HF set in Czechoslovakia

[Dcree]

Any recommendations for books set in old Czechoslovakia? I've read "The Bloodletter's Daughter."

[Ioana]

Can't help with any recommendation, sorry - but we just got back from Prague and Cesky Krumlov, and this books sounds very interesting. I added it to my (very long) to-read shelf. Thank you.

[Robin]

I have not read any of these but:

The Fair Maid of Bohemia
The Fifth Servant
The Book of Splendor
The Memoirs of a Prague Executioner
The Prague Cemetery

[Rebecca]

HHhH by Laurent Binet which turned into a pretty compelling read.

[Zuzana]

Dcree wrote: "Any recommendations for books set in old Czechoslovakia? I've read "The Bloodletter's Daughter.""

Dcree, are you looking for books set only in Czechoslovakia (1918-1992) or books set in Bohemia (historical region that is nowadays Czech Republic)?

For Czechoslovakia try
The Little Town Where Time Stood Still and Cutting it Short or Closely Watched Trains by Hrabal
The Hangwoman by Kohout
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera
The Cowards by Škvorecký
The Glass Room by Mawer

For Bohemia
The Good Soldier Švejk by Hašek
Legends of Old Bohemia by Jirásek
The Memoirs of a Prague Executioner by Svátek

[Chrissie]

Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968
Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Zoli
I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust

are all wonderful. The first two and the last are not historical fiction though. They are biographies/memoirs.

I quit The Bloodletter's Daughter. What did you think of it? I didn't like the the way it was written.

I have quite a few more on my Czech-Republic and Slovakia shelves if you are interested:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/... and
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/...

[Christoph]

Dcree wrote: "Any recommendations for books set in old Czechoslovakia? I've read "The Bloodletter's Daughter.""

I just wrote one
The Luck of the Weissensteiners

[Dcree]

Chrissie wrote: "Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968
Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Zoli
I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in..."

[Dcree]

Zuzana wrote: "Dcree wrote: "Any recommendations for books set in old Czechoslovakia? I've read "The Bloodletter's Daughter.""

Dcree, are you looking for books set only in Czechoslovakia (1918-1992) or books se..."

Zuzana wrote: "Dcree wrote: "Any recommendations for books set in old Czechoslovakia? I've read "The Bloodletter's Daughter.""

Dcree, are you looking for books set only in Czechoslovakia (1918-1992) or books se..."

Thank you very much for your post. I am very interested in memoirs, especially those about the Holocaust.

[Chrissie]

Glad I could help!

[Nancy from NJ]

I am reading The Glass Room by Simon Mawer which takes place in this country at the beginning of WWII.

[Chrissie]

Nancy, the reviews on the The Glass Room are quite split. What are yo thinking?

[Christoph]

Life with a Star
Mendelssohn is on the Roof
The Luck of the Weissensteiners

I loved the Glass Room

[Nancy from NJ]

Chrissie wrote: "Nancy, the reviews on the The Glass Room are quite split. What are yo thinking?"

I am enjoying it although the writing is a bit different.

[Chrissie]

Hmmm!

[Zuzana]

Try anything by Arnošt Lustig. A Prayer for Katerina Horovitzova and Lovely Green Eyes are both very good.

[Laura]

Chrissie wrote: "Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968
Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Zoli
I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in..."

I read the Bloodletter's Daughter as a buddy read. I love that time period and I really wanted to love this book. The legend of Marketa is fascinating but I had trouble with her writing, too. I understand that she wanted Mareka to be a strong female character but I felt it was a little overdone. And I don't like when all the characters are doing the thinking. It gets confusing.

[Chrissie]

Laura wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968
Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Zoli
I Have Lived a Thousand Yea..."

If you are interested in GOOD books set in Czechoslovakia DO check out the ones I named above. We seem to like and dislike the same stuff.

[Jennifer]

Czechoslovakia is a great place for the setting of a historic novel. My favorite artist Alfonse Mucha was from there. I haven't read any of these novels yet but they look really interesting!

[Chrissie]

Jennifer wrote: "Czechoslovakia is a great place for the setting of a historic novel. My favorite artist Alfonse Mucha was from there. I haven't read any of these novels yet but they look really interesting!"

I couldn't agree more. Prague is one of the most delightful cities of Europe.

[Laura]

I haven't been to Prague for 20 years. A lot has changed since then. I could get a bus from Nürnberg, it takes like 3 hours to get there. Maybe this summer. My colleague is from Prague, so she's travelling there all the time.

[Chrissie]

Laura,I love the city. Take a look at the stones in the sidewalks, they all have different patterns.

[Laura]

Before or after the Absinth? ;-)

[Chrissie]

Before, they are beautiful. Look at the ones near the Jewish cemetery. In fact I spent way too much time looking at my feet once I saw what was going on there at my toes.

And the park and the steps. Look at all of it! It is really lovely.

[Laura]

Do you have any pictures?

[Chrissie]

Only paper photos. I have a whole page of just the different pavement patterns. I really cannot get them here on GR.This is too complicated for me!

[Zina]

Ioana wrote: "Can't help with any recommendation, sorry - but we just got back from Prague and Cesky Krumlov, and this books sounds very interesting. I added it to my (very long) to-read shelf. Thank you."
Perhaps I shouldn't, but as a Bookreads author - who would not be making any money out of theis - my first book was set in Czechoslovakia:
The Book Of Wishes And Complaints