The narrator of Ivan Klima's novel has temporarily abandoned his work-in-progress -an essay on Kafka -and exchanged his writer's pen for the orange vest of a Prague road-sweeper. As he works, he meditates on Czechoslovakia, on Kafka, on life, on art and,
One of the last artistic expressions of life under communism, this novel captures the atmosphere in Prague between 1983 and 1987, where a dance could be broken up by the secret police, a traffic offense could lead to surveillance, and where contraband boo
A New York Times Notable Book of the YearA Publishers Weekly Best BookPavel is a middle-aged man, a once-promising, award-winning documentary filmmaker, who is forced to survive by working as a cameraman for the state-run television station under Czechosl
Seven witty stories, one for each day of the week, give a vivid picture of Prague before the Velvet Revolution.Translated by George Theiner.Contents:Monday Morning: A Black Market Tale Tuesday Morning: A Sentimental Story Wednesday Morning: A Christmas Co
Part thriller, part domestic tragedy, at once political and intensely personal, Ivan Kilma's epicly scaled new novel is an inquest into the compromises that turned even the best citizens of Czechoslovakia into accomplices of its late totalitarian regime.
