Včera – Kristofová Agota (2024)

The prose Yesterday is the fourth and final novel by Hungarian-Swiss writer Agota Kristof (1935–2011). The novel thematically draws from the period when the writer, after fleeing Hungary in 1956, worked for ten years as a factory worker. Kristof explores the longing for home and the feelings of hopelessness experienced by Hungarian exiles who, like herself, found it difficult to adapt to the conditions of Western capitalist society. However, the realities of the emigrant world serve merely as a backdrop, albeit one personally experienced, for a carefully constructed and succinctly written drama of 'great impossible love.' The exile and worker Tobias unexpectedly encounters a childhood friend and is convinced that he has found his long-awaited, fateful love. But a number of circumstances prevent the fulfillment of their romantic relationship: Lina is married, has a child, and feels socially superior. Additionally, Tobias's contradictory nature complicates matters, defined by his sharp intelligence and literary talent, but also by pathological tendencies stemming from childhood traumas. Agota Kristof is known to Czech readers through her trilogy The Notebook (1986, Czech 1995), The Proof (1991, Czech 2001), and The Third Lie (1991, Czech 2001) – works that have been translated into dozens of languages and have received critical acclaim...