English
He was not only a Slovak but an international author. It's because he wrote about universal matters in very distinctive narrative voices with huge empathy, wisdom and humor. "It's a great shame that very little of his work has been translated into English," says Susan Curtis, a publisher who brought one of the two Vilikovský's books in English translation to global audiences.
Martina Šimkovičová, Radio International Slovakia, February 2020
"Vilikovský’s prose, in Julia and Peter Sherwood’s translation, is light and graceful; and the tone is more often gently humorous than elegiac. This is an unusual and original work that resists easy categorisation and repays careful reading."
Fiona Graham, European Literature Network, November 2018
"It’s a philosophical novella which frequently brought to mind Milan Kundera in its style, frequently meandering off into one tangent or another, and pulling together 5 loose threads of the story which "flow together towards a finale[...]."
Elie, Two in a Teacup, November 2018
"Pavel Vilikovský’s novel is a miracle of origami: an extensive and elaborate narrative unfolds from a very slim volume."
Donald Reyfield, Literary Review, September 2018
"Pavel Vilikovský is recognized as one of the most prominent authors of post-Communist Central Europe. In this creatively structured short novel, he presents, in Čimborazka, a digressive, eccentric narrator, reminiscent of Bohumil Hrabal’s loquacious protagonists. The lighthearted tone at the opening belies the depth. The humour, the philosophical questing, the digressions about love and language, the pragmatic counterpoint offered by Štefan, and the metaphorical avalanche nest a complex of painful and difficult emotions that the loss of memory engenders. The result is a multi-layered story that raises many questions—the kinds without easy answers."
roughghosts.com, May 2018
French
"Vilikovsky posait un regard ironique sur son « petit pays », son statut d’écrivain et sa personne. Un geste de pudeur et de retenue, plutôt que de moquerie."
Gladys Marivat, Le Monde, February 2020
"Les personnages de Pavel Vilikovsky, Slovaque né en 1941, peuvent ressentir une fierté à être «un bon instrument», tel le représentant de la terreur communiste naissante qui aidera Karsten, ce «nom stupide, invraisemblable», à se transformer lui-même en Autobiographie du mal."
Mathieu Lindon, Libération, April 2019
"Pavel Vilikovsky, né en 1941, est considéré comme le plus grand auteur slovaque vivant et un maître de l’ironie."
Gladys Marivat, Le Monde, March 2019
"À la manière d’un conte philosophique moderne, Pavel Vilikovsky mène un voyage dans l’Europe du XXIe siècle, à la recherche de son identité."
Sabine Audrerie, La Croix, March 2019
Serbian
"Knjiga izabranih novela modernog klasika slovačke književnosti Pavela Vilikovskog Prva i poslednja ljubav objavljena je u izdanju Arhipelaga u ediciji Zlatno runo u prevodu i s pogovorom Mihala Harpanja."
Kaleidoskop, January 2021
