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Spaceman of Bohemia

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An intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery

Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Procházka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country's first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he's dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father's sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions.

Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka?

Rich with warmth and suspense and surprise, Spaceman of Bohemia is an exuberant delight from start to finish. Very seldom has a novel this profound taken readers on a journey of such boundless entertainment and sheer fun.

277 pages, Hardcover

First published March 7, 2017

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About the author

Jaroslav Kalfar

6 books261 followers
Dear Reader,
My name is Jaroslav Kalfař. I was born into a revolution in Prague, Czech Republic, where I began writing short stories at the wondrous age of five. I immigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen to pursue writing in English. I studied writing and literature at New York University, and during my time there I wrote an early draft of my debut novel, Spaceman of Bohemia.

Spaceman was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, The Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and a nominee for the Dublin Literary Award. The book has been published in fourteen languages so far. A film adaptation directed by Johan Renck, starring Adam Sandler, Carey Mulligan, and Paul Dano, is coming to Netflix in 2022.

In 2018, I was honored to receive the prestigious fiction fellowship from the National Endowments for the Arts, the highlight of my career so far.

I live in Brooklyn, where I split my time between writing novels and screenplays, and devouring any book I can get my hands on. I love odd books that play with genre expectations, reflect the strangest parts of life which can be found both in the mundane and the extraordinary.

I travel back to the Czech Republic as often as possible, to reconnect with my family, my language, my culture and history. I am grateful to have multiple homes, as each provides its own unique inspiration, stories, texture of living.

How unlikely, yet here we are. It's wonderful to meet you.

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5 stars
1,346 (24%)
4 stars
2,251 (41%)
3 stars
1,388 (25%)
2 stars
381 (6%)
1 star
81 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 881 reviews
Profile Image for Adam Dalva.
Author 8 books1,779 followers
March 9, 2018
I loved this novel - Kalfař has created something unique here, equal parts emotional love-letter to home (with all that word represents) and sci-fi thrill-ride with (possibly) hallucinated space spiders. There aren't many books that poke at their presumed genre conventions in this way, with high-literary prose mingled with outer space action and paeans to nutella. Consider this representative sequence:

Jakub, our protagonist, a space dust researcher from the Czech Republic, is dealing with emotional trauma. He leaves his vessel with his possibly hallucinated alien friend Hanuš and floats into an odd supernatural cloud. At this moment of peak suspense, there ensues a lovely, seemingly disconnected chapter, "Prague in Spring." This is written in the present tense, showcasing Kalfař's beautiful writing about home:

"We are a hub of tanned stomachs, muscled arms, full lips clinching cigarettes, there among the sweating seniors dragging their groceries and the bulge-cutted beer lovers stuffed into suits, those apostles of capitalism with their clean-shaven chins buried in the business sections of newspapers."

Jakub begins to date his future-life Lenka, who"seems a presence unaffected by the square's chaos and hostility...she invites love." It is as genuinely romantic a sequence that I can remember. The action is suspended at a beautiful point, with Jakub marrying Lenka, thinking of his beloved grandfather's ashes. We have almost forgotten that we are in space. Then:

"I passed through the knot of time like sand slipping away inside an hourglass, grain by grain, atom by atom...This is what elements do. They leap into darkness until something else catches hold of them. Energy has no consciousness. Force plots no schemes. Things crash into one another, form alliances until physics rips them apart and sends them in opposite directions."

This sequence is characteristic of what the book is hoping to accomplish. There's a Nabokovian structure going on here, with much of the jacket-copy and hype dealing with the first half of the novel. What comes after this bravura, centerpiece sequence that I've outlined (I won't spoil it) was as exciting to me as the galactic mysteries of the first half. A there-and-back again. I see this compared to Lem a lot, and I think that might be lazy (I LOVE Solaris, but that is a sparser book, and humorless). It reminds me more of another great Eastern European writer: Hrabal in Space.

Profile Image for emma.
2,044 reviews64.9k followers
July 27, 2021
I would like:
1) an alien spider best friend to share jumbo-sized jars of Nutella with
2) to think as prettily and philosophically as the last 50 pages of this book

This is a beautifully written AND INTERESTING look at what is moral right versus what is an ever-changing political right AND IT HAS A FUN SPACE PLOTLINE.

Do you know how rare that is?

Get you a book that can do both.

A mix of sci-fi and lit fic doesn't sound like it would happen naturally, other than the fact that they both have fun monosyllabic nicknames. But this felt effortless and good, although it leaned a bit heavier on the lit fic.

But that was perfect for me because lit fic is actually my favorite genre and sci fi is my least.

Hence four stars.

Bottom line: Of course I waited four years to read this book that I would inevitably like.

---------------

i am addicted to projects, so here's a new one: i'm going to try to clear all the ARCs and publisher copies off of my TBR.

this month, if possible.

starting with this book that came out four years ago.

oof.
325 reviews310 followers
March 17, 2017
Existence runs on energy, a fluid movement forward, yet we never stop seeking the point of origin, the Big Bang that set us upon our inevitable course.


Jakub Procházka, the first Czech in space, is sent on a solo mission to collect dust from the mysterious Chopra cloud. The long journey through the cosmos gives him plenty of time to ponder the state of his marriage. His wife Lenka is getting increasingly distant during their chats. One day, Lenka goes into hiding and doesn't show up for their weekly call. Devastated by her disappearance, he sinks into a deep depression. That's when a Nutella-loving alien spider appears. Jakub names him Hanuš, after a Czech clockmaster. Is Hanuš real or a figment of his imagination, perhaps a "personification of [his] fears"? Jakub's conversations with Hanuš help him assess his life and determine what drove him to this point. Can this expedition into the unknown help him overcome his father's sins? Will he survive the dangerous journey and return home? Even if he finds his way back to Earth, will Lenka remain permanently out of reach?

Wasn’t all life a form of phantom being, given its involuntary origin in the womb? No one could guarantee a happy life, a safe life, a life free of violations, external or eternal. Yet we exited birth canals at unsustainable speeds, eager to live, floating away to Mars at the mercy of Spartan technology or living simpler lives on Earth at the mercy of chance. We lived regardless of who observed us, who recorded us, who cared where we went.


Spaceman of Bohemia is a mix of science fiction, history, politics and philosophy. Sometimes I saw shades of Kurt Vonnegut (Hanuš) and Anthony Marra (Jakub's childhood). The story takes a messier path than I usually prefer, but it actually worked for me here. It fits with the way Hanuš interacts with Jakub's memories and mirrors the tangled web of human history. Jakub's journey shifts halfway through. I preferred the first half. There was less room for humor in the second half. I also missed some of the characters from the beginning! The writing was always gorgeous, but sometimes too ornate for me. I'd get lost in a sentence and have to start over or I'd lose sight of Jakub during the philosophical ruminations. I started to see the author's hand in the second half, but it was still a pleasure to read.

“You know that the world is always trying to take us. This country, that country. We can’t fight the whole world, the ten million of us, so we pick the people we think should be punished, and we make them suffer the best we can. In one book, your father is a hero. In another book, he is a monster. The men who don’t have books written about them have it easier.”


Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, the bloodless overthrow of the authoritarian Communist government in 1989, marks a turning point in Jakub's life. Jakub's father was a member of the secret police; he informed on his neighbors and participated in torture. Once the Communists lose power, the man who was feared becomes a target. After his death, Jakub and his grandparents face the full brunt of the community's resentment. Jakub considers himself "the biological carrier of [his] father’s curse." Every step he takes is intended to overcome his father's mistakes. Are our parents' flaws embedded in our DNA, destining us to repeat their mistakes? One character notices that Jakub and his father share the same "terminal decision to serve." Would Jakub's father have always been attracted to brutality, or could his worst impulses be harnessed for good in the right conditions? Is Jakub proof that his father's actions were borne out of circumstance?

