Czech Literature

1. a. Much of Karel Capek's work was written with his brother Josef Kapek (1887 - 1945), a painter, who illustrated several of Karel's books.

b. Capek brothers' play R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots) coined the modern use of the word "robot" which comes from the Czech word "robota", meaning "forced labour". R.U.R., written in 1920, depicts a society dependent on mechanical workers called robots that are capable of doing any kind of mental or physical work.

c. Letter "C" in the name Capek has a caron on top (an upside-down circumflex, if you will), that makes it sound like the English "ch" as in "church".

2. Letter "s" in the name Hasek has a caron on top, that makes it sound like the English "sh" as in "short". The "S" in Svejk (Schweik) also has a caron.

3. Kafka was born in Prague and lived there for most of his life. However, he wrote only in the German language. He went to Berlin in 1923 but his health did not allow him a long and happy stay there. He died in a clinic near Vienna in 1924.

4. Letter "s" in Frantisek has a caron on top, that makes it sound like the English "sh" as in "short". Frantisek Langer's books are very hard to come by in English.

5. Josef Skvorecky left his native Czechoslovakia during the 1968 invasion and immigrated to Canada.

Czech Literature
Máj and After Máj Circle: Group of young Czech writers of the mid-19th century whose aim was to create a new Czech literature that would reflect their liberalism and practical nationalism. They published in an almanac called Máj (1858; "May") after the lyrical epic poem of the same name by Karel Hynek Mácha, whom the group regarded as the forerunner of their literary revolution. (source Encyclopedia Britannica)
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Karel Capek 1 (1890 - 1938)
	R.U.R. and the Insect Play (w. Josef Capek)	read the reviews	#	write a review
	War with the Newts	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Gardener's Year (illustrated by Josef Capek)	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Absolute at Large	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Nine Fairy Tales: And More Thrown in for Good Measure (illustrated by Josef Capek)	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Three Novels: Hordubal, Meteor, an Ordinary Life	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Tales From Two Pockets	read the reviews	#	write a review
	ApocryphalTales	read the reviews	#	write a review
Jaroslav Hasek 2 (1883 - 1923)
	The Good Soldier Schweik (Svejk)	read the reviews	#	write a review
Vaclav (Václav) Havel (1936)
	The Garden Party and other plays	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Beggar's Opera	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Summer Meditations	read the reviews	#	write a review
Bohumil Hrabal (1914 - 1997)
	Too Loud a Solitude	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Closely Watched Trains	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age	read the reviews	#	write a review
	I Served the King of England	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Total Fears Letters to Dubenka	read the reviews	#	write a review
Franz Kafka 3 (1883 - 1924)
	The Trial	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Castle	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Collected Stories	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Metamorphosis	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Amerika	read the reviews	#	write a review
Ivan Klima (1931)
	My Merry Mornings	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Love and Garbage	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Lovers for a Day	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Waiting for the dark, Waiting for the Light	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Ultimate Intimacy	read the reviews	#	write a review
Milan Kundera (1929)
	The Unbearable Lightness of Being	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Immortality	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Joke	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Slowness	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Laughable Loves	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Identity	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Farewell Waltz	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Life is Elsewhere	read the reviews	#	write a review
Frantisek Langer 4 (1888 - 1965)
	The Camel Through the Needle's Eye	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Outskirts	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Cavalry Watch	read the reviews	#	write a review
Karel Hynek Mácha (1810 - 1836)
	Máj (May)	read the reviews	#	write a review
Jan Neruda (1834 - 1891)
	Prague Tales (Tales of the Little Quarter)	read the reviews	#	write a review
Jaroslav Seifert (1901 - 1986) Nobel Prize in Literature, 1984
	The Early Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Casting of Bells	read the reviews	#	write a review
Josef Skvorecky 5 (1924)
	The Miracle Game	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Two Murders in My Double Life	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Mournful Demeanour of Lieutenant Boruvka	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Sins for Father Knox	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Cowards	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Engineer of Human Souls	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Bride of Texas	read the reviews	#	write a review
Jachym Topol (1962)
	City Sister Silver	read the reviews	#	write a review
Ludvik Vaculik (1926)
	The Guinea Pigs	read the reviews	#	write a review
	The Axe	read the reviews	#	write a review
Michal Viewegh (1962)
	Bringing Up Girls in Bohemia	read the reviews	#	write a review
Jiri Weil (1900 - 1956)
	Mendelssohn Is on the Roof	read the reviews	#	write a review
	Life with a Star	read the reviews	#	write a review

Karel Capek 1 (1890 - 1938)

Jaroslav Hasek 2 (1883 - 1923)

Vaclav (Václav) Havel (1936)

Bohumil Hrabal (1914 - 1997)

Franz Kafka 3 (1883 - 1924)

Ivan Klima (1931)

Milan Kundera (1929)

Frantisek Langer 4 (1888 - 1965)

Karel Hynek Mácha (1810 - 1836)

Jan Neruda (1834 - 1891)

Jaroslav Seifert (1901 - 1986) Nobel Prize in Literature, 1984

Josef Skvorecky 5 (1924)

Jachym Topol (1962)

Ludvik Vaculik (1926)

Michal Viewegh (1962)

Jiri Weil (1900 - 1956)