The Countdown

“Counting down? Or is it adding on?  It doesn’t matter. In the end, it’s the end.”

A middle-aged man lives a laidback, routine-filled life until he gets fired from his job. Shortly after, his lover leaves him, and then he learns that his father—whom he has never met and didn’t even know was still alive—would suddenly like to meet him. Unexpectedly free from all obligations, he takes his teenage daughter to a remote village to meet his father for the first time …

Counting Down is a suggestive, very personal narrative, which is not only about the meeting between father and son, but tells a tale of self-reflection, discovering secrets, uncovering the past and browsing through memories. It involves assumptions, speculations, and self-questioning. Counting Down is also a humorous work and undoubtedly one of Möderndorfer’s top novels, which grips the reader and refuses to let go until the very end.

“In this work, Vinko Möderndorfer interweaves various literary sources into a poetic yet factual and sincere narrative kaleidoscope, full of twists and turns that enrich the emotional world of the protagonists and offer the reader a broader interpretation of time and people.”

Newspaper Delo, June 2023