"Love could turn us all into war criminals."


One of Jakub's biggest fears is being a "nobody." It's part of why he's so intent on having children. Jakub sees firsthand how the things that drive us can also destroy us. As good as Jakub tries to be, he isn't perfect. He's willing to trample over other people to survive (and I can't say I blamed him!). He imagines a man tortured for selfish means. He even has Lenka followed, despite feeling guilty about it. Jakub was completely blindsided by Lenka's disappearance. His travels caused some strain on their relationship, but he thought that their love was enough to hold them together. He was too caught up in his own goals to notice that his marriage might not be going as well as he thought. "People become abstractions. And the things weighing on you become clear. That’s why people are so afraid to be away from each other, I think. The truth begins to creep in." The physical distance between Jakub and Lenka deepens cracks in a marriage already on a shaky foundation. How could he have been so distant from the person he thought he was closest to? How could he have been so unaware of what was going on right in front of him? 

It was exhilarating, all of it—was existence alone not revolution? Our efforts to establish routines in the nature that forbade them, to understand depths we could never reach, to declare truths even as we collectively snicker at the word’s virginal piousness. What a mess of contradictions the gods created when they graced us with self-awareness. 


Why are we here? Is a life made most meaningful by a person's achievements or the intimate relationships they make along the way? Who has it better in life: those who live simple lives or those whose names are still uttered because of their contributions to society? Is living a quiet life enough? Jakub expresses wonderment at humanity's unstoppable march forward. When he looks at Old Town Square in Prague, he sees all of its iterations through the decades: the things that change for the good, the things that change for the worse, and the things that only change on the surface. Life is messy, but alway moving. He feels an overwhelming love of humanity and a sense of pride to be a part of it all. He sees the value in people who propel us forward without any thought to self-preservation, but also in those who keep moving forward with their day-to-day lives despite everything going around them. As driven as Jakub was to explore the unknowns of space, he realizes there are many mysteries to explore on the Earth too. In a way, we are all exploring the unknown, feeling our way through the dark.

How unlikely. Yet here we are.


Isolation makes Jakub see what he values and what he really wants out of his life. Will Jakub get a second chance to live for himself? He'll have to confront many uncomfortable truths first. Like with many of these stories packed with lots of big ideas, I'm not confident that I absorbed everything. It was a messy, beautiful journey, very much like life.

_____________________
I received this book for free from Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. It's available now!


Another quote that struck me, but I couldn't work it into my review:

The greatness of a nation is in its symbols, its gestures, in doing things that are unprecedented. It’s why the Americans are falling behind—they built a nation on the idea of doing new things, and now they’d rather sit and pray that the world won’t make them adapt too much.
Profile Image for Always Pouting.
576 reviews882 followers
March 24, 2022
At first I had a hard time getting into the book, I'm not sure why, I just wanted to stop reading. I always finish books I start though so I kept going and then I got really into it. The more I read, the weirder it got, and after finishing I feel like I've had some kind of fever dream. I'm really not sure how I feel about it, I'm still kind of ruminating over it. Parts of the book dragged, it felt like it had a tendency to go off on tangents. There were points being made but I still felt like my eyes were going to glaze over. I also disliked how corporeal some of the descriptions were. The plot itself started to make it hard to suspend disbelief after a certain point. That ending has been eating at me too, I feel dissatisfied, but not necessarily in a bad way. I gave the book four stars because it felt unique, was an interesting/engaging read, and it feels like its going to stay with me for a few days.
Profile Image for Jessica J..
1,042 reviews2,218 followers
June 5, 2017
This book wasn't at all what I thought it would be.

I went in expecting maybe a slightly wacky space-travel tale, about the first Czech astronaut in space meeting an extraterrestrial life form while going about his mission.

What I got was a Kafka-esque, vaguely allegorical story about the first Czech astronaut in space, with lots of rumination about politics, relationships, privacy, family, and many other topics. Jakub is chosen for a mission to investigate a potentially dangerous dust cloud in space, and he sees this as an opportunity to redeem his family's name--his father was a Communist enforcer before the 1989 revolution. He leaves behind a wife, knowing that the mission could be suicide. He has started to feel the psychological stress of months alone in space when he meets a giant alien spider. Philosophical conversations between spaceman and alien ensue.

And I know this is kind of weird, but I kept singing the song "Dream Ghost" from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend while I was reading, because it's never really clear if the spider was hallucinated or actually real. And also its purpose in the story is the same purpose that Michael Hyatt, Ricki Lake, and Amber Riley explain in the song: giving advice you kind of already knew.

The space journey and its potential disasters is interspersed with Jakub’s personal history: how his father’s career affected his childhood, how he met his wife, and the tensions in their marriage. It was fine, but I was expecting more of a space adventure kind of story and so I was honestly a little bored by all the rumination. I wasn’t really sure that I was headed towards a point. For the record, we were headed towards a point; Jakub’s story is actually brought full circle in a fairly powerful way. But that didn’t happen until the last fifty pages and by that point, I was just too disengaged from the story for it to reeeaaaally have a significant impact on me. And that’s a shame, because I think this could be a great fit for a different reader, someone who’s a little more interested in reading a philosophical Czech novel that just so happens to be set in space.
Profile Image for Bradley.
Author 4 books4,345 followers
January 15, 2018
I went through some interesting stages as I read this one. I didn't really have any expectations other than a possible or rather probable literature/SF hybrid, delving deeper into the introspective and lyrical areas of space. Perhaps it could have been an oddball exploration, perhaps humorous.

As I read, I noticed the lyrical bits and there's plenty of deep characterization and family and memory going on, which seems to be the common thread for long missions in space these days, but then something happened. An alien!

I had a great time with that. Everything tied together and I flowed into it pretty nicely.

And then the book took a rather depressing turn that I won't go into without spoilers and then it all just devolved into romantic theme between Jakub and Lenka that got progressively morose let alone objectively sad.

That in itself isn't precisely a dealbreaker, but sitting around feeling bad for oneself through the eyes of a character that could be ourselves is slightly narcissistic and indulgent and the rest of the novel, while I can appreciate it intellectually, became something less than enjoyable.

I'm saying it. I don't think I like this new breed of LitSF titles. I grew up reading Literature before I went nuts with SF, even got a degree in it. I used to think it would be fantastic to see the two meet and grow together, but if this is the flavor of things to come, I think I want to go back to the whole action bits.
Profile Image for George Kaslov.
103 reviews153 followers
November 12, 2020
I found this book quite refreshing, it was the small things. I love the added flavor of all the brands he mentions, the walks around the city, the true rural country side stories (I know the racket there is every time someone slaughters a pig), the bullshit you had to deal with during socialism and other million small thing that you just don't get in American novels.

The first half of the book was brilliant. Author used the wast distance of space to ask a lot of important questions about ourselves, such as our: humanity, loneliness, madness, what makes a life worth living, social contracts, changing societal norms, freedom, inherited guilt and national identity... Oh and there might or might not be a First contact situation going on.

