This is probably the first story adapted in such a way in our literature…

I have a positive attitude towards the literary works of Jozef Banáš, although I have read only two of the five available books lying on my shelf. I may be prejudiced but the book I like best is inspired by real political life and carries the characteristic name Idiots in Politics. I read books regularly, one each month. For me it is a way of keeping contact with the world as well as a virtual journey back to my youth when I used to draw primary information about the world and the human society from the books.

The novel Code 1 tells about a human being, flesh and blood, like all of us. As for the content it could be referred to as a small alternative Bible. It is a story which probably has not been adapted in such a way in literature yet. By no small coincidence, some critics call Banáš the Slovak Dan Brown. Every such resemblance has its “hitches” though. Dan Brown writes about Templars, about alleged secrets of the church, mentions, however, Christ himself and his life and death only marginally. Banáš develops his fictional story in detail and controversial depth.

One cannot have any objections to the author´s style; his books are an easy read. The plot of the story evolves in two layers: first as a journey of contemporaries following the traces of Jesus and second as the life of Jesus and his journeys to the “East”. As any other author, Banáš also inserts his own views, observations and many pieces of wisdom from historic sources, as well as from his own travels. The attachment of the book shows many pictures from these travels. Thus the reader can gain the false impression that the book is not fiction.

I do not brim over with enthusiasm for the literary story as such. However, the numerous philosophic and religious considerations and wise ideas included in the book have aroused my interest. The plot is not too complicated. Besides a woman who travels with her husband to Jerusalem and Kashmir in search of her healing from cancer, the Vatican Secret Service is involved in the story which gives it a touch of latent tension. In the end everything fits together like a jigsaw. While reading I have jotted down a few thoughts attracting me and inspiring further contemplation (interpreted freely):

People are sick from constant blame and dissatisfaction. They should enjoy their lives… Reading blogs on political and social issues and mainly the discussions on them (sometimes they even cannot be referred to as discussions) certainly make one sick after a while. Man and woman are two poles forming the basic unit of being. Together they form unity and unity is harmonic and natural. In a way he even touches contemporary politics and media – if our words and ideas are only assumptions we may not pronounce them as truth. On the other hand, if someone in the media utters an assumption, though labeled with an “allegedly”, the seed of untruth may sprout, and this has also been taken advantage of. And then: A dogma is nothing but the proof of lack of evidence. Those pretending to be the owners of the truth most probably are the owners of a lie… For faith, own decision is sufficient, for doubts, one needs intellect, experience, education, wisdom. There is nothing more to add. Doubts should be applied each time reading a book…

I have no intentions to evaluate the story as an alternative reality; after all, it is a book, fiction composed in a way which attracts as many readers as possible, even by means of controversy. Dan Brown is doing the same. In today´s world, this is also a way of attaining success and successful book sales. In the epilog of the book, the author writes openly: My ambition was to write a story, not a history school book, to make the readers think, not to persuade them, to search for the truth, not to own it.

Jozef Javurek