Czech Books Ivan Klíma: a sceptic in the era of entertainment culture
The 78-year-old novelist, Ivan Klíma, is one of the best known and most widely translated of all Czech writers, with novels like “Love and Garbage”, “Judge on Trial” or “No Saints or Angels” acclaimed worldwide. Nearly all Klíma’s work focuses on human relationships, in particular between men and women, but at the same time he offers far broader insights into modern Czech society. In a recent interview for Radio Prague Klíma spoke about his latest book “My Crazy Century” in which he looks back at the first half of his life including his years in a Nazi concentration camp and his later flirtation with communism. But when I went to see Ivan Klíma last week at his house in a leafy suburb of Prague, it was to talk about the more recent past. I was interested in how he perceives the years since the fall of communism. The Velvet Revolution came suddenly, but did it take Ivan Klíma by surprise?
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