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Transfigured Night

by Libuse Monikova

26,50€ + 10% CARD

 A vision of late-twentieth-century Prague from an acclaimed Czech novelist. In late 1992, three years after the Velvet Revolution and as Czechoslovakia is about to dissolve into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, choreographer and dancer Leonora Marty, who fled the Communist state decades earlier, has returned to Prague. Having wrapped up her ballet of The Makropulos Affair, the famous dancer meets old classmates, wanders the city through crowds of tourists, and visits the most obscure and unvisited museums. When she is approached by Thomas Asperger, a descendant of ethnic Germans driven from Czechoslovakia after World War II, she must confront three relationships—her relationship with the city of her youth, her homeland’s relationship with its past, and her new romance with this German admirer. Written in German and published in 1995, by an author whose life mirrored her protagonist’s, the novel provides a cultural tour of Prague. Employing a style as influenced by the operas of Leoš Janácek as the novels of Thomas Pynchon, Transfigured Night is a masterpiece of Czech literature, showing that the culture of this nation comes in a variety of tongues.
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World Apart And Other Stories - Czech Women Writers At The Fin De Siècle

14,58€ + 10% CARD

 A collection of short stories by Czech women from the turn of the twentieth century.
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Ear

by Jan Prochazka

15,90€ + 10% CARD

 A paranoid thriller of life under surveillance in Soviet Czechoslovakia. A deputy minister in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Ludvík enjoys all the luxuries that success in the party affords him, but he must be careful: he’s under no illusions about the secret police bugging his apartment. Luckily, he and his wife, Anna, know where the bug is and where they can safely converse. However, any comfort they feel disappears the evening they attend an official party, where they learn that Ludvík’s boss has just been arrested after presenting a report written by Ludvík himself. Is Ludvík next? Back home after the party, the couple must get past unresolved marital tensions to get rid of absolutely anything that could incriminate them—all while contending with the strange men outside their apartment and the bug inside. Penned under the oppressive watch of Soviet authorities in 1960s Czechoslovakia—but touching on still-current themes of surveillance and paranoia—this cinematic thriller is as tense and timely as ever. A promising Party member who became persona non grata after the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia, author Jan Procházka knew firsthand the gnawing terror of life in a surveillance state: after his death in 1971, the new tenants of his apartment discovered twelve hidden listening devices. As Ear makes terrifyingly clear, the most frightening horror stories are the ones closest to everyday reality.
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Lesser Histories

by Jan Zabrana

17,23€ + 10% CARD

 The first collection of poetry in English by an acclaimed twentieth-century Czech writer. From the eighth floor of a tower block in Central Europe, Jan Zábrana surveyed the twentieth century. He had been exiled from his own life by Communism. His parents were imprisoned, their health was broken, and he was not allowed to study languages in college. Refusing both to rebel outright or to cave in, he thought of himself as a dead man walking. "To all those who keep asking me to do things for them, I sometimes feel like saying: ‘But I’m dead. I died long ago. Why do you keep treating me as if I were one of the living?’" Yet during some of Europe’s most difficult years, he wrote The Lesser Histories, a collection of sixty-four sonnets that range through themes of age, sex, and political repression—a radiant testament to his times. The lines are emptied both of personal pathos and political stridency. Often Zábrana’s own voice segues into those of poets he had translated over the years, leaving only a bare shimmer of subjectivity—humorous, oblique, pained—with which to view his own works and days. The poems document a splendid and bitter isolation, and are immersed in the humor, hatreds, and loves of the everyday. Published in Czech in the ill-fated year of 1968, they subsequently fell into neglect. After the fall of Communism in 1989, Zábrana’s collected poems and selected diaries were published in Czech, and he was acclaimed as a major twentieth-century writer. Now, with this collection, he can begin to reach English-language readers for the first time.
ENGLISH

