5]

milan kundera and isabel allende had a child. he wrote this book. it was fantastic. why aren't you reading it yet? go!

[Richard Skolek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Komentáře čtenářů knize dělají medvědí službu – "generační výpověď originálně zpodobněná jako životní glosování inspirované dotazníkovými kolonkami", "experimentální román ironizující úlohu a otázky kádrového dotazníku" apod., to člověka k četbě příliš nemotivuje. Nedá se říct, že by to nebyla pravda, Dotazník jako celek je ovšem nepopsatelný, musí se prostě zažít.
Za sebe můžu říct, že jde o velice vtipný, milý, poutavý a nápaditý text, v němž jsou snad ty nejúchvatnější milostné scény, s nimiž jsem se kdy setkal. Rozhodně se ho není třeba bát. Když si odmyslíte slůvko "experimentální" a necháte se unášet vyprávěním, myslím, že si četbu užijete.
Na knize je pozoruhodné i to, že ve světě je zřejmě známější než u nás – na anglofonních databázích má mnohem víc hodnocení než na těch českých, a to převážně od anglicky mluvících čtenářů.

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't get this book. Review to follow.

[Frankie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some funny moments but I didn’t love the tone though I recognised its Czech cheekiness. There’s a reason why this has been on my shelves for so many years unread. DNF

[Kai Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A modern classic of Samizdat literature from the Eastern Block states. Not strikingly political, but celebrating the freedom of speech and mind through eroticism, free-wheeling imagination, a touch of down-to-earth catholicism mixed with the tradition of picaresque novels and the achronic narrative style of the nouveau roman. It's great to see a Czech and an Austrian publishing house have ventured to edit and publish Gruša's complete works together.

[Karla Huebner]

One of the small group of novels that I reread every few years (or sometimes oftener, and sometimes not in full). I continue not to find the latter part of the book (once Jan Kepka has grown up) as compelling as the rest, but nonetheless this magical realist novel of occupied and Communist Czechoslovakia holds its place in my affections decade after decade.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I read a lifetime ago that I'd like to revisit.

[Hector]

The premise sounds interesting. Beginning the book.

[Veronika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kdybych mohla, nedat ani jednu jedinou hvězdičku, hned to udělám. Nejhorší kniha, jakou jsem kdy četla.

[Kobe Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book became less and less cohesive as it went on

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

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