The Czech Books You Must Read
17. červen 2020

Poslechněte si podcast: The Cremator by Ladislav Fuks: A macabre study of descent to the dark side

The Cremator by Ladislav Fuks traces its protagonist’s chilling drift into collaboration and murder – and became the basis for one of the greatest ever Czech films.

14:49

The Czech Books You Must Read

Vydává: Český rozhlas

Kafka, Čapek, Kundera and Havel, these are all world renowned names, but what about all the others? How well are Czech authors actually known abroad? Can you find a bookshop in Berlin, Madrid, Moscow, Paris or New York that aside from classics such as The Good Soldier Švejk also sell the works of contemporary Czech authors?

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8. prosinec 2021 13:17

Marek Šindelka’s epic ‘monster’ Aberrant, award-winning ‘anabasis’ Material Fatigue

The poet, novelist and screenwriter Marek Šindelka is among the leading authors of the generation to come of age after the Velvet Revolution. Known for acclaimed novels such as Aberrant and Material Fatigue, the 37-year-old has won the top Czech literary prizes for his poetry, short stories and books.

3. listopad 2021 11:15

Gerta: Kateřina Tučková’s powerful novel shines light on Brno expulsions

Kateřina Tučková’s Gerta, which came out this year in English on the Amazon Crossing imprint, centres on Gerta Schnirch, a young member of Brno’s German community who experiences extreme hardships in the immediate aftermath of the war.

8. září 2021 10:58

Jiří Kratochvil: “I am obsessed with telling stories”

Novelist, essayist and playwright Jiří Kratochvil is one of the most respected Czech contemporary writers. Over his career, spanning more than 50 years, he has published dozens of novels and short story collection, which have been translated into a number of foreign languages including German, Spanish, French, Italian, Bulgarian and Hungarian. Jiří Kratochvil is the recipient of many domestic literary awards including the Magnesia Litera Award, Tom Stoppard Prize and the Jaroslav Seifert Award.

16. červen 2021 13:36

Petra Hůlová’s Mongolian family saga ‘All This Belongs to Me’

Petra Hůlová was fresh out of university when she burst onto the Czech literary scene in 2002, with her debut novel Paměť mojí babičce, or All This Belongs to Me, chronicling the lives of three generations of women in a Mongolian family. A surprise bestseller at the time, the poetic but often bleak family saga remains among the most widely read Czech books of recent decades. While set in the Mongolian steppes and capital of Ulaanbaatar, it is also a universal story of family secrets, betrayal, shame and resilience.

5. květen 2021 12:20

Petr Hruška and Milan Děžinský: poets of the everyday

Czech poetry has been enjoying something of a renaissance in the new millennium. Following a decline in the 1990s, in the past two decades poetry has been shaped by lively literary activity, revolving around literary cafés, festivals and public poetry readings.

24. únor 2021 10:44

Radka Denemarková: “Life always brings me topics to explore”

Radka Denemarková is one of the most widely translated contemporary Czech authors. She has received Magnesia Litera Awards for prose, non-fiction and best translation and, most recently, Book of the Year, for her latest novel Hours of Lead. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages, winning numerous foreign prizes, and make her one of the most celebrated Czech contemporary writers.

29. leden 2021 11:27

Jan Balabán: Every life deserves to be told

Today’s edition of our series The Czech Books You Must Read marks 11 years since the death of the novelist and translator Jan Balabán, who is considered one of the best writers of the post-1989 period. His most highly acclaimed work, a collection of short stories called Maybe We’re Leaving from 2004, was named Book of the Decade in the Magnesia Litera competition. His last novel Ask Dad, finished shortly before his untimely death in 2010, won Book of the Year in the same competition.

23. prosinec 2020 12:03

Michal Viewegh - Master of satire in modern Czech literature

With more than 30 books and 1.5 million copies sold under his belt, Michal Viewegh is quite possibly the Czech Republic’s most popular contemporary author. His books have been published in 15 different languages and have also been adopted into several films. He is perhaps best known for his humorous but revealing book Bliss Was it in Bohemia (Báječná léta pod psa), which centres around the life of a family during the communist era.

9. prosinec 2020 14:49

Karel Čapek’s ‘The White Disease’: a pandemic of fascism

Between the two world wars, Karel Čapek was the Czech nation’s leading novelist, playwright, newspaper columnist, travel writer and critic. His most popular work during his lifetime both at home and abroad was his science fiction play ‘R.U.R.’ from 1920, which introduced the word “robot” into the English language. Čapek’s penultimate play, ‘The White Disease’ (Bílá nemoc), first performed in January 1937, was a dark satirical send-up of fascism and opportunism, set against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic. The antimilitary utopian play was as prescient then as it is topical today, in the time of coronavirus.

25. listopad 2020 10:54

Jáchym Topol’s The Devil’s Workshop – exploring dark chapters of region’s history

The Devil’s Workshop is a short novel written by the award-winning author Jáchym Topol. It focuses on some of the darkest chapters of Europe’s history. Set partly in the wartime ghetto of Terezín and partly in Belarus, it addresses two crucial questions: How do we live with the horrors of the past and how are we supposed to commemorate them? The book, which came out in 2009 under the Czech title Chladnou zemí, was published in English in 2013 by Portobello Books, in an excellent translation by Alex Zucker.