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    City, Sister, Silver
    Unavailable
    City, Sister, Silver
    Unavailable
    City, Sister, Silver
    Ebook743 pages9 hours

    City, Sister, Silver

    By Jáchym Topol

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Winner of the Egon Hostovský Prize as the best Czech book of the year, this epic novel powerfully captures the sense of dislocation that followed the Czechs’ newfound freedom in 1989. More than just the story of its young protagonist—who is part businessman, part gang member, part drifter—it is a novel that includes terrifying dream scenes, Czech and American Indian legends, a nightmarish Eastern European flea market, comic scenes about the literary world, and an oddly tender story of the love between the protagonist and his spiritual sister.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCatbird Press
    Release dateApr 1, 2000
    ISBN9781936053407
    Unavailable
    City, Sister, Silver
    Author

    Jáchym Topol

    Jáchym Topol is the author of novels, poetry, stories, dramas, screenplays, reportage, and song lyrics. His novel The Devil’s Workshop won an English PEN Award for Writing in Translation and was longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Best Translated Book Award (Fiction). His novel City Sister Silver was featured in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. He is the winner of the Vilenica International Literary Prize (Slovenia), and two of the most prestigious Czech literary awards, the Tom Stoppard Prize and the Jaroslav Seifert Prize.

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    Reviews for City, Sister, Silver

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      This novel is set in post-Velvet Revolution Czech Republic. The sense of unrest, of people not knowing who to trust or how to conduct their lives, is very well represented. The book is narrated by Potok, a young man who is an actor by trade, but part of an "Organization" that makes money in all kinds of underhanded and illegal ways. They are brothers, he and his organization, not just associates and they all have very particular roles. Potok's adventures take dangerous and ill-fated twists as he pursues his "sister"- the woman he loves. The language in the book is not always obvious in meaning, but it's not difficult once you fall into the story. I think I could read it a dozen more times and get more and more meaning out of it. As I was reading (and I found the book to be compulsively readable, even in the midst of dream sequences that were hard to comprehend), it was easy to let the words wash over me without having to work at the story. The use of ellipses is rampant throughout the book, but I got used to the rhythm of the story quickly. Read this book when you have time and space for it. It's not quick or easy, but it was worth reading. Bone up on the Velvet Revolution a bit, too- helps things make more sense.