Reading Europe celebrates the Czech Republic

Daniela Hodrová, winner of the Czech Magnesia Litera Best Book Prize 2016

There are 24 countries in the EU in addition to the 4 countries in the British Isles and Commonwealth. Before the EU Referendum let us take the opportunity to find out something more about fellow members and neighbours. The recommended titles have been selected to let the reader know the literature, history and culture of each country better.

On 2 June we celebrate the Czech Republic, on 3 June Slovakia and on the weekend of 4/5 June the Czech Republic and Slovakia together. The two Czech titles featured in the Reading Europe List are:
 
A Kingdom of Souls by Daniela Hodrova, translated by Elena Sokol and Veronique Firkusny (Jantar Publishers) ISBN 978 0 956889 05 8, 200 pages, £12.50
Prague is a monster consuming its inhabitants and its history. Ghosts become witnesses to historical and cultural motifs in a poetic and powerful piece of prose.
 
Three Faces of an Angel by Jiri Pehe, translated by Gerald Turner(Jantar)
ISBN 978 0 956889 04 1, 368 pages,£15.00
A novel about three generations of a 20th Century Prague Czech Jewish German family which begins before WW1 and ends on the day of 9/11. Three Faces of an Angel guides the reader through revolution, war, the holocaust, and ultimately exile and return.

Two fantastic new translations have been published this year:

Love Letter in Cuniform by Tomáš Zmeškal, translated by Alex Zucker (Yale University Press) ISBN 978 0 300186 9 70, 307 pages, £12.99.
Moving from Prague, to Arizona and then Mesopotamia from prison cells to cloning labs. This is a love story featuring a pastry chef with visions of grandeur, break-ins by an apologetic their and zoo animals on the loose.

and,

Midway Upon the Journey of Our Life by Josef Jedlička, translated by Alex Zucker (Karolinum) ISBN 978 8 024631 2 71, 177 pages, £17.50 
 A slap in the face to the reigning aesthetic of socialist realism. 

All titles will be on sale at the Reading Europe Pop Up Shop at the BSCA Garden Party on Saturday afternoon