Pe scurt, va rog

by Václav Havel

Rozhovor s Karlem Hvížďalou, poznámky, dokumenty.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Czech Literature, History

383 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Václav Havel was a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). He wrote over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally. He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the freedom medal of the Four Freedoms Award, and the Ambassador of Conscience Award. He was also voted 4th in Prospect Magazine's 2005 global poll of the world's top 100 intellectuals. He was a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.

Beginning in the 1960s, his work turned to focus on the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became increasingly active. In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto 'Charter 77' brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment. The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. In this role he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy. His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.

Reviews

[Юра Мельник · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книжка яку варто дарувати українським політикам

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ačkoliv knihu tvoří deníkové zápisky z doby psaní knihy, Hvížďalovy otázky a odpovědi na ně a poznámky z dob výkonu prezidentské funkce VH, nepůsobí to rušivě, ale jedno doplňuje druhé. Přičemž otázky se týkají důležitých událostí minulých zhruba 20 let (jako 1989, rozpuštění Varšavské smlouvy, vstup do NATO, EU, ...) a událostí přelomových, zatímco poznámky nabízejí pohled na každodenní vedení úřadu včetně banálních a absurdních situací (typu "V kumbále, kde je lux, žije též netopýr. Jak ho vypudit? Žárovka je povolena proto, aby ho nebudila a nedráždila.")
A samozřejmě respekt Havlovi za kritickou reflexi vlastního působení a rozbíjení zidealizované představy o sobě.

[Radka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nemám Hvížďalu moc ráda, přijde mi, že je tak trochu Captain Obvious a trochu vejtaha, zpovídané osobnosti si naštěstí z těch jeho návodných otázek asi zase tak moc nedělají, viz Havel: "Pan Hvížďala mi občas klade velmi zvláštní otázky, trochu mě rozčilují, mimo jiné proto, že se chytají naprosto okrajových věcí, anebo vycházejí z různých stokrát vyvrácených mediálních bludů, ale právě to je asi dobré: je naděje, že mne to vyprovokuje k živějším odpovědím a že ten rozhovor bude zábavnější" (s. 51).

[Andreea Idu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me learn more things about the ex-president of Czechoslovakia and since 1993, of Czech Republic, Václav Havel, the real person, and not only "the politician". It combines in a very subtile way the good and bad part of being a public person. Václav Havel tells the truth about the real personality of politicians and it makes jokes about usual things in life. I would recommend this book in a "Top 100 books to read in a lifetime", and if not, still remains one of the best books I read in 2020.

[Kai Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

First and foremost this is a diary and interview book of Václav Havel the politician. Václav Havel the writer interfered while this book was written and tried to increase the literariness by juxtaposition and repetition. The overall result didn't convince me: At one point Havel himself admits, that the diary excerpts from the 13 years when he was president of Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic were selected rather randomly. But then the reader might ask: How much intentionality was still left in the process. Is there anything truly random? And does it matter?
The content of the text itself is certainly interesting. Havel explains motives and drives behind his actions as a politician, justifies decisions in hindsight, utters some self-criticism, relates some insights into how a person's private life might be affected and burdened when one becomes a well-known public figure. And as for that: Havel was one of the most interesting political persons in the transitioning years after the Warsaw Pact nations have abandoned communism, so there's still plenty good reason for having a look into this book.

[Katarína Doboš Chovancová · Rating 5 out of 5]

Táto kniha je výborná - tri typy fragmentov (rozhovor, inštrukcie prezidenta svojmu tímu, denníkové zápisky) sa skvele dopĺňajú, pričom časové roviny sa v nich rôzne striedajú. Havel tieto prvky nakombinoval skvele. Opakovanie niekoľkých viet z inštrukcií/nót na rôznych miestach knihy je možno detailom, ale z môjho pohľadu jedným z mnohých dôkazov schopnosti Havla premyslieť dielo do absolútnych detailov. Po obsahovej stránke kniha osobnosť Havla odhaľuje z rôznych uhlov, v každom z nich ale vidíme človeka skromného, s veľkými pochybnosťami o sebe, plného melanchólie, únavy zo života, zmierlivosti, ale najmä človeka inteligentného, rozumného a pokorného. Jedinou slabšou stránkou knihy je spôsob kladenia otázok p. Hvížďalu, ale je to v porovnaní s jej pozitívnymi aspektami len detail. A aj na ten, mimochodom, samotný Havel veľmi trefne vo svojich zápiskoch upozornil.