In her experimental novel, Bára Hladík alternates between several literary genres: poetry, autofiction, and philosophical reflections on illness.
Borrowing from fantastical realism, her book is a collection of short stories from the daily life of a person living with an autoimmune disease, some of whose surreal aspects and details render the reality fantastical.
“Why are you here?” asked the doctor, finally. He looked at me through a fishbowl.
“I have snakes, I am full of snakes,” I said.
Instead of talking about illness, she often evokes the fact that she is full of snakes. More than a metaphor, she speaks of it as a tangible reality, which evokes a sense of the absurdity of reality.