Josef Škvorecký (1924–2012)

This is a fine collection of inter-connected short stories by Czech writer Joseph Škvorecký. Škvorecký writes of a serious subject, describing the atmosphere in Czechoslovakia as the oppressive hand of Stalinism descends upon the country in the years immediately following World War 2. But Škvorecký tells these tales with a sly, sardonic wit and a keen eye for the absurdity of the situation, (think Kafka with a strong element of Joseph Heller), as college graduates are sent to work in show more factories, farmers sent to technical engineering school, and people begin getting arrested for very little reason. One early story illustrates the process through which a dedicated anti-Communist little by little because wholly co-opted into the new paradigm under the rationale of "saving what can be saved." The stories are all told through the eyes of a political "innocent," a tenor saxophonist who measures the changing political climate by whether or not, at any given time, his band is allowed to play bebop and blues.

Here's a sampling of Škvorecký's style in these tales, from the story "How They Got Nabbed":

"Then official lightning struck several times in rapid succession as far as jazz and bebop were concerned, and some drunk sat down on top of Paul's vibes. We barely managed to scrape up a few gigs in the few joints left tor the non-builders of socialism. I lost track of Paul. He did meet me a couple of times and tried to talk me into joining up with Nutsbellow; he enticed me with trousers made over from American offers' pinks, cartons of Chesterfields and a pornographic magazine with stereoscopic glasses that made the pictures burst right out of the page. But I was wary and chose to pretend that I was lazy and liked to sleep during the day."

The stories are short and the reading is easy, but the collection leaves you with some things to ponder. show less

This collection of short stories spans fifty years of Skvorecky's life, from his childhood in Nachod to a university in Toronto. Many are related by Skvorecky's fictional counterpart, Danny Smiricky.

Danny traces the destruction of Jewish life in Koslovo, the fictional Nachod. He sees his primary school teacher taken to the camps; a once-respected doctor is unable to practise medicine or even to speak to his former patients; people return from the camps to find that their neighbours deny all show more knowledge of the valuables left with them for safe keeping; Czech children abuse the Jewish schoolmates who were once their closest friends. Through the years, Danny remembers the Jewish people he once knew.

In "Spectator on a February Night," written in 1948, Danny witnesses the Communist coup. Life under Communism is bleak: intellectuals and liberals like Danny are exiled to remote cities; jazz is banned; Czech patriots are executed; people live sad lives without hope. This is a different Danny Smiricky from the ebullient, sardonic narrator of The Cowards. show less

I picked this novel from my very big TBR pile and just finished it today. The story centers on Dvorak's time in the United States when he had a post as the Director of the National Conservatory in New York City. Each chapter is narrated by a different person- so the reader learns about his family and how he married his wife, Anna, as well as the histories of the many people that Dvorak met and worked with in America. In fact at one point in the novel, there seemed to be too many characters show more to follow as Skvorecky writes about Dvorak's many musical friends and his appreciation and later use of Black music. The many stories that make up the narrative give the reader an appreciation of the many influences that Dvorak used in his music as well as the people who were influenced by him in their musical careers in the United States as well as in Europe. In this biographical novel I made the acquaintance of some formidable women who figured in this development of music- Jeannette Thurber, a patron who used her husband's money to set up both the Conservatory and an earlier opera company and Adele Margulies - a pianist who bridged the gaps between classical and popular music. And there are the many stories of unrequited love from Dvorak's first infatuation with his wife Anna's sister Josephine to Otylia, Dvorak's daughter who had to choose between the Old and New World. The book ended and I felt a little sad in leaving all the remarkable characters in the story. A very good read to start the New Year. show less

Although the translation was a little bumpy in places I quite enjoyed this book of connected short stories. Lieutenant Boruvka is a hardworking Czechoslovakian homicide detective. In fact it may be because he is hardworking that he has a mournful demeanour. He would like to be more devil-may-care, especially as regards the female officer with the large chignon, but work gets in the way. And then, there is his wife and daughter who require a certain amount of attention. For a man that is not show more very good looking Lieutenant Boruvka seems to get a lot of female attention. Maybe that's a little of the author's wishful thinking showing through because from pictures I have seen of Josef Skvorecky he is no Greek god.

Since these stories were published in 1966 originally they show a place and time that no longer exists. The difficulties of living under Communist dictates are alluded to in several of the stories. In "The Case of the Horizontal Trajectory" apartment overcrowding is at the core of the mystery. Several of the cases take place while Lieutenant Boruvka takes his daughter on holiday to celebrate her report card. Except the holiday takes place in October because of the difficulty of getting an exit permit.

But beyond all that are some really good whodunits or howdunits and they are the best part of the book. show less