An intimate history of Czechoslovakia under communism; a meditation on the social and political role of art, and a triumphant statement of the valu...
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Jun 21, 2011
Nicola
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An interview with Vaclav Havel - a playright, political dissenter, prisoner and eventually the president of Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism in 1989. I read this book with very little knowledge of Vaclav Havel or Czechoslovakia. I was interested in reading it because the "velvet revolution" was referenced a few times during an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi about her own political struggle for the people of Burma/Myanmar. As the interview with Vaclav Havel doesn't present
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Jul 14, 2011
Larry
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Czech writer Vaclav Havel found a cause he was willing to die for. Disturbing the Peace is his story of how he came to that cause and what happened. (Spoiler: he didn’t die; he became President) In 1975, he writes, “it was time to stop waiting to see what ‘they’ would do and do something myself, compel them for a change to deal with something they hadn’t counted on.” “They” were the totalitarian government of Czechoslovakia. He was arrested in January 1977 and held until May 1977. He was next
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Sep 08, 2008
Nick
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I most likely would never have read this book if it hadn't been given to me as a gift. I have never seen or read any of Havel's plays, have spent all of 3 days in the Czech Republic, and knew of the Prague Spring primarily through Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being and Stoppard's Rock and Roll--I basically have no strong connection to Havel and had never even heard of this book.
Disturbing the Peace is, however, quite a wonderful read. Havel, who says so himself at the end of the More...
Disturbing the Peace is, however, quite a wonderful read. Havel, who says so himself at the end of the More...
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Jun 15, 2010
Andrew
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Paul Wilson is a fabulous translator - I'm fluent in Czech and have read many of these pieces in the original, but his translations are better than I could ever hope to do myself.
Jun 07, 2010
Kate
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I expected this book to have more information about Czechoslovakia and it's history, so I was disappointed to find that Havel spent most of the interview talking about theatre. The timing of the book's publication may have led him to gloss over so many political details. Nevertheless, I expected to learn more from this book than I did.
Jan 20, 2009
Martha
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Inspiring stuff. Helpful to anyone trying to understand how to live as a full human being under a police state.
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Jan 12, 2010
Libby
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Havel is the man! easy read and gives you a sense of his character and motivations.
Jun 10, 2009
Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Huizdala by Vaclav Havel (1991)
Feb 13, 2009
My friend Yuri suggested this author from his home country. Vaclav Havel was the 1st President of the Czech Republic.
Feb 18, 2011
Mike
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Havel is quite a guy. A creative writer, creative mind, with an engineering technical background who becomes the president of his country. A leader in the "velvet revolution" -- this book covers some of the territory that led up to the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. Including the formation of Charter 77. It covers time Havel spent in jail. He's remarkable as a public thinker -- astute analysis of social conditions and how change can be wrought . . .
A companion to this b More...
A companion to this b More...
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Sep 30, 2007
Eric
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Vaclav Havel has some quite nuanced opinions about politics, art, and social change. While you might expect him to hold strong reactionary opinions against the type of government that made him an illegal artist and imprisoned him several times, he still sees the merits in socialism and the pitfalls in capitalism. He longs for a system of political organization separate from these two, which does not suppress the human spirit.
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Apr 20, 2008
Andrés
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An excellent book, perhaps one of the best I've ever read. Havel's defense of the individual, his right to think and believe in accordance with his conscience, is not merely theoretically but is in fact grounded firmly in reality. His belief in a moral code, the value of living a moral life, the right to life with dignity, all of this and more is truly inspiring.
Feb 17, 2008
Rick
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 07, 2010
More appropriately than currently reading, I should say indefinitely reading. Tried twice to finish this, and while it was interesting, I never made it through the last 75 pages or so.
Jun 19, 2009
Phil
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I've been told that I work like an optimist but talk like a pessimist. I've always seen it more as having some kind of enduring hope for the future, but a realistic (?) awareness of the present, something like that.
I feel like Havel has actually expressed this dichotomy for me, far beyond how I might be able to. I guess I might say I feel a sense of inspiration, but not some sort of undirected inspiration, even though I can't really describe what the direction might be.
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I feel like Havel has actually expressed this dichotomy for me, far beyond how I might be able to. I guess I might say I feel a sense of inspiration, but not some sort of undirected inspiration, even though I can't really describe what the direction might be.
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