Mark the Horse Groom and the Pope of Hungary

Marek koniar a uhorský pápež

Slovaška

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Ján Johanidesš

Nature, that ancient mother of the pictography of parables, who clearly opens the eyes of anyone who really wants to get to know her with their own eyes, taught him to see the mutual connection between the heavens, between the moods of the skies, between the earth and between horses…

The sparse plot of a historical novel Marek koniar a uhorský pápež – Mark the Horse Groom and the Pope of Hungary is set in 16^th century, in the times of the Dózsa uprising. The author writes about the powerful men of this world who yearn for even more power and who do not hesitate to use any beguiling means for reaching their goal. Through the life story of a fictitious character, Mark the Horse Groom, the author sends a message that a man with integrity has to stand up to the abusing power, even for the cost of giving up material wealth and other advantages in his life. Ján Johanides is probably the most intellectual and complex writer of contemporary Slovak prose, his books were translated into many languages.

Ján Johanides (1934 – 2008)

Prose writer, essayist and literary adviser. His work is influenced by existentialism. He took inspiration from works by the French authors Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. He presents the problems of war and social rebellion, but also of human loneliness and fear. He rejects any form of violence and intolerance (Slony v Mauthausene/Elephants in Mauthausen, 1985). In bizarre stories he reveals the psychological background to people‘s weak sides (Najsmutnejšia oravská balada/The Saddest Orava Ballad, 1988, Trestajúci zločin/A Punishing Crime, 1995). Two of his later novels were Nepriestrelná žena/A Bullet-proof Woman (2002) and Hmla na našej trpezlivosti/The Mist over Our Patience (2005). Johanides also wrote essays and dramas and his works have been translated into a number of languages.