Podivný regiment

Monstrous regimentAsi by som mala vytvoriť novú kategóriu článkov. Niečo v duchu ‘nečakane objavená, dobrá, feministicky ladená literatúra’. Najprv Left Hand of Darkness, teraz Monstrous Regiment. (Nie, ten preklad v nadpise nie je môj, takto to preložili do češtiny, v slovenčine som knihu nenašla. Originálny názov naráža na toto <- neklikať, ak nechcete prísť o prvé prekvapenie).

Pratchettove knihy sú štandardne veľmi dobré, ale táto sa mi páčila obzvlášť. Nenechala som sa odradiť prvým pohľadom (o vojne?!) a oplatilo sa. Ukázalo sa, že nie je len o vojne a armáde, ale trochu aj o náboženstve a dosť o ženách.

Nie je tam toľko slovných hračiek, ako Pratchett zvykne mať, ale o to viac narážok (a to mi je jasné, že som si kopu z nich zrejme nevšimla/nepochopila). A najdôležitejšie morálne ponaučenie – treba so sebou nosiť extra pár ponožiek.

Na ukážku toto:

“There’s one thing you didn’t tell us, sarge,” said Tonker, lowering her hand. “Why is the regiment called  the Ins‑and‑Outs?”
“First into battle, last out of the fray,” said Jackrum automatically.
“So why are we nicknamed the Cheesemongers?”
“Yes,” said Shufti. “Why, sarge? Because the way those girls were talking, it sounded like it’s something we ought to know.”
Jackrum made a clicking noise of exasperation. “Oh, Tonker, why the hell did you wait ’til you’d got your trousers off before asking me that? I’ll feel embarrassed telling yer now!” And Polly thought: that’s bait, right? You want to tell us…
“Ah,” said Tonker. “It’s about sex, then, is it?”
“Not as such, no…”
“Well, tell me, then,” said Tonker. “I’d like to know before I die. If it makes you feel any better I’ll nudge people and go gnher, gnher, gnher.”
Jackrum sighed. “There’s a song,” he said. “It starts ’Twas on a Monday morning, all in the month of May–
“Then it is about sex,” said Polly flatly. “It’s a folk song, it starts with ’twas, it takes place in May, QED it’s about sex. Is a milkmaid involved? I bet there is.”
“There could be,” Jackrum conceded.
“Going for to market? For to sell her wares?” said Polly.
“Very likely.”
“O‑kay. That gives us the cheese. And she meets, let’s see, a soldier, a sailor, a jolly ploughboy or just possibly a man clothed all in leather, I expect? No, since it’s about us, it’ll be a soldier, right? And since it’s one of the Ins‑and‑Outs… oh dear, I feel a humorous double‑entendre coming on. Just one question: what item of her clothing fell down or came untied?”
“Her garter,” said Jackrum. “You’ve heard it before, Perks.”
“No, but I just know how folk songs go. We had folk singers in the lower bar for six months back hom– where I worked. In the end we had to get a man in with a ferret. But you remember stuff… oh, no…”
“Was there canoodling, sarge?” said Tonker, grinning.
“Kayaking, I expect,” said Igorina, to general sniggering.
“No, he stole the cheese, didn’t he?” sighed Polly. “As the poor girl was lying there waiting for her garter to be tied, hem hem, he damn well made off with her cheese, right?”
“Er… not damn. Not with the skirt on, Ozz,” Tonker warned.
“Then it’s not Ozz, either,” said Polly. “Fill yer hat with bread, fill yer boots with soup! And steal the cheese, eh, sarge?”
“That’s right. We’ve always been a very practical regiment,” said Jackrum. “An army marches on its stomach, lads. On mine, o’ course, it could troop the colour!”
“It was her own fault. She should have been able to tie up her own garters,” said Lofty.
“Yeah. Probably wanted her cheese stolen,” said Tonker.

a toto:

“Firstly, may I offer on behalf of all of us, I think, our thanks for the incredible job you have done? A splendid effort. But, sadly, the world we live in has certain… rules, you understand? To be frank, the problem here is not that you are women. As such, that is. But you persist in maintaining that you are. You see? We can’t have that.”

A na záver ešte otázka do pléna: Máte niekto ďalšie tipy na dobré sci-fi alebo fantasy (alebo aj inú literatúru) s feministickým nádychom? Či už humorne ladenú ako tento Pratchett alebo na zamyslenie ako Guinnová alebo niečo úplne iné?

6 comments

  1. caf,
    zial moja chaba anglictina mi nedovoluje citat pratchetta v originale… ale raz, vizia….
    podivny regiment mam doma v cestine. nejak som neprisla na chut slovenskemu prekladu. (asi na dve uz mam skoro vsetkych povodnych ak by bol zaujem a 4 knihy aj v ang.)
    regiment mi priel prilis vazny na pratchetta … ako ked citas hlavu XXII. bavis sa a zaroven si uvedomujes, ze citas o realite, ktora nie je vobec ruzova…
    a jemne fministicka je aj Caropravnost (Equal Rites). ide stary mag dat osmemu synovi osmeho syna svoju palicu, bo to bude mag – magicka 8. da palicu, umrie si a potom zisti, ze to bola dcera….

    1. myslim, ze si to vystihla lepsie ako ja – to, ze kniha je trochu vaznejsia, ako Pratchett zvycajne pise, a ze tie narazky na realitu by boli vtipne, keby neboli az prilis povedome

      hej, Equal Rites sa mi tiez pacila 🙂

  2. Feministickym nadychom… Tak ja mam do tej kategorie “ina literatura” a uz som ti urcite spominala “The Chalice and the Blade” od Riane Eisler. Prave som dopozerala DVD “Tomorrow’s Children”, velmi sa mi pacil jej model ako by deti mali byt vzdelavane a v kniznej forme si to urcite kupim, ako aj jej dalsiu knihu “Educating for a Culture of Peace”.

    1. dakujem za tipy, na tu prvu sa chystam, tie dalsie pozriem
      akurat tie dve knihy, co som spominala v clanku, vo mne prebudili chut aj na fiction v tomto duchu

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