Rusalka - A Lyrical Fairy-Tale In Three Acts

by Jaroslav Kvapil

13,25€ + 10% CARD

 Famous as the libretto for Antonín Dvorák’s opera of the same name, Jaroslav Kvapil’s poem Rusalka is an intriguing work of literature on its own. Directly inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous "The Little Mermaid," Kvapil’s reinterpretation adds an array of nuanced poetic techniques, a more dramatic tempo, and dark undertones that echo the work of eminent Czech folklorist Karel Jaromír Erben. All of these influences work in tandem to create a poetic work that is familiar yet innovative. Transposed into the folkloric topos of a landlocked Bohemia, the mermaid is rendered here as a Slavic rusalka—a dangerous water nymph—who must choose between love and immortality. Thus, Rusalka, while certainly paying homage to the original story’s Scandinavian roots, is still a distinct work of modern Czech literature. Newly translated by Patrick Corness, Kvapil’s work will now find a fresh group of readers looking to get lost in one of Europe’s great lyrical fairy tale traditions.
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Ploughshares Into Swords

by Vladislav Vancura

21,20€ + 10% CARD

 The first English-language translation of a classic Czech antiwar novel written in the wake of WWI.
ENGLISH

Lamentation For 77,297 Victims

by Jiri Weil

9,28€ + 10% CARD

 "Smoke from nearby factories shrouds a countryside as flat as a table, a countryside stretching off to infinity. Covering it are the ashes of millions of dead. Scattered throughout are fine pieces of bone that ovens were not able to burn. When the wind comes, ashes rise to the heavens, bone fragments remain on the ground. And rain falls on the ashes, and rain turns them to good fertile soil, as befits the ashes of martyrs. And who can find the ashes of those from my native land, of whom there were 77,297? I gather some ashes with my hand, for only a hand can touch them, and I pour them into a linen sack, just as those who once left for a foreign country would gather their native soil so as never to forget, so as always to return to it." So begins Jií Weil’s unforgettable prose poem, Lamentation for 77, 297 Victims, his literary monument to the Czech Jews killed during the Holocaust. A Czech-Jewish writer who worked at Prague’s Jewish Museum both during and after the Nazi Occupation—he survived the Holocaust by faking his own death and hiding out until the war had ended—Weil wrote Lamentation while he served as the museum’s senior librarian in the 1950s. This remarkable literary experiment presents a number of innovative approaches to writing about a horror many would deem indescribable, combining a narrative account of the Shoah with newspaper-style reportage on a handful of the lives ended by the Holocaust and quotes from the Hebrew Bible to create a specific and powerful portrait of loss and remembrance. Translated by David Lightfoot, Lamentation for 77,297 Victims is a startling and singular introduction to a writer whose works have been acclaimed by Philip Roth, Michiko Kakutani, and Siri Hustvedt.
ENGLISH

Bohumil Hrabal - A Full-Length Portrait

by Jiri Pelan

11,93€ + 10% CARD

 <div>Described by Parul Sehgal in the New York Times Book Review as "one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century; the scourge of state censors; the gregarious bar hound and lover of gossip, beer, cats, and women (in roughly that order)," Bohumil Hrabal is one of the most important, most translated, and most idiosyncratic Czech authors. In Bohumil Hrabal: A Full-Length Portrait, Jií Pelán makes the case that this praise is far too narrow. A respected scholar of French and Italian literature, Pelán approaches Hrabal as a comparatist, expertly situating him within the context of European and world literature as he explores the entirety of Hrabal’s oeuvre and its development over sixty years. Concise, clear, and as compulsively readable as the works of Hrabal himself, Bohumil Hrabal was universally praised by critics in its original Czech edition as one of best works of Hrabal criticism. Here it is beautifully rendered into English for the first time by David Short, a celebrated translator of Hrabal’s works. Also featuring a fascinating selection of black-and-white images from Hrabal’s life, Bohumil Hrabal is essential reading for anyone interested in this crucial Czech author.</div>
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Writing Underground - Reflections On Samizdat Literature In Totalitarian Czechoslovakia