Unfortunately the second half of the book briefly turns into a sci-fi, spy thriller that just yanked me out of the story and it still makes me unsure of my rating for this book (the rating has changed a few times and will change a few times more).
Profile Image for cristina c.
58 reviews84 followers
April 26, 2018
Un cosmonauta del 2018 scelto per portare gloria alla Cecoslovacchia con la sua impresa spaziale e desideroso da parte sua di riscattarsi dall'ombra di un padre collaborazionista del regime comunista negli anni subito precedenti la caduta del Muro.
Una scrittura brillante ricca di inventiva e di humour, che solo nell'ultima parte si sarebbe giovata di una maggiore stringatezza.
Ha talento questo giovane ceco, naturalizzato americano dalla adolescenza, che scrive in inglese ma dimostra amore e un forte legame con il suo paese d'origine raccontandone con partecipazione la storia nel corso dei secoli, i tempi grigi del regime e la vita di campagna scandita dalle stagioni e dalle abitudini contadine.
Satira e fantascienza affiancate; dalle feroci ottusità del regime alla comparsa di un simpatico alieno viaggiatore e filosofo, capace di frequentare i ricordi degli umani e di studiare le nostre contraddizioni.
Il Guardian lo ha paragonato ad un ibrido fra Star Trek e il Kundera dello Scherzo; a me per certi versi ha ricordato perfino Bulgakov, e non saprei fargli complimento migliore.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
3,795 reviews3,127 followers
March 15, 2017
I’d describe this as a cross between Everything Is Illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer) and The Book of Strange New Things (Michel Faber). It’s the story of Jakub Procházka, a Czech astronaut who leaves his wife behind to undertake a noble research mission but soon realises he can never escape his family history or the hazards of his own mind.

In April 2018, Jakub sets out in the JanHus1 space shuttle, launched to investigate cosmic dust storm “Chopra.” Although back in Prague Jakub is seen as a national hero, life in space soon loses its novelty for him; he’s no longer the “dwarf climbing a beanstalk to arm-wrestle the colossus” but rather “a cellular structure of banal needs for oxygen, for water, for the release of waste.” And then his wife, Lenka, stops showing up for their weekly video chats, so he agrees to have her followed. Maybe after their long infertility struggle she’s finally pregnant?

Amid the drudgery of daily life onboard the shuttle, Jakub makes a friend: a giant, alien spider he names Hanuš. Jakub has the sense that Hanuš is sifting through his memories, drawing out the central tragedies that form his motivation for going to space. There’s his parents’ death in a cable car accident when he was 10, the shame and persecution that resulted from his father being a Party loyalist and member of the Secret Police prior to the Velvet Revolution, and the later loss of his beloved grandfather, whose ashes Jakub carries with him in a cigar box.

This debut novel is a terrific blend of the past and the futuristic, Earth and space. It moves easily between Jakub’s childhood memories, a few highlights of Czech history, including the martyrdom of Jan Hus, and philosophical conversations with Hanuš. As they hurtle towards Chopra (which, Hanuš tells Jakub, contains remnants of the Big Bang), it’s hard to know whether this Nutella-loving spider is real or a hallucination created by an ill mind. In either case, it’s a link to the Czech literary tradition by way of Franz Kafka.

There is much to enjoy here: Jakub’s sometimes baroque narrative voice (“What good am I, a thin purse of brittle bones and spoiling meat?”), which is all the more impressive because Jaroslav Kalfar is in his late twenties and has only spoken English for about 13 years; the mixture of countryside rituals and the bustle of Prague; and the uncertainty about whether Jakub has a viable future, with or without Lenka. I felt the novel went downhill in Part Two and it doesn’t quite pull everything together before its end. However, this is still one of the best debuts I’ve encountered in recent years, and I’ll be eager to see what Kalfar will come up with next.
Profile Image for Kitty G Books.
1,593 reviews2,969 followers
March 20, 2017
* I was sent this book for free from the publisher in exchange for a review *

Sadly this book didn't really live up to the gorgeous cover and intriguing premise for me. I kept this book when it came in the post because even though I'd never heard of it the fact that it was an SF novel with a Czech author and focus made me look twice. Then I found out it was focused on a lone astronaut heading to investigate an ominous dust cloud and it sounded like it had a lot of potential.

When I started reading the story I quickly realised it wasn't necessarily what I had hoped for or imagined. I had wanted to love it but the focus wasn't on the adventure but rather on the astronaut, Jakub, who struggles with the loss of his planet and family and even his identity. Jakub goes through an awful lot of journeying which means he's struggling with loneliness a lot. He plays back scenarios and conversations a lot and he's soon confronted by his own worst fears when his supposedly loyal and loving wife leaves him and abandons him halfway through his space mission...

Although this book had some strong moments and some quirky SF ones I am afraid I just never connected to the main guy and thus it didn't really work for me.

I took slight issue with some of the slower moments and the continued references to sex (some thought on this made sense it some definitely felt a bit silly to me.

Sadly I don't think I can recommend this one too much but it's helped a little with learning some about Prague etc. 2*s overall
Profile Image for Dagio_maya .
970 reviews295 followers
January 30, 2019
”L’esistenza procede grazie alla spinta della sua energia con un fluido moto in avanti, eppure non smettiamo mai di cercare il punto d’origine.”


Praga 2018.
A Jakub Procházka, astronauta della repubblica Ceca, viene affidata una missione...


”Circa un anno e mezzo prima, una cometa fino ad allora sconosciuta era entrata nella Via Lattea dalla galassia del Cane Maggiore, inondando il nostro sistema solare con una bufera di polvere cosmica intergalattica. Tra Venere e la Terra si era formata una nube, che i suoi scopritori, un team di Nuova Delhi, avevano ribattezzato Chopra. Era un fenomeno senza precedenti, che aveva immerso le notti terrestri in una luce zodiacale viola, alterando l’aspetto del cielo così come lo conoscevamo fin dalla nascita dell’uomo. L’universo notturno visto dal nostro mondo non era più nero, e la nube aleggiava nel firmamento, perfettamente immobile.”


Spaceman of Bohemia è il titolo originale. In italiano si epura la nazionalità e si lascia il ruolo ma in questo romanzo il territorio è fondamentale da ogni punto di vista (storia e società…)
A partire dal nome della navicella (JanHus1) che chiama in causa lo storico teologo ceco che - tra la fine del ‘300 e l’inizio del ‘400 - fu precursore di Lutero e tra i fondatori del movimento protestante degli Ussiti che denunciava la corruzione della Chiesa Romana.

E’ evidente da subito che l’impianto fantascientifico è un innesco facilmente intuibile ma comunque valido, ossia quello del viaggio spaziale come spazio e tempo per compiere un viaggio dentro se stesso.
Una storia personale dove, da un lato, con prepotenza un passato ingombrante cerca di occupare ogni interstizio. La colpa di un padre aguzzino della dittatura sovietica ricade sulla famiglia e incide sul percorso di Jakub condizionando le scelte dopo essere stato messo dalla parte dei perdenti.
Dall’altro, un presente doloroso dove l’amore profondo per la moglie Lenka è segnato dalla scelta di intraprendere l’avventura spaziale.
Tutto ciò s’intreccia prima con la Storia di una nazione (Boemia/Cecoslovacchia/Rep. Ceca) e poi confluisce in riflessioni esistenziali.

La nube di Chopra è ciò che divide un prima dove la narrazione procede con cautela nei meandri di questo intreccio di storie ed un poi dove gli eventi si succedono freneticamente con un ritmo incalzante.

Sorprendente la scrittura e ancora più sorprendente (non avendo voluto di proposito leggerne a sinossi) è stato scoprire a fine lettura che si tratta di un esordio.

Jaroslav Kalfar, classe 1988, si è trasferito a 15 anni con la famiglia negli Stati Uniti e l’amore per Praga si sente in ogni pagina di questo sorprendente romanzo:

“Lo spessore della storia, questa metropoli di sovrani e dittatori, di roghi di libri, di carri armati sporchi di sangue immobilizzati nell’indecisione. Passata attraverso tante vicissitudini, la città è ancora qui, con i suoi grandi e piccoli piaceri proiettati sui volti dei passanti che si affrettano verso uffici e negozi per prendere parte al rito delle rispettive esistenze. Loro non se ne andranno. Dio, non se ne andranno mai, e anche se ero costretto a lasciarli, li amavo con tutta l’anima, nella pace e nel tumulto.”


Un libro affianca questa lettura ed è “Robinson Crusoe” (“…uno dei romanzi preferiti della mia infanzia, che il dottor Kuřák mi aveva raccomandato di portare con me per creare «un’associazione confortante». Ma soprattutto, aveva aggiunto, avrei dovuto ispirarmi al protagonista come al perfetto esempio di un uomo che sposa la solitudine e ne trasforma gli aspetti invalidanti in opportunità di miglioramento personale.”).

Una colonna sonora: “Russalka”
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzgQP...


Un assaggio
“Sappiamo che il mondo funziona per capriccio, per un insieme di coincidenze. Esistono due sistemi principali per affrontarlo. Il primo consiste nel temere il caos, nel contrastarlo (per poi prendersela con se stessi quando la battaglia è perduta), nel costruirsi una vita ben strutturata fatta di lavoro/matrimonio/palestra/riunioni/figli/depressione/amanti/divorzio/alcolismo/riabilitazione/infarto, una vita in cui ogni decisione è una reazione alla paura di una sorte peggiore (si fanno figli per evitare di essere dimenticati, si scopa qualcuno alla rimpatriata nel caso l’opportunità non si ripresenti più e si ricade nel Santo Graal dei paradossi: ci si sposa per combattere la solitudine, dopo di che si piomba nel costante desiderio di stare da soli tipico di tutti i coniugi). Con questo genere di vita non si può vincere, ma per lo meno si prova la consolazione della lotta: il cuore umano è appagato quando i conflitti lo distraggono.
Il secondo sistema è l’accettazione indiscriminata dell’assurdità di quanto ci circonda.”

Profile Image for Liviu Szoke.
Author 34 books417 followers
February 7, 2019
Până unde trebuie să mergi ca să descoperi cine ești de fapt, ce vrei de la viață și cum te văd ceilalți? Până în spațiul cosmic, lângă Venus? Și ai nevoie ca un extraterestru mucalit și curios să-ți pună întrebări ajutătoare și să te salveze de la ceea ce ai putea deveni dacă nu te aduni mai repede?
Mi se pare că nici cehii n-au scăpat încă de greaua povară a comunismului care i-a apăsat cam la fel de mult ca și pe noi și că încă mai suferă, în sinea lor, din cauza acelei moșteniri traumatizante.
Eroul cărții, Jakub Prochazka, era mic copil când a căzut comunismul în Cehia (fără o revoluție sângeroasă, ca la noi), însă a aflat, ceva mai târziu, că tatăl său a fost un monstru în slujba comuniștilor, turnându-și vecinii și torturându-i în beciurile poliției pe cei care călcau alături de drum. Așa că n-a avut o copilărie chiar ușoară, mai ales că și-a pierdut părinții într-un accident, pe când avea zece ani, fiind crescut apoi de bunici.
Dar și-a găsit aleasa inimii, a devenit un cercetător de renume și și-a văzut visul cu ochii: să devină astronaut și să meargă în spațiu.
Mai multe, pe FanSF: https://wp.me/pz4D9-2R9.
Profile Image for Tomáš Fojtik.
245 reviews232 followers
June 7, 2017
Příběh českého kosmonauta, který se vydal zkoumat tajemný oblak prachu vzbudil patřičnou pozornost. Nejde jen o to, že se jedná o debut, který s velkou mediální pozorností vydalo velké nakladatelství, ale také o to, že český autor napsal knihu nejdříve v angličtině a než se stihla přeložit do češtiny, nabrala oslavné ohlasy za hranicemi ČR. Ego malého národa bylo polechtáno a proto české uvedení provázel adekvátní humbuk.

Ale všichni cítíme, že dobrou knihu ještě mediální šum nestačí.

Děj se odehrává ve velmi blízké budoucnosti. Jakub, kosmonaut z Prahy právě startuje ke hvězdám z brambořiště na Petříně. Sleduje to celý národ – a bez nadsázky celý svět, protože jeho mise má za úkol prozkoumat neznámý efekt, fialovou mlhovinu, která se zjevuje na nebi a která lidstvu vzala černé noci. Jakub letí sám a ví, že se nemusí vrátit zpátky živý.

Druhá vrstva příběhu začíná o 28 let dříve. Komunismus padl a má své oběti, mezi které patří i Jakubova rodina. Jeho otec s režimem spolupracoval (mírně řečeno), což se v nových poměrech neobešlo bez dramatické reakce. Tyto dvě vrstvy dávají dohromady příběh člověka, který zobrazuje novou generaci národa – generaci, která již se skutky svých rodičů nemá nic společného a dokonale se od nich distancuje (přestože je nezatracuje).

U toho se chci ještě krátce zastavit. Román Kosmonaut z Čech se sice z velké části odehrává ve vesmíru, ale váhal bych s tím zařadit ho mezi sci-fi. Jak víme, celý název tohoto žánru je science fiction, tedy vědecká fikce. Ale v příběhu nenajdeme prakticky nic, co by odkazovala na vědeckou fantazii. I toho kosmonauta jsme už měli, jakkoliv Kalfař svého hrdinu označuje za „prvního českého kosmanuta". Tím byl samozřejmě Vladimír Remek. Jenže i v tom se dá najít symbolika nového začátku našeho národa. Jakoby se autor snažil čtenářům vštěpit myšlenku, že nemá smysl ohlížet se na to, co bylo v dobách před plyšovou revolucí, ale že je důležité to, o co se nyní snažíme.
Četl jsem přirovnání ke Kunderovi, ale po dočtení v tom vidím jen atraktivní marketingovou nálepku. Podobností tu moc nevidím. Ty tu ale jsou s jinou knihou – s Knihou zvláštních nových věcí od Michela Fabera. Český kosmonaut Jakub sice nejde evangelizovat jiné světy, ale leitmotivem obou knih je odloučení či odcizení. Faber má ale tento motiv zpracovaný více do hloubky. Vesmírná "soap opera" Jaroslava Kalfaře má přece jen do mistrovství Michela Fabera poměrně daleko.

Jenže nemůžeme srovnávat nováčka s Mistrem, z tohoto srovnání dobře nevyšel málokdo. Jaroslav Kalfař napsal silně nadprůměrnou knihu, která má světové parametry a lákavé české reálie. Soudím, že ty české reálie budou pro naše čtenáře dostatečně silná motivace, proč po knize sáhnout a jsem si jistý v tom, že nebudou zklamáni. Pomůže jim v tom i přesně jemná dávka humoru, kterým autor neplývá, ale koření příběh tak akorát. Ve vyprávění nic nedrhne a po dlouhé době se mi stalo, že jsem nešel spát, protože jsem nemohl přestat číst.

Na závěr recenze ještě malá poznámka: Ještě pár knih a seriálů o české expedici do vesmíru a vyčerpají se vhodná česká jména pro případnou vesmírnou loď. Po Řípu z Kosma a Janu Husovi z Kalfařovy knihy se nabízí například Olga Hepnarová (v Kosmu mimochodem již také zmíněná) nebo Kajínek. V kontextu hořící rakety tu pak máme ještě Jana Palacha. Hezké čtení.
Profile Image for Ian Sanwald.
8 reviews8 followers
September 9, 2016
If you blasted Albert Camus or Franz Kafka into space with nothing more than some dehydrated vittles and a brief reminder of their own mortality, I think they would be hard-pressed to produce a more earnestly clever work. Spaceman of Bohemia is a masterpiece of discovery and loss, distance and longing, self-loathing and conceit. I've described it to friends as "Andy Weir's The Martian with a Masters Degree." Jaroslav Kalfař's debut novel easily stands among the great literary absurdists, and I am proud to have Spaceman of Bohemia on my shelf next to Vonnegut and Bulgakov. This is the best book I've read all year.
Profile Image for Kayıp Rıhtım.
366 reviews264 followers
Read
June 4, 2018
Bir Astronotun Sonsuz Yolculuğu, Türkiye’deki okurlara da hitap eden bir kitap, çünkü yazarın hem ülkesine duyduğu sevgiyi hem de ülkesine serzenişini ifade ediyor. O ülkesine kızan, öfkelenen, sitem eden ama onu sevmekten ve büyük işler başardığı hayal etmekten vazgeçemeyen bir yazar.

Hikâyemiz Çekya’da başlıyor. On milyon nüfuslu bu küçük ülke, bir ilki başaracak uzay programıyla herkese o kadar da “küçük” olmadığını ispatlama derdine düşecektir. Venüs’le Dünya arasında ortaya çıkan Chopra adlı benzersiz bir toz bulutu gecelerimizi mor bir zodyak ışığıyla boyamaya başlamıştır. Chopra elbette incelenecektir ama Çekya bunu, uzay konusunda yılların tecrübesi olan büyük ülkeler de dâhil, herkesten önce incelemek için JanHus1 adlı bir uzay aracı ve bir astronot gönderecektir. Böylece Jakub Prockazha’nın yolculuğu başlar. Bu, küçük ve uzayda tecrübesiz bir ülke için çok büyük bir başarıdır. Buradaki amaç sadece bilim değil, herkesten önce oraya gitmek ve tüm dünyanın saygısını kazanmaktır. Jakub ise şimdiden ulusal bir kahramandır.

Bu kitap aslında uzaydan çok yazarın ülkesi hakkında. Jakub, yolculuğu sırasında sık sık anılara ve düşüncelere dalarken biz de Çekya’nın tarihi hakkında bilgi edinme fırsatı buluyoruz. Çeklerin ulusal kahramanı Jan Hus’un Katolik Kilisesi’ne karşı çıkması, Nazilerin Çekya’yı işgal etmesi, savaştan sonra komünist yönetimde yaşanan olaylar, Kadife Devrim ve ülkenin kapitalizme geri dönmesi… Roman bu konuda işini oldukça iyi yapıyor ama yazar bu bölümlerde gereğinden fazla ayrıntıya girdiği için bilimkurgudan uzaklaştığı da oluyor. Bu bölümlerle ilgili başka bir sorun da uzay yolculuğuyla bağlantının sadece kısmen kurulabilmiş olması.

Kitapta en çok sevdiğim şey, Jakub’un karşılaştığı uzaylıydı. Onun bir ismi olmasa da Jakub ona Hanus ismini verir. Hanus biraz bilge, biraz da vurdumduymaz bir tiptir. Ayrıca Nutella müptelasıdır. Üstelik ilginç bir uzaylı betimlemesidir. Sekiz adet kıllı bacak, şişkin bir fıçıyı andıran gövde, her bacakta üç eklem yeri, deriden karman çorman fırlamış ince gri tüyler, sayılamayacak kadar çok sayıda göz ve iki kalın insan dudağı. Üstelik bu dudaklar ruj kırmızısı renginde (şaka değil). Görüntüsü size korkutucu gelmesin. O mantıklı, biraz esprili ve görmüş geçirmiş biri. Nutellayı gördüğündeyse kendini kaybediyor. Onun Jakub’la olan sohbetleri, Jakub’a “sıska insan” diye hitap etmesi “keşke daha fazlası olsaymış” dediğim kısımlardı.

Bir Astronotun Sonsuz Yolculuğu bence gerçek bir bilimkurgu romanı değil. Bir aşk romanı, bir dram romanı, bir tarihî roman, bir eve dönüş romanı olabilir, fakat bir bilimkurgu romanı değil. Yolculuğu bir uzay yolculuğu değil de dünya üzerinde uzak bir yere yolculuk, Hanus’u da bir uzaylı değil de başka bir ülkeden bir yabancı olarak kurgulasak kitaptan yine de aynı tadı alabilirdik.

Kitabı okumayı bitirdiğimde önce bu romanı “eksik kalan bir şeyler var” diyerek eleştirmeyi düşündüm ama sonra bir daha düşününce anladım ki yazar, okurlarından böyle hissetmelerini istemişti. Bu sonsuz bir yolculuktu ve bundan bir kesit almak, kaçınılmaz olarak bir şeylerin eksik görünmesi anlamına gelecekti. Bazı şeyler ağzımızda buruk bir tat bırakabilir ama hayat böyledir. Her zaman her şey mükemmel değildir. Hatta nadiren mükemmeldir.

- Okan AKINCI

İncelemenin tamamı için:
https://kayiprihtim.com/inceleme/bir-...
Profile Image for Eric Anderson.
694 reviews3,491 followers
March 8, 2017
Jaroslav Kalfar’s debut novel “Spaceman of Bohemia” has been compared to the extremely popular novel “The Martian” but Kalfar’s novel is far superior. I understand the comparison: both novels are about lone men in space whose solitary “Robinson Crusoe” style adventures find them stranded on their journeys of exploration. While it's enjoyable for some of the plot and scientific detail I thought “The Martian” mostly came across as repetitive and it's suffused with a particularly foul stench of macho bravado. By contrast, “Spaceman of Bohemia” is thoughtful, continuously compelling and says something intelligent about the progress of civilization.

The hero is Jakub Procházka, an astrophysicist with a speciality in cosmic dust which makes him the perfect candidate for the Czech Republic’s first mission into outer space. A comet from another galaxy has streamed through our own solar system leaving a curious cloud between Venus and Earth which has stained our night time sky purple. An opportunistic Czech minister sees a chance for his nation to enter the space race and collect samples of this strange material by sending Jakub on his solitary mission on a second-hand space shuttle. The results are bizarrely thrilling, unexpected and turn into a personal journey which prompts Jakub to survey his position in his own nation’s tumultuous history.

Read my full review of Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař on LonesomeReader
Profile Image for Krista.
1,448 reviews696 followers
April 3, 2017
With JanHus1 lie our hopes of new sovereignty and prosperity, for we are now among the explorers of the universe. We look away from our past, in which we were claimed by others, in which our language was nearly eradicated, in which Europe covered its eyes and ears as its very heart was stolen and brutalized. It is not only our science and technology traveling through this vacuum; it is our humanity, in the form of Jakub Procházka, the first spaceman of Bohemia, who will carry the soul of the republic to the stars. Today, we finally and absolutely claim ourselves for our own.

Spaceman of Bohemia can be more or less broken into two parts: In the first half, we meet Jakub Procházka – the Czech Republic's first astronaut – as he makes a four month spaceflight towards a storm of cosmic dust that has been captured by Venus' gravity; forming a ring around that planet and purpling the night skies on Earth. Although his preflight psychologist had warned Jakub of the probability of hallucinations (brought on by the stress of a solo voyage), when a giant arachnid alien appears aboard the space shuttle, Jakub keeps its existence a secret from Control and assents to the being probing his mind and memories for an understanding of “humanry”. This device worked really well to share not only Jakub's history, but that of his homeland too – the granting of Czechoslovakia to Hitler in the 30s in an effort to avoid WWII; the West's abandonment of the country to the Soviet Union; the bloodless Velvet Revolution that suddenly saw the local Party elite finding themselves on the wrong side of history: all of this played out within the story of Jakub's own family – and I was totally immersed in the storyline.

And then events happen and the book becomes something else (at the risk of spoiling anything, I do want to note that Jakub's experience from this point echoes that of Jan Hus; the medieval Czech priest/philosopher for whom his spacecraft was named; is that clever or too obvious, especially when spelled out for us?). This second half wasn't bad really, but I was no longer so engrossed.

Wasn’t all life a form of phantom being, given its involuntary origin in the womb? No one could guarantee a happy life, a safe life, a life free of violations, external or eternal. Yet we exited birth canals at unsustainable speeds, eager to live, floating away to Mars at the mercy of Spartan technology or living simpler lives on Earth at the mercy of chance. We lived regardless of who observed us, who recorded us, who cared where we went.

I didn't flip to the author bio until I reached this second half, and when I saw that Jaroslav Kalfař has a hipster beard and an MFA and is living and writing in Brooklyn, that suddenly made sense (and I'll say here again that I'm not generally a fan of hipster-bearded, Brooklyn-based writers with MFAs; Spaceman employs the same brand of energy-draining satire I dislike from, say, Gary Shteyngart). On the other hand, it was interesting to read that Kalfař was born and raised in Prague, relocating to the US at fifteen. So, putting aside all the efforts at philosophy and the exploration of humanry that didn't really resonate with me, I thought that Spaceman did a wonderful job of exploring the Czech experience: rural peasant life and urban yuppidom; years of living under totalitarian control and now striving for Capitalist decadence; the pride of a people who honour the great personages in their past and yearn to see the birth of a modern legend; all that I learned about the Czech people was worth the entire (less than fulfilling) reading experience.
Profile Image for RoseB612.
441 reviews64 followers
June 11, 2017
No, tak já teda nevím - na to, jaký je kolem toho hype, tak nic moc. Je pravda, že o českých autorech se v NYT či WSJ běžně nepíše, a to navíc ještě pochvalně, ale je sporné, zda se dá Kalfar vůbec považovat za českého autora (v USA žije větší část svého života, knížka je napsaná anglicky a překlad do češtiny není z pera autora, ale od Veroniky Volhejnové). A věřím tomu, že pokud by se tohle nepodávalo jako velký úspěch českého autora (už jen to jméno s diakritikou na obálce, kterou autor nikde jinde nepoužívá), tak by ta odezva byla mnohem menší.

Především tohle vůbec není sci-fi, takže jakékoliv srovnání třeba s Marťan je úplně mimo mísu, tohle je spíš cesta do hrdinovy hlavy a zase zpátky, ale celou knížku jsem se nemohla zbavit dojmu, že je to celé strašně umělé, násilné, že to šustí papírem - autorovi se prostě nepodařilo mě přesvědčit, abych mu začala věřit, a tím u mě většina knih končí. Navíc jsem se celou knížku přistihovala při tom, že mě napadaly jiné texty, ve kterých se objevily stejné motivy (ale zpracované o několik tříd líp). Takže po tom, co si řeknete, že tohle je jako Solaris, a tohle zase Knausgard, atd., a to co pár stránek, tak začnete nad tím textem pochybovat. Je mi jasné, že nic převratně nového se napsat asi nedá, ale na mě to tam prostě vyčuhovalo až moc.

Já a tahle kniha jsme si prostě nepadly do noty, vzájemně jsem se minuly a byť to nebylo vyloženě špatné čtení a ztráta času, tak pro mě to prostě víc než tři hvězdičky nedá.

Kontext: Po delší době zase klasická beletrie - člověk si od těch "chytrých" knih potřebuje taky trošku odpočinout.

První věta: "Jmenuju se Jakub Procházka."

Poslední věta: "Jsem to já. Kosmonaut."
Profile Image for Dea.
186 reviews
March 7, 2017
"How unlikely. Yet here we are."

I think a saw a lot of myself in these pages and it’s left me in awe and a little bit horrified.

This is a story about space exploration, about family, about history, love and loss and revolution and revenge and acceptance and beginnings and endings and what it means to be human in a universe that we will never understand.

There’s also the occasional alien spider, but that’s just a bonus, really.

I thought this might be like Andy Weir’s The Martian but instead it’s a mirror that slams the reflection of my fears, my insecurities, my most troublesome thoughts and worries back at me in a beautifully written, endlessly engaging way. Which sounds horrible, I suppose, but in a weird way it’s incredibly comforting to me.

I’m not sure what to say, honestly. It’s a must read, and I’ll leave it at that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-galley.
Profile Image for Dymbula.
965 reviews39 followers
June 6, 2017
Málo scifi, hodně poutavé, čtivé, vtipné, humorné a neotřelé. Zaslouženě si kniha získává uznání po světě. Ale není to žádný Hrabal nebo Škvorecký či Kundera, jak jsem několikrát v tisku četl. Je jiný a taky dobrý. Těším se, až napíše něco dalšího.
Profile Image for Bandit.
4,707 reviews519 followers
October 31, 2016
I enjoy reading internationally when possible. New perspectives and all that. This may have been the first Czech author I've read. Not just that, it's very much a Czech or, really, Bohemian book, dating it further in time, closer to seeming eternal. One might expect a Martian style scifi tale, but for me this was primarily a story of a nation in general and a city, Prague, in particular pre, during and post 1989's political turbulence. Which isn't to negate the space adventure aspect of it, of course, an ambitious attempt of a small nation of 10 million to make a name for themselves via the ultimate exploration of the great unknown. That's there too, in all its reality wavering glory. Despite the fact that the author has lived in the US for great many years, the novel has a distinct Eastern European loftiness to it, the very specific ( and particularly strange to the American mentality) weight of not expecting sunshine and giddiness at the basic level of existence. It reads slowly, though never really in a plodding tedious way. More so of a necessary requirement to really pay attention, to really immerse in a fictional and semifictional worlds presented, to really ponder the notion of knowledge itself, on small and large scale. It's a fascinating read, a most auspicious debut and a very impressive work of literature. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.
Profile Image for Greg.
1,982 reviews18 followers
March 10, 2017
A spaceman is sent to explore a weird cosmic event on a spaceship that Switzerland doesn't want anymore. And as we learn of the spaceman's political baggage, of his miserable, dark, childhood, it becomes clear this is the last person fit to go on such a mission. He knows things his government wants suppressed. And a few government members obviously don't want him to return at all. The point is to get this man off this Earth for good: in a way this book is the mirror image of "The Martian". On the back of the book jacket, we are promised "...the most fun book you'll read this year..." This is NOT a fun book, but rather a dark, sinister book about relationships imploding. We even have aliens killing other aliens just because they can. I'm not sure if the spaceman ever makes it back to Earth or not as we have many dark, horrific dream sequences. That said, I did enjoy this book: it is certainly an original. And I admire Kalfar's huge ambition as he is certainly writing of big ideas including hidden political motives and the destruction of basically any relationship one might try to develop in this world, or maybe even the next. But at the same time, it left me puzzled. And maybe that is Kalfar's point: the world's a mess and thus trust no one, as one can never really know everything about another person, about another government, and especially one's own government.
Profile Image for Oriente.
363 reviews50 followers
January 9, 2023
A bohémiai űrhajós a 2001 Űrodisszeia és a Hail Mary küldetés szerelemgyereke (csak hangulatra, mert az utóbbit elvileg még nem olvashatta a szerző) megspékelve egy sajátos, rendszerváltós középeurópaisággal, hangsúlyos cseh ízekkel és szagokkal. Maga ez az összetétel alapvetően tetszett, a néhol esetlenre sikerült részletekkel és azzal együtt is, hogy a hangsúlyok nem pont odaestek, ahol nekem jól esett volt. De kerek volt, egész szépen összeértek a szálak, elsőkönyves szerzőtől nagyon korrekt történet.
A főhős végetnemérő identitáskereső monológjai és céltalan hányódása azonban ellaposították a szöveget, az utolsó fejezetek alatt már csak azt vártam, hogy végre vége legyen... Elképesztő, hogy egy alig 300 oldalas regényt is túl lehet írni, de lehet. (Egy tökéletes világban minden jó/ígéretes író mellett ülne egy még jobb szerkesztő is, aki nem fél húzni.)
Profile Image for Fran.
693 reviews817 followers
October 23, 2016
Jakub Prochazka, professor of astrophysics and researcher of cosmic space dust is on a mission for the nation of Bohemia. A sandstorm of intergalactic cosmic dust between Earth and Venus has compromised the night sky.

On a solo eight month mission aboard the space shuttle JanHus 1, Jakub will try to collect microscopic samples of dust to study and analyze for other life forms. Jakub's journey is one of glory for newly democratic Bohemia as well as redemption for his father's collaboration with the former communist regime. The once oppressive country craves a successful mission.

Jakub is a son trying to make amends for the tyranny of his father. It is all consuming. He forgets what matters most; his loving wife. Lenka leaves Jakub while he is in outer space. She is in disbelief that he is ready, willing and able to leave the life they have behind. As Jakub's loneliness increases, he befriends an imaginary spider he names Hanus. Hanus provides a calming influence and an opportunity for Jakub to vent his frustrations about life and love. Will Jakub, the first astronaut to attempt this dust collection, be successful? Hanus will be by Jakub's side every step of the way!

Jaroslav Kalfar has written a very engaging debut novel. He delves into space exploration, newly developing democracies, loneliness and coping mechanisms used to reduce stress. "Spaceman of Bohemia" is a many faceted, highly entertaining romp through space.

Thank you Little, Brown and Company and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Spaceman of Bohemia".
Profile Image for Paul Fulcher.
Author 2 books1,466 followers
July 28, 2017
Spring of 2018. On a warm April afternoon, the eyes of the Czech nation gazed from Petrín Hill as space shuttle JanHus1 launched from a state-owned potato field. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra wafted the national hymn between the city’s Gothic towers, accompanying the countdown until, finally, the crowd gasped as the shuttle sucked and burned its cryogenic propellant and exploded upwards, all nine million kilograms of it, give or take the eighty kilograms of its single human inhabitant.

Although reluctant to be pigeonholed, when pushed the Czech-born US-based author Jaroslav Kalfar described this, his debut novel, written in English, as "literary historical science fiction with a philosophical bent in a romantic tradition."

One could add to that description a self-mocking comic touch in the tradition Jaroslav Hašek, Josef Škvorecký and Milan Kundera, as the reference to potato fields in the opening quote suggests.

Set in 2018, i.e the very near future, a mysterious cosmic cloud has appeared near to Venus. The nations of the world debate who should take on the hazardous mission of exploring it, but the honour of volunteering goes to the eponymous, spaceman of Bohemia, our narrator, who as the book opens is blasting off into space:

At last, an announcement came from a country of ten million, my country, the lands of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The Czechs  would fly to Chopra and claim the mysteries it held. I would be their champion, the one to bring home the fanfare of scientific glory. In the words of a poet drunk on absinthe, reprinted in every major newspaper the next day: “With JanHus1 lie our hopes of new sovereignty and prosperity, for we are now among the explorers of the universe. We look away from our past, in which we were claimed by others, in which our language was nearly eradicated, in which Europe covered its eyes and ears as its very heart was stolen and brutalised
.
It is not only our science and technology traveling through this vacuum; it is our humanity, in the form of Jakub Procházka, the first spaceman of Bohemia, who will carry the soul of the republic to the stars. Today, we finally and absolutely claim ourselves as our own.


His thoughts on his journey roam through his own personal history - from his own origins as son of a secret-police torturer, and how when Communism fell the oppressed became oppressors, how he came to be selected for the mission and his relationship between his wife - and the reslient history of the Czech people from Jan Hus, through Nazi occupation, Communism, the 1989 velvet revolution (the velvet divorce isn't really mentioned) and capitalism.

However, and my main problem with the book, much of this is filtered through the rather ridiculous (perhaps deliberately so) medium of his mind being interrogated by an alien who joins him on his mission, an alien straight out of casting central and fluent in cliché:

I have been circling your orbit. Learning the secrets of humanity. For example, the commitment of dead flesh to the underground. I would like to bring such tales for the amusement and education of my tribe.
[...]
Skinny human ... I have discovered from your fictional television programme about soap that your species does not always utilise sexual intercourse solely for breeding.


Kalfar also attempt to throw in a thriller for added-value in the later part of the book as the mission seems doomed to end in failure, then an improbable rescue takes place before our spaceman turns the table on his rescuers and returns incognito to Earth.

Ultimately despite some fine writing and some interesting ideas, this book was a mess. It suffers, in my view, from classic debut novel syndrome - there are ideas for several different novels all jostling for attention within this one.

And while the explicit nods to Bohemian history and the implicit nods to Czech literature were welcome, this was also at the root of my other main issue.

As a fan of translated fiction, I would admit at times to being guilty of judging it by weaker standards: praising books on the Man Booker International longlist that I might disdain if they were on that of the Man Booker. Here I think an opposite effect is at work. This is Czech literature lite for those not willing to access translation - there are more interesting contemporaries at work in the original language.


Profile Image for Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer.
1,916 reviews1,493 followers
April 15, 2017
Quirky and ambitious if uneven debut novel by a Czech born writer who emigrated to America at 15. Probably best described as a deeply original cross between early-era Kundera (in particular The Joke), escapist science fiction (for example The Stainless Steel Rat) and American modernist literary novels (for example Everything Is Illuminated).

With JanHus1 lie our hopes of new sovereignty and prosperity, for we are now among the explorers of the universe. We look away from our past, in which we were claimed by others, in which our languages was nearly eradicated, in which Europe covered its eyes and ears as its very heart was stolen and brutalized. It is not only our science and technology travelling through this vacuum; it is humanity in the form of Jakub Prochazka, the first spaceman of Bohemia, who will carry the soul of the republic to the stars. Today, we finally and absolutely claim ourselves as our own

The novel’s first person narrator – in whose often near solitary company we spend the whole novel – is Jakub who as the novel opens is in a Czech spaceship travelling to investigate a cosmic dust cloud between Earth and Venus.

We pushed against the Austro-Hungarians when they tried to burn our books and ban our language. We were an industrial superpower before Hitler took us for serfs. We survived Hitler only to welcome the economic and intellectual devastation by the Soviets. And here we are, breathing, sovereign, rich. What next, Jakub? What is the vision for us, what will define us in the future

The Czech nation (lead by an ambitious senator) decide to be the first nation to take the risk of sending a manned spaceflight to the cloud and Jakub, “a tenured professor of astrophysics and accomplished researcher of space dust” is asked to volunteer for the flight.

Jakub, in a difficult stage of his marriage to Lenka (not least due to their inability to date to have a child together) clearly sees in the mission the chance for final redemption for his family story. Jakub reflects on the Velvet revolution of his childhood, and his realisation as the new Czech society emerged that, while he may be a “child of the revolution” that he is a “child of the losing side”. His father was not just a Communist collaborator, but an active member of the secret police who engaged in torture of dissidents. His father (facing imminent trial) and mother die in a cable-car accident on holiday, and he goes to live with his grandparents in the country only for the family to suffer increasing verbal and physical persecution for their father’s activities, including the attentions of a rich industrialist who confronts the family with a torture device Jakub’s father used on him and who eventually forces them out from the family home.

These reflections on Jakub’s past are given added detail when Jakub meets (or possibly imagines – we are never completely clear) a spider like alien creature with a penchant for Nutella and a fascination with humans (we later find he is one of the last survivors of his own race, a race that had always believed themselves alone in the Universe) who roames through Jakub’s mind and uncovers his memories, as well as using Jakub to explore human fears and obsessions. Jakub also reflects on his relationship with Lenka, which is clearly suffering from their distance, culminating in Lenka dropping out of their weekly calls.

This part of the book ends with Jakub’s ship reaching the space cloud only to suffer critical malfunction, the spider succumbs to parasites which he knows have been killing him and Jakub expecting to die is unexpectedly rescued by a Soviet secret mission which carries him back to earth.

The alien uncovers the history of the religious reformer Jan Hus – that he was not actually burnt at the stake but accepted exile (but that a dying man was burned in his place to satisfy the religious authorities demand for his death) and lives out a simple life away from public view, while reflecting

His death, whether it was his or someone else’s, had unleashed the revolution Bohemia needed to free itself. No amount of fighting he could have done as a living man would have achieved the impact of his own death at the stake. He had served his part in history. Now, Hus could truly live

Interestingly these reflections on Hus echo a previous conversation Jakub recalls with his professor – in which the professor reveals the melancholy of Havel just before taking power as he realised he would no longer be able to escape to the country and write, and how the professor himself turned down a place in the cabinet and returned to science, realising he “preferred the quiet life”. Later Jakub reflects on another leader, Emil Hacha who made the monumental decsion to surrender Czechosolvakia to Hitler rather than resist and to “saved the nation by giving it up along with his pride”.

This forms the coda for the shorter second part of the novel, Jakub realises he is believed dead on Earth and is already a national hero, but that his Soviet rescuers will not allow him to go free on his return so as to maintain the secrecy of their mission. He crashlands the spacecraft on its return to Earth and escapes, recovering with the help of his head engineer who gives his tapes of interviews Lenka gave to the mission psychologist, in which she makes it clear that she was upset at Jakub effectively deserting their marriage and putting his own quest for redemption for his father’s sins ahead of her and their relationship. Visiting her secretly he realises he has no part left in her life.

He also makes contact with the man who haunted his childhood, the vengeful industralist. He and the ambitious senator now Prime Minister and arrested in a corruption scandal, and Jakub meets with the industralist (who he now realises was in the background behind his choice as the mission leader) and the two discuss, in the room where Jakub’s father tortured the industrialist the past and how to obtain freedom from the burden revenge, ambition and redemption leading to the following exchange.

You made me think I was a curse .. Like my whole existence was some kind of spiritual stain. The last remnant of Cain’s sperm … I’ve wished you dead ……. When I couldn't bring myself to speak to Lenka, I thought that finding you would be another mission, the last possible way of living. But I look at you and know that retribution is not life

I’ve built a life around a couple of hours in a room with an unkind stranger … it took me to long to realise it. Your father did what he did to me, but the decision to live as I have – it was still mine. For me the catalyst was this room. For your father, the catalyst was the day he decided the world was full of his enemies. For you, the catalyst doesn’t need to be anger or fear or some feeling of loss. The significance of your life doesn’t rest with Lenka, or your father, or me …. You’re so much better than [us] … You won’t let this cripple you. It doesn’t have to end for you like it ended for us.

Overall a book which simultaneously is entertaining and unique while examining deep themes of personal and national history, ambition and destiny. A novel which veers at times too much into the absurd to be perfect but still a very impressive debut and a badly needed fresh new voice in Czech emigrant literature.
Profile Image for Ivana Nešić.
Author 10 books62 followers
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March 16, 2019
E znate šta bi bilo lepo?

Bilo bi lepo da ljudi prestanu da koriste fantastiku kad žele nešto da kažu, a ne znaju kako to da kažu.

Ovde je autor npr želeo da kaže da je Češka lepa zemlja, s bogatom istorijom, da je praška ulična hrana dobra i raznovrsna, da je Jan Hus bio super, da astronomski sat vredi videti, da je Staropramen pivo (ne znamo da li je dobro, ali definitivno saznajemo da je pivo), da je komunizam baš baš veliko zlo, a i da Rusi generalno nisu ništa bolji, a i svi političari kad-tad postanu zli, da su ljudski odnosi komplikovani, da se brakovi nekad raspadnu kad supružnik reši da nestane s lica zemlje na 8 meseci (vratiću se na ovo).

Mislim, naravno, može se prokomentarisati društvo ili bilo šta što nas boli ili na šta smo ponosni, Margaret Atvud mi je svedok. Pa i Orvel, okej :) Ali jedno je kad se roman organski gradi na temeljima neke snažne ideje, a drugo kad je fantastika kao neka retka mreža oko onoga što pisac zapravo želi da poruči.

Profile Image for verbava.
1,039 reviews122 followers
November 23, 2017
нещодавно мені розповіли історію про польського антиклерикального поета, якого в селі, звідки він походить, вирішили анатемувати. але щоб відлучити когось від церкви, для початку треба, щоб той хтось був до церкви прилучений, а поет виявився нехрещений. тому добрі селяни анатемували його маму, аби світлий намір не пропадав.
забудьмо про те, що з точки зору канонічного права це суцільна нісенітниця. для поетової мами ситуація виявилася дуже справжня: з нею відмовилися спілкуватися, вона опинилася поза спільнотою й мусила зрештою тікати з села, бо життя їй там не стало.
це, мабуть, трохи похмура преамбула до книжки про першого чеського космонавта, спорядженого в самотню місію на дослідження загадкової туманності, яка звідкись узялася в нашій сонячній системі. це ж мала б бути кумедна історія, космічна опера з любовними деталями. і справді, початок роману кальфара дуже легкий, навіть комічний, та й далі часом непросто зрозуміти, як йому вдається писати отаке, отак – і не впадати ні в балаган, ні в пафос. але крім того, що «богемський космонавт» про великий усесвіт, де ми сподівано самотні, навіть якщо спонсори нашої ракети весь час згадують про неї в рекламах, президент країни називає нас національними героями, тішачись, що чехи – нарешті! – змогли, а фанати вимагають регулярних скайпових інтерв'ю; так от, крім того, що роман ярослава кальфара про таке доволі передбачуване з анотації, він ще й про безліч маленьких штрихів, якими написане наше життя, і про гріхи одних поколінь, покута за які старанно покладена на інші покоління.
я так і думала, що це буде чудова книжка. але вона виявилася чудова зовсім по-іншому.
Profile Image for ansvarcova.
177 reviews383 followers
June 15, 2017
Kosmonaut z Čech, to pro mě bylo moc příjemný čtení. Líbily se mi odkazