- Paperback: 436 pages
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprinted edition edition (June 1992)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0393308499
- ISBN-13: 978-0393308495
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.6 x 3.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
This big, lush political novel spans 20 years of recent Czech history, culminating in the Prague Spring and the Russian invasion of 1968. Shortly after the war, Danny Smiricky, the cynical hero of Skvorecky's novel The Engineer of Human Souls , is present--although dozing--in a rural Bohemian church when a statue of St. Joseph moves on its pedestal, seemingly of its own volition. The Catholic clergy call it a miracle, but the Communist secret police conduct their own investigation. Alleging that the event was a fraud, they torture and murder the attending priest. In the more liberal political climate of the late '60s, Smiricky sets out to help a crusading journalist solve the mystery; the novel is loosely structured as a detective story, complete with clues and false trails. But Smiricky's real role is devil's advocate, standing aside from the unfolding drama of modern history--he refers to himself as a "Good Soldier Svejk"--in order to comment on it. As a writer of well-received operettas, Smiricky has special access to the intellectuals involved in the Prague Spring uprising, and he takes amusing, nasty jibes at the real participants. Czech President Havel becomes "the world-famous playwright Hejl" who is already organizing for his future political party; the writer Bohumil Hrabal, also portrayed in an unflattering light, has been transformed into the "gifted non-party novelist Nabal"; etc. Skvorecky's ambitious attempt to capture the spirit and feel of this turbulent era makes for fascinating reading.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Smiricky, from "The Engineer of Human Souls", is a witness to an event, which the Catholic townspeople insist is a miracle, but the Communist Party denounces as a fraud. A priest dies under interrogation. Twenty years later the case is reopened and Danny is drawn into the investigations.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mesmerizing, Tragic yet Uplifting,
By
This review is from: The Miracle Game (Hardcover)
This is the first book I ever read by Skvorecky and it is undoubtedly the best. Two stories procede at side by side, the former (from 1948) setting up the latter (in 1968) which references the first. The religious experience of downtrodden peoples from Middle Europe was perfectly depicted - from their simple faith to their hope for a miraculous deliverence from the tyranny of communism. By the time of the Spring Prague the nation was demoralized but had not surrendered its soul. As in every country under Soviet tyranny, people expressed their desire to be free in hundreds of ways, one of which was revolution. But the "miracle" of that spring was as elusive as the purported miracle from 20 years earlier. What is particularly tragic is all the wasted time, effort and lives expended arguing about such an absurd philosophy as Marxism which, we should note, was hardest on the "people" to whom it gave lip service; its existence was made possible through the use of force. By the end one understands that all the dialectics and theories and promises mean nothing when compared to individual freedom or in this case, the liberation of a whole society.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews) 8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Humourous tale of Czech horrors,
By Elizabeth Hendry - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Miracle Game (Paperback)
Skvorecky has done an interesting thing here, he has intertwined a serious story of the horrors of living in Czecheslovakia with a bawdy romp about a young oversexed man who teaches in a all girls high school. We follow Danny as he grows into an oversexed middle aged man. The story is funny and well-written for the most part. My only complaints are he jumps around in time a little too much and the translation got a little borderline obscene. All in all I enjoyed reading it and think anyone with an interest is Czech history will as well
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential modern Czech novel.,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Miracle Game (Paperback)
This is the one. This novel better than any other explains the imprint left on the Czech consciousness by the Soviet invasion of August 1968, described so vividly by Skvorecky.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant account of the end of the Prague Spring,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Miracle Game (Paperback)
The Soviet invasion of August 1968 that ended the reformist Prague Spring is the key historical moment of post-1948 Czechoslovakia.Skvorecky, through his oft-used alter ego Danny Smiricky, eloquently describes the collapse of the idealism that fuelled the reforms. He interweaves an apparent miracle (a statue in a church moves on it own) to question the wisdom of having faith in anything beyond yourself. Of all of Skvorecky's writings, and I have read several, this novel serves as the best introduction to modern Czech literature. Skvorecky is lighter than Klima and Kundera, but this is not to say he shies away from the horror of communism. His description of the invasion of Prague -- tart and sarcastic -- jolts the reader into an understanding of the deep scars on the Czech psyche. Of course, it was the Soviet invasion that sent Skvorecky to the west, and he has written that he now feels more Canadian than Czech. But in The Miracle Game, he reveals the depths of his affection for his country and its tortured soul. |
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