by Martin Machovec

13,25€ + 10% CARD

 <div>In this collection of writings produced between 2000 and 2018, the pioneering literary historian of the Czech underground, Martin Machovec, examines the multifarious nature of the underground phenomenon. After devoting considerable attention to the circle surrounding the band The Plastic People of the Universe and their manager, the poet Ivan M. Jirous, Machovec turns outward to examine the broader concept of the underground, comparing the Czech incarnation not only with the movements of its Central and Eastern European neighbors, but also with those in the world at large. In one essay, he reflects on the so-called Plnoc Editions, which published illegal texts in the darkest days of the late forties and early fifties. In other essays, Machovec examines the relationship between illegal texts published at home (samizdat) and those smuggled out to be published abroad (tamizdat), as well as the range of literature that can be classified as samizdat, drawing attention to movements frequently overlooked by literary critics. In his final, previously unpublished essay, Machovec examines Jirous’s "Report on the Third Czech Musical Revival" not as a merely historical document, but as literature itself.</div>
ENGLISH

Bohumil Hrabal - A Full-Length Portrait

by Jiri Pelan

11,93€ + 10% CARD

 <div>Described by Parul Sehgal in the New York Times Book Review as "one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth century; the scourge of state censors; the gregarious bar hound and lover of gossip, beer, cats, and women (in roughly that order)," Bohumil Hrabal is one of the most important, most translated, and most idiosyncratic Czech authors. In Bohumil Hrabal: A Full-Length Portrait, Jií Pelán makes the case that this praise is far too narrow. A respected scholar of French and Italian literature, Pelán approaches Hrabal as a comparatist, expertly situating him within the context of European and world literature as he explores the entirety of Hrabal’s oeuvre and its development over sixty years. Concise, clear, and as compulsively readable as the works of Hrabal himself, Bohumil Hrabal was universally praised by critics in its original Czech edition as one of best works of Hrabal criticism. Here it is beautifully rendered into English for the first time by David Short, a celebrated translator of Hrabal’s works. Also featuring a fascinating selection of black-and-white images from Hrabal’s life, Bohumil Hrabal is essential reading for anyone interested in this crucial Czech author.</div>
ENGLISH

Why I Write? - The Early Prose From 1945 To 1952

by Bohumil Hrabal

22,53€ + 10% CARD

 <div>"Glimmers in anticipation of Hrabal’s later virtuosity." —New Yorker "A collection of formative fiction from a writer whose work has earned comparison with Joyce and Beckett. . . . Early work from a writer who merits a larger readership." —Kirkus Reviews This collection of the earliest prose by one of literature’s greatest stylists captures, as scholar Arnault Maréchal put it, "the moment when Hrabal discovered the magic of writing." Taken from the period when Bohumil Hrabal shifted his focus from poetry to prose, these stories—many written in school notebooks, typed and read aloud to friends, or published in samizdat—often showcase raw experiments in style that would define his later works. Others intriguingly utilize forms the author would never pursue again. Featuring the first appearance of key figures from Hrabal’s later writings, such as his real-life Uncle Pepin, who would become a character in his later fiction and is credited here as a coauthor of one piece, the book also contains stories that Hrabal would go on to cannibalize for some of his most famous novels. All together, Why I Write? offers readers the chance to explore this important nascent phase of Hrabal’s writing. Expertly interpreted by award-winning Hrabal translator David Short, this collection comprises some of the last remaining prose works by Hrabal to be translated into English. A treasure trove for Hrabal devotees, Why I Write? allows us to see clearly why this great prose master was, as described by Czech writer and publisher Josef Škvorecký, "fundamentally a lyrical poet."</div>
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Czech Dreambook

by Ludvik Vaculik

25,18€ + 10% CARD

 A dreamlike novel that is a classic of dissident literature from Czechoslovakia, in English for the first time; Havel called it â€œa truly profound and perceptive account.â€
ENGLISH

Pied Piper

by Viktor Dyk

13,25€ + 10% CARD

 Viktor Dyk 1877-1931 uses the tale as a loose frame for has narration about a mysterious wanderer, an outcast and revolutionary dreamer-figure typical for the fin de sicle.
ENGLISH

Views From The Inside - Czech Underground Literature And Culture (1948–1989)

11,93€ + 10% CARD

 <div>From political novels to surrealist poetry and censored rock and roll, Czech underground culture of the later twentieth century displayed an astonishing, and unheralded, variety. This fascinating exploration of that underground movement—the historical, sociological, and psychological background that gave rise to it; the literature, music, and arts that comprised it; and its more recent incorporation into the mainstream—draws on the voices of scholars and critics who themselves played an integral role in generating it. Featuring the writings of Czech poet Ivan Martin Jirous, philosopher-poet Egon Bondy, and writer Jáchym Topol, as well as Canadian expat and translator Paul Wilson—many of which have never before been available in English—in addition to an expanded bibliography reflecting advances in scholarship, this second edition of Views from the Inside is both a work of literature and an eye-opening volume of criticism.</div>
ENGLISH

Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals - A Humorous - Insofar As That Is Possible - Novella From The Ghetto

by J. R. Pick

18,55€ + 10% CARD

 Set in 1943 Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, J. R. Pick's novella Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals tells the story of Tony, a thirteen-year-old boy who is deported from Prague to the infamous Terezi-n ghetto for Jews.
ENGLISH

Views From The Inside - Czech Underground Literature And Culture (1948-1989)

11,93€ + 10% CARD

 <div>From political novels to surrealist poetry and censored rock and roll, Czech underground culture of the later twentieth century displayed an astonishing, and unheralded, variety. This fascinating exploration of that underground movement—the historical, sociological, and psychological background that gave rise to it; the literature, music, and arts that comprised it; and its more recent incorporation into the mainstream—draws on the voices of scholars and critics who themselves played an integral role in generating it. Featuring the writings of Czech poet Ivan Martin Jirous, philosopher-poet Egon Bondy, and writer Jáchym Topol, as well as Canadian expat and translator Paul Wilson—many of which have never before been available in English—in addition to an expanded bibliography reflecting advances in scholarship, this second edition of Views from the Inside is both a work of literature and an eye-opening volume of criticism.</div>
ENGLISH

Saturnin

by Zdenek Jirotka

13,25€ + 10% CARD

 <div> On its initial publication in Czech in 1942, Saturnin was a best seller, its gentle satire offering an unexpected—if temporary—reprieve from the grim reality of the German occupation. In the years since, the novel has been hailed as a classic of Czech literature, and this translation makes it available to English-language readers for the first time—which is entirely appropriate, for author Zdenk Jirotka clearly modeled his light comedy on the English masters Jerome K. Jerome and P. G. Wodehouse. The novel’s main character, Saturnin, a "gentleman’s gentleman" who obviously owes a debt to Wodehouse’s beloved Jeeves, wages a constant battle to protect his master from romantic disaster and intrusive relatives, such as Aunt Catherine, the "Prancing Dictionary of Slavic Proverbs." Saturnin will warm the heart of any fan of literary comedy. </div>
ENGLISH

Summer Of Caprice

by Vladislav Vancura

13,25€ + 10% CARD

 <div> <div>Summer of Caprice, a captivating comic novel first published in 1926, is a classic of Czech literature, yet it is little known elsewhere. Commonly considered untranslatable due to the complexities of the text, which is characterized by a playful narrative and an exceptional mastery of language, and its profound cultural context, it is rendered here in English that beautifully captures Vladislav Vanura’s experimental style—or, as the author himself called it, his "poetism in prose." Mixing the archaic with the innovative, raw colloquialisms with biblical quotations, Summer of Caprice opens an uproarious window onto the Czech spirit, humor, and way of life.</div> </div>
ENGLISH

Cremator

by Ladislav Fuks

13,25€ + 10% CARD

 <div>"The devil’s neatest trick is to persuade us that he doesn’t exist."—Giovanni Papini It is a maxim that both rings true in our contemporary world and pervades this tragicomic novel of anxiety and evil set amid the horrors of World War II. As a gay man living in a totalitarian, patriarchal society, noted Czech writer Ladislav Fuks identified with the tragic fate of his Jewish countrymen during the Holocaust. The Cremator arises from that shared experience. Fuks presents a grotesque, dystopian world in which a dutiful father, following the strict logic of his time, liberates the souls of his loved ones by destroying their bodies—first the dead, then the living. As we watch this very human character—a character who never ceases to believe that he is doing good—become possessed by an inhuman ideology, the evil that initially permeates the novel’s atmosphere concretizes in this familiar family man. A study of the totalitarian mindset with stunning resonance for today, The Cremator is a disturbing, powerful work of literary horror.</div>
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Well At Morning - Selected Poems, 1925–1971

by Bohuslav Reynek

22,53€ + 10% CARD

 <div>Springtide A chaffinch in a tree of cherry sings merrily spring’s introit. Its blazing bobble dwells in leaves, alive, and swells in scarlet. The flowers are flares of white. The chaffinch has gone quiet and turned sky-gazer. My eyes close on the day: an orb revolves in grey and red and azure. Poet and artist Bohuslav Reynek spent most of his life in the relative obscurity of the Czech-Moravian Highlands; although he suffered at the hands of the Communist regime, he cannot be numbered among the dissident poets of Eastern Europe who won acclaim for their political poetry in the second half of the twentieth century. Rather, Reynek belongs to an older pastoral-devotional tradition—a kindred spirit to the likes of English-language poets Gerard Manley Hopkins, William Wordsworth, Robert Frost, and Edward Thomas. The Well at Morning presents a selection of poems from across his life and is illustrated with twenty-five of his own color etchings. Also featuring three essays by leading scholars that place Reynek’s life and work alongside those of his better-known peers, this book presents a noted Czech artist to the wider world, reshaping and amplifying our understanding of modern European poetry.</div>
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Summer Of Caprice

by Vladislav Vancura

22,53€ + 10% CARD

 An English translation that captures Vladislav Vancura's experimental style - or, as the author himself called it, "poetism in prose." It is presented alongside the original illustrations and typography and goes a long way toward deepening our understanding of the Czech spirit, humor, and way of life.
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We Were A Handful

by Karel Polacek

21,20€ + 10% CARD

 <div> A favorite work of Czech humor, We Were a Handful depicts the adventures of five boys from a small Czech town through the diary of Petr Bajza, the grocer’s son. Written by Karel Poláek at the height of World War II before his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, this book draws on the happier years of Poláek’s own childhood as inspiration. As we look upon the world through Petr’s eyes, we, too, marvel at the incomprehensible world of grownups; join in fights between gangs of neighborhood kids; and laugh at the charming language of boys, a major source of the book’s humor. This translation at last offers English-language readers the opportunity to share in Petr’s (and Poláek’s) childhood and reminds us that joy and laughter are possible even in the darkest times. </div>
ENGLISH

Behind The Lines - Bugulma And Other Stories

by Jaroslav Hasek

18,55€ + 10% CARD

 Presents a series of short stories based on the author's experiences as a Red Commissar in the Russian Civil War and his return to Czechoslovakia. This title focuses on the Russian town of Bugulma and takes aim, with mordant wit, at the absurdities of a revolution.
ENGLISH

Rambling On - An Apprentice’S Guide To The Gift Of The Gab

by Bohumil Hrabal

18,55€ + 10% CARD

 Novelist Bohumil Hrabal (1914-97) was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, and spent decades working at a variety of laboring jobs before turning to writing in his late forties. This book offers a collection of stories that set in Hrabal's Kersko.
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