The Visible World
Registered by flanners of Havant, Hampshire United Kingdom on 4/2/2009
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Amazon Review:
More innovative fiction from the critically esteemed Slouka (God's Fool, 2002, etc.): a subtle, nimble novel that's part fictional memoir, part literary thriller/romance.The American child of Czech-born Anton'n and Ivana, our unnamed narrator grows up amid affection but also enduring mystery. He eavesdrops on his parents' get-togethers with fellow emigres, revels in their folktales and anecdotes of Czechoslovakia, but increasingly wonders about the nagging lacunae. Most of all, he's vexed by his mother's implacable sadness and intrigued by Anton'n's quiet acceptance of it. Ivana eventually commits suicide, and her 37-year-old son goes to Czechoslovakia, armed with clues, artifacts and snippets he hopes will help him make sense of himself by making sense of his parents. Here the text takes an odd, delightful turn. Balked in his effort to unearth facts, the narrator turns to fiction. In the book's second half, he invents a love triangle involving his parents and a member of the Czech Resistance. Tomas was, in this imagining, one of the partisans who in 1942 assassinated notorious Nazi Reinhard Heydrich, Reichsprotektor of Czechoslovakia, and then hid in a catacomb, waiting for an opportunity to escape while the Nazis massacred their countrymen in reprisal. Marred only slightly by the romance's hokey, fairytale quality, this love song to the narrator's parents is deftly structured, lyrical and earnest.An eloquent testament to the power of storytelling. (Kirkus Reviews)
More innovative fiction from the critically esteemed Slouka (God's Fool, 2002, etc.): a subtle, nimble novel that's part fictional memoir, part literary thriller/romance.The American child of Czech-born Anton'n and Ivana, our unnamed narrator grows up amid affection but also enduring mystery. He eavesdrops on his parents' get-togethers with fellow emigres, revels in their folktales and anecdotes of Czechoslovakia, but increasingly wonders about the nagging lacunae. Most of all, he's vexed by his mother's implacable sadness and intrigued by Anton'n's quiet acceptance of it. Ivana eventually commits suicide, and her 37-year-old son goes to Czechoslovakia, armed with clues, artifacts and snippets he hopes will help him make sense of himself by making sense of his parents. Here the text takes an odd, delightful turn. Balked in his effort to unearth facts, the narrator turns to fiction. In the book's second half, he invents a love triangle involving his parents and a member of the Czech Resistance. Tomas was, in this imagining, one of the partisans who in 1942 assassinated notorious Nazi Reinhard Heydrich, Reichsprotektor of Czechoslovakia, and then hid in a catacomb, waiting for an opportunity to escape while the Nazis massacred their countrymen in reprisal. Marred only slightly by the romance's hokey, fairytale quality, this love song to the narrator's parents is deftly structured, lyrical and earnest.An eloquent testament to the power of storytelling. (Kirkus Reviews)
Journal Entry 2 by flanners at The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre in Havant, Hampshire United Kingdom on Friday, April 24, 2009
Released 15 yrs ago (4/24/2009 UTC) at The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre in Havant, Hampshire United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
On the shelf
On the shelf
Passionate about anything to do with the Czech Republic so looking forward to reading this book.
Journal Entry 4 by rem_CTW-626511 at The Old Shades Pub, Whitehall in City of Westminster, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (12/28/2009 UTC) at The Old Shades Pub, Whitehall in City of Westminster, Greater London United Kingdom
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
on the BC shelf
on the BC shelf