Profile: Ivan Klima

[BlogSpy]

In The Observer Tim Adams profiles Ivan Klima -- one of many authors I wish I had more works by under review.

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[Eric]

During a mild enthusiasm for Czech literature recently, I started reading a little book about Prague by Ivan Klíma. So I read the Observer article mentioned here on the so-called Blogosphere and found out more about him. He looks rather like a Red Indian:



The 2009 Observer article, as mentioned in the Literary Saloon, is certainly worth reading.

[Daniel del Real]

There are two titles available in Spanish by Editorial Acantilado. Titles would be something like (The Spirit of Prague and Love and Trash). I'd like to get the first one since I assume it has a description of a city I fell in love last year.

[hdw]

I've read his Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light. It was a long time ago, and I can't remember the story in detail, although I remember enjoying it at the time, so I'll quote from the blurb on the back cover:

"[The novel] describes life before, during and after the cataclysm of 1989, the so-called Velvet Revolution. It is the story of Pavel, a middle-aged television cameraman working uneasily within the boundaries set by the regime, who dreams of one day making a film - a searing portrait of his times - the authorities will never allow. But after the collapse of Communism, Pavel finds he is unprepared for this new world of supposedly unlimited freedoms. He never quite gets round to making that searing portrait of his times; his time, his day, is taken up instead with lucrative small jobs - a TV spot, a commercial, a porn film ...

This darkly humorous novel is the first work by a former dissident to emerge from Eastern Europe since the revolutions of 1989".

Published by Granta Books in association with Penguin, transl. by Paul Wilson.

Harry

[Eric]

Thanks, Daniel and Harry. I'll look some of his fiction up in the library. I'm still reading this little non-fiction book, called in Swedish "Mitt älskade Prag" (My Beloved Prague). It gives a good description of the history and geography of the city, though you need a map to interpret everything.

My first and last visit to Prague up to now was in August 1969 (sic!). This little book makes me want to go again, now that Czechia is normal again. (Why can't we call it Czechia in English, instead of the long-winded Czech Republic?)

[kpjayan]

I've read No Saints or Angels few years back. I dont remember gerat deal of it now, which might be indicative of its quality.

[hdw]

Thanks, Daniel and Harry. I'll look some of his fiction up in the library. I'm still reading this little non-fiction book, called in Swedish "Mitt älskade Prag" (My Beloved Prague). It gives a good description of the history and geography of the city, though you need a map to interpret everything.

My first and last visit to Prague up to now was in August 1969 (sic!). This little book makes me want to go again, now that Czechia is normal again. (Why can't we call it Czechia in English, instead of the long-winded Czech Republic?)

I loved Prague when I was there a few years ago, especially the Malá Strana. We spent a few days in an apartment in Žitna ulice, where Dvořák once lived.

Harry