| Summary: | The paper deals with two (literary) subjects, which are related to some extent. The former one is the process of dying, in which the important role is played by the presence of a close person. Literature, which we attempt to show, helps to lift the taboo on death. The latter subject is concerned with memory, recalling as well as forgetting. What becomes the centre of attention is the issues of growing old, dying and death, putting the taboo on it as well as contemplating to what extent memory can be compact or fragmentary. It cannot be considered less important to seek answers to the question what role in self-identifying and searching the past is played by private correspondence. We reflect on the outlined subjects in the context of the proses of contemporary Czech and Slovak literature, Jan Balabín´s novel Zeptej se táty (Ask Your Dad, 2010) and two short proses by Pavel Vilikovský: novella Kôň na poschodí, slepec vo Vrábľoch (A Horse Upstairs, a Blind Man in Vráble, 1989) and short story Pán spomienok (The Master of Memories, 2005, in: Čarovný papagáj a iné gýče / A Magical Parrot and Other Kitsch).
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