The Ultimate Intimacy

by Ivan Klíma, A.G. Brain (Translator)

When a beautiful married woman walks into Pastor Daniel Vedra's life and conjures up memories of his first wife, Jitka, he struggles with the chaos the affair creates for his wife, his children, his vocation, and his future.

Genres: Fiction, Czech Literature, Literature, 20th Century

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ivan Klíma (born 14 September 1931, Prague, born as Ivan Kauders) is a Czech novelist and playwright. He has received the Magnesia Litera Award and the Franz Kafka Prize, among other honors.

Klíma's early childhood in Prague was happy and uneventful, but this all changed with the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, after the Munich Agreement. He had been unaware that both his parents had Jewish ancestry; neither were observant Jews, but this was immaterial to the Germans.
In November 1941, first his father Vilém Klíma, and then in December, he and his mother and brother were ordered to leave for the concentration camp at Theriesenstadt (Terezín), where he was to remain until liberation by the Russian Liberation Army in May, 1945. Both he and his parents survived incarceration—a miracle at that time—Terezín was a holding camp for Jews from central and southern Europe, and was regularly cleared of its overcrowded population by transports to "the East", death camps such as Auschwitz.
Klíma has written graphically of this period in articles in the UK literary magazine, Granta, particularly A Childhood in Terezin. It was while living in these extreme conditions that he says he first experienced “the liberating power that writing can give”, after reading a school essay to his class. He was also in the midst of a story-telling community, pressed together under remarkable circumstances where death was ever-present. Children were quartered with their mothers, where he was exposed to a rich verbal culture of song and anecdote.
This remarkable and unusual background was not the end of the Klíma's introduction to the great historical forces that shaped mid-century Europe. With liberation came the rise of the Czech Communist regime, and the replacement of Nazi tyranny with proxy Soviet control of the inter-war Czech democratic experiment. Klima became a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.[4] Later, his childhood hopes of fairy tale triumphs of good over evil became an adult awareness that it was often “not the forces of good and evil that do battle with each other, but merely two different evils, in competition for the control of the world”.
The early show trials and murders of those who opposed the new regime had already begun, and Klíma's father was again imprisoned, this time by his own countrymen. It is this dark background that is the crucible out of which Klíma's written material was shaped: the knowledge of the depths of human cruelty, along with a private need for personal integrity, the struggle of the individual to keep whatever personal values the totalitarian regimes he lived under were attempting to obliterate.
For his writing abilities, Ivan Klíma was awarded Franz Kafka Prize in 2002 as a second recipient. His two-volume memoir Moje šílené století ("My Crazy Century") won the Czech literary prize, the Magnesia Litera, in the non-fiction category in 2010.

Biography from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Kl%...

Reviews

[Nercs · Rating 3 out of 5]

من هیچ‌وقت به آدمایی که به شریک زندگی‌شون خیانت می‌کنن به چشم یه موجود رذیل و کثیف نگاه نکردم. فکر می‌کنم انسان پیچیده‌تر از این حرف‌هاست که بشه با یه عمل قبیهی که ازش سر می‌زنه قضاوتش کرد. به خاطر همین هم، خیلی جاها دلم می‌خواست قهرمان‌های این داستان رو بغل بگیرم و بگم که می‌فهممشون؛ که لایق هیچکدوم از بلاهایی که سرشون اومده نیستن و رسم دنیا همینه: خطا کردن، تاوان دادن و به زندگی برگشتن.

[Nazanin · Rating 2 out of 5]

نتونستم تمومش کنم

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the reasons that I love Czech literature is that it poses very human problems and dilemmas but doesn’t necessarily offer solutions. Julian Barnes wrote, “Books are where things are explained to you. Life is where things aren’t.” In my case, I like happy endings but life isn’t usually like this; we often just get over and get on with it. It might be appropriate to start this review off by saying, “Physician, heal thyself,” (or in this case, “preacher”) but I’ve always thought that applied to hypocrites and the pastor here isn’t that; rather, he’s troubled by preaching the Gospel when it’s something he isn’t living by. Daniel Vedra is the pastor here who ministers to his flock, trying to guide them through the confusions of post-Communist Czechoslovakia while being a good husband to Hana and good father to his three children, two with Hana and one, Eva, from his previous ill-fated marriage, which still haunts him. The marriage haunts him because it only lasted four years, three good and one in which his wife, Jitka, is dying from cancer, and as is not uncommon, he’s raised his dead wife to something like sainthood, an ideal that neither Hana nor Eva nor any other woman could possibly match up to. Hana is a good woman but she’s not Jitka.

There are four principal characters who narrate the story: Daniel, Hana, his lover, Bára, and his lover’s husband, Sam; Daniel carries Jitka over his heart like a medallion, Hana had only had bad experiences with men, Bára has a son, disdained by Sam, from her previous unhappy marriage and Sam has been married twice before, the last broken up for Bára. So, everyone is carrying more than enough baggage into this unholy mess and while Daniel and Bára have the common ground of the love they’d both been waiting for, Hana and Bára have the common ground of being less than their husbands desire; in short, all of more in common than they perhaps realize.

And so it plays out with Daniel carrying out an adulterous affair while preaching from the Bible and displaying Jesus’s example of forgiveness by mentoring a released juvenile offender and welcoming him into his home, where he meets Daniel’s daughter, Bára trying to convince Sam of her love while carrying on an affair, Sam simultaneously demanding and rejecting Bára’s love…

If it sounds like a Peyton Place, it’s not, it’s only humans trying to attain the impossibly complicated goals they set for themselves and all this with beautifully poetic prose – which was my problem here. Some chapters are Daniel’s diary while he wrestles with his inability to completely follow the teachings of Christ, and some are letters, particularly between Daniel and Bára trying to reconcile an impossible love without hurting anyone. (A common theme in adulterous relationships, trying to love a new love while not hurting the old love, having your cake and eating it, too.) I can recommend the book if you don’t necessarily need easy solutions to life’s complex problems and don’t find this all a lot of heart-wrenching trite ridiculousness. Life isn’t easy, love’s even harder, but it’s what we all try and work out.

[Liam89 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written, deeply human novel about love, honesty, faith, intimacy, but above all the nature of freedom. Klima explores the new-found freedom enjoyed in post-Communist Czechoslovakia, a freedom so long yearned for, but which when finally realised, has rupturing, even frightening consequences. Is freedom the freedom to do what ever you want, regardless of circumstances? Should one be mindful oneself or of others in a truly free society? Is it foolish to deny yourself gratification and happiness for the sake of others, or is it selfish to pursue that gratification? Where is your obligation, to yourself or those you love, or both? All of these questions are explored with remarkable tenderness and aching clarity in this wonderful novel.

[Hamed Mohamadkhani · Rating 5 out of 5]

شاهکار، شاهکار، شاهکار
درباره‌اش خواهم نوشت …
اجمالا و برای الان که کتاب رو تموم کردم همینقدر بگم که عنون رمان بسیااار مهمه:
The ultimate intimacy
ترجمه‌ی بسیار خوب خانم پوریاوری از رمان رو تحسین می‌کنم، اما هنوز به درستی متوجه نشدم چرا عنوان رمان رو که نقش بسیار کلیدی در فهم رمان داره، قرب جوار ترجمه کردن

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I wrote a brilliant review last night, but as I finished, I touched the wrong spot on my IPad. Sorry, but this is all I have left.)

Set in a Czech city, this is the story of a devout, but questioning, Protestant minister whose deeply loved, now deceased, wife left him with a young daughter. He is now married to a nice woman whom he appreciates, but doesn’t love so passionately. There are now 3 children. A femme fatale appears to upset a delicate balance in the minister’s life.

The story develops in the wake of the horrors of war and Communism, as the Czech people, including the minister’s family, are experiencing problems such as drug abuse, crime and other social difficulties associated with capitalism.

There are many vignettes illustrating the various characters’ qualities and challenges. A brief one set in Seville seemed particularly poignant to me.

The minister’s values and beliefs are constantly questioned. Things come together at the end when the shit finally hits the fan.

[Tina Tamman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a love story that in many ways reminds me of peeling an onion: there is so much packed into it and each chapter reveals another layer. Since the main protagonist is a middle-aged priest, there is plenty of discussion on religion. If you think this might be offputting, then think again: Klima develops his characters and arguments in a fascinating way. I am not a believer but I find his logic interesting to follow. Also, he manages to weave into the novel quite a number of characters and that allows him space to examine relationships between parents and children, men and women, and pronounce on human nature. On the subject of adultery, for example, the priest says: "I'm sometimes amazed at what a high value we set on freedom and how little we value responsibility or our faithfulness to our promises." First published in 1996, the novel focuses on divorce, adultery and responsibility that are important questions today as well. Highly recommended.

[Tim Petersik · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Czech writer (Klima) and the Czech reader (me). I liked this better than "Love and Garbage." Here, a Czech cleric becomes attracted to a woman who recently turned up in church. To no reader's surprise, an affair ensues, although the woman is married (I forget if the minister is). The real interest develops as these two struggle with the moral issues raised by their behavior. You could say she gets closer to God while he gets further away.

[Kosar · Rating 3 out of 5]

همون شک و تردید همیشگی. همون زیر سوال بردن اعتقادات که هر آدمی تو یه سنی بهش میرسه. کتابو دوست داشتم ولی گاهی این حس بهم دست میداد که ششصد و خورده ای صفحه براش زیاد بود. البته که تا آخر منو دنبال خودش کشوند.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long, too repetitive, too close to home. A minister struggles with his faith and his deceit.

[Negar · Rating 5 out of 5]

انتشارات ثالث منتشر کرد :
مرز عشق کجاست ؟ آیا عشق می تواند آمیخته با جنایت باشد ؟ کتاب مقدش چگونه عشق را می ستاید ولی فقط در قبال بک نفر ؟ مگر زمام عشق در دست انسان است؟ مواجهه یک کشیش معتقد که دیگران را پند می دهد ، با این سوالات و درگیر شدن او با این مسائل در زندگی شخصی اش ، چنان پیچیدگی های فلسفی و الهیاتی ای ایجاد می کند که جز با زبان رمان ، در معنای دقیق کلمه، نمی توان به آن ها پرداخت و این کار جز از ایوان کلیما ساخته نیست.
هر یک از ما داریم خانه مان را گم می کنیم اما شهامت نداریم به دیدن آم دیگری برویم. بارا به این دلیل نمی تواند که از شوهرش می ترسد و من به این دلیل نمی توانم که از خدا می ترسم. از فکر فریب دادن کسانی که به من اعتماد دارند می ترسم. و هر دویمان از ویران کردن کاشانه بچه هایمان می ترسم.اما خانه ما کجاست ؟ بی تردید در وسایل خواب و کارت های هویت مان نیست. آن ها را یا همه جا با خودمان می بریم یا برای همیشه گم می شوند.
این بخش از کتاب از سایت کتاب 30بوک برداشته شده است.
https://www.30book.com/book/131980/%D...

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, particularly because it was required reading for an anthropology class on sexuality. It's the story of a Czech minister who has an adulterous affair with a woman who visits his church. There were two things that I really thought were done well in this book. One of them is point of view. The story is told through the first person point of view of several characters, the letters sent between these characters, and the personal journals of the minister, Daniel. I thought this gave the reader a reliable and complete depiction of the characters. The other thing that I enjoyed in this book is being able to trace Daniel's spiritual descent from the beginning of the novel. Often it seems that people caught up in these situations feel that they don't know how they ended up there. However, in this novel, the reader can see all the small, seemingly innocuous decisions that led to his downfall. In any case, it was a great encouragement to me to practice the spiritual disciplines of fasting, prayer, and confession! By the way, don't let the scandalous cover keep you from reading this book; there's little that would offend most people's sensibilities in it. One last comment, the author is Czech and apparently writes frequently about issues of faith. Don't you at least want to know what "the ultimate intimacy" actually is??!

[Furi Curi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Getting near the end, I felt like the rest of the book was unnecessary, but Klima obviously likes to develop, and create, which he does. I didn't enjoy the translated style. But there are more important messages to be read. I was a bit waiting for a ravishing detail about the first infidelity encounter, which instead was one short line, something like, "Then they made love." Sometimes I think the nature of love is to be described, the middle parts, the endings, but I'm also an exaggerated pervert.


And what about Matous?
I should rear my kids like Daniel's.
no, i'm not capable of kids.

[Debra Baumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and insightful.

[sAmAnE · Rating 4 out of 5]

از متن کتاب: آگاهی از ریاکاری‌ام مایه‌ی عذاب مدامم است، اما اگر این همه فقط سرنوشت بشر باشد چه؟ ما احتمالا خود را با فرمان‌هایی که اجابت کردنشان فراتر از توش و توانمان است، زندانی می‌منیم و بعد خودمان را با احساس گناه عذاب می‌دهیم.

برخلاف انتقادات زیادی که به این کتاب وارده ولی من دوستش داشتم. یکی از دلایلش وجود نامه‌هایی بود که شخصیت‌های داستان در غالب حرف‌های ناگفته و یا حرف‌هایی که نمی‌توانستند به علت فاصله مکانی یا دلی یا زمانی دور بهم بزنند، برای هم می‌نوشتند. کلا کتاب‌هایی که حاوی نامه باشند برای من جذابه. دلیلی دیگر تلاشی که نویسنده کرده بود برای اینکه نشان بدهد انسان عاری از خطا نیستند و هیچ چیز نمی‌تواند خوب یا بد مطلق باشد. ما حق قضاوت و دادخواهی نداریم چون اصلا در جایگاه چنین کاری نیستیم. زندگی انسان‌ها، گذشته و آنیده و روحیات آدم‌ها با هم متفاوته و تمام این چیزهاست که یک انسان را می‌سازد... با اینکه اینها همه کلیشه و تکرار شدند ولی در دنیای واقع به شدت مشهودند.

[Shamsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

تکان دهنده…
احتمالن بعد ها بسیار برگردم به این کتاب.
کتاب دائم سوال طرح میکنه و به اندک مواردیش جواب میده
شک و شک و شک
کشیشی که به همه‌چیز شک میکنه : خدا-عشق-خانواده-خیانت-آزادی و از همه مهم تر “خود”!
پ.ن: ترجمه کتاب نقص هایی داره ولی به هیچ عنوان در حدی نیست که از خوندنش آدم منصرف بشه
فایل ترجمه انگلیسی کتاب “ultimate intimacy” موجوده تو اینترنت و بخش های مشکلو میتونید با اون تطبیق بدید

[Heiran · Rating 5 out of 5]

ایوان کلیما بی‌نظیر است. این رمان هم از بهترین کتابهایش است. داستانی درباره یک کشیش که خودش به گناه می‌افتد.

[Maya LePique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Czech Author!!

[Sepideh Rad · Rating 5 out of 5]

. کتاب درباره‌ی یه کشیش پروتستانه که رشد افکار و احساساتش رو می‌فهمه. کتاب بازنگری این کشیش نسبت به اعتقاداتشه که ملهم از عشق در او بوجود اومده.
ظرافت کلمات و جملاتش در بیان احساسات اونقدر زیاد بود که حتی بعد ترجمه هم قابل درک بود.
انگار نویسنده با تو داره کتاب رو میخونه و هر جا که حس می‌کنی کامل نیست، با جمله‌ی بعد کاملش می‌کنه.

#Spoiler
برام سوال شد. آیا تو آخرین نامه دنیل که به بارا نوشته بود، احساس صمیمیتی که تجربه کرده بود (و شاید نه عشق) نسبت به بارا بود یا نسبت به حسی که به بارا داشت بود؟ حس می‌کنم این مهمه. یه وقتایی برای محافظت از عشق، معشوق فدای عشق می‌شه و حس کردم بارا هم همینطور شد.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished this book almost out of spite! I continued on in the hopes that something actually emotionally plausible would happen. Sorry, for me, this novel was trite, almost ridicules at times and rather shallow. Some good ideas, but in the end, seeds germinated and left to rot. When I was done I couldn't help but think it's simply a step up up from a Nicholas Sparks novel.

[Persephone Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pastor discovers he’s beginning to think that the Bible is not written as a self-help guide for those that break the Ten Commandments. Perhaps the Bible is just a way to blackmail those that sin along the lines of defined sin. Is love the highest state of being, and forgiveness the greatest achievement? Can they be as one, as a jam packed sandwich, the ultimate intimacy? Is the woman, possibly a self-absorbed espoused courtesan or a desperate destructor aiming to collect love like pinning butterflies to a board, that he is having an affair with a living representation of the Bible? Or is the beautiful woman the idealized state, as was the former Communist regime? Once couched in a restrictive, guiding, defacing, and moralistic leadership, the Prague the pastor knew and suffered under is opened to choices corrupting morals further than could be imagined by the former limitations. The Bible, the best grade opium, is being pushed by a disciple of the pastor, as the young man’s new habit, a more congenial one than the speed he used to deal or still deals in, in addition to the Holy Word, aka great “pick me up because I hate myself” phrases. Besides spreading the higher power of the spirit, the young disciple also seduces the pastor’s daughter. The pastor rides a donkey to the end, back to the place his first wife died and he found his second, a matron, unsure of anything anymore than his own inner strength. The most entertaining episode was the lover’s husband, mad and delusional, finding solace in an incomprehensible foreign cult which seemed to grant him all the confirmation he ever wanted in life. This book was a little slow for me in the first half, but the end delivered a fantastic read.

[Eszter]

i've been trying to track down this book for a while now; it sounds very weird, very lusty, very czech. basically, everything i look for in a book (or a person).

i bought it yesterday. there is this guy i've found who sells secondhand eastern european literature off of a card table near washington square park. i should probably set up a direct payment plan with him.

[Leonard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Naive, very verbose prose.
I had a feeling reading a novel written centuries ago.

[Grainne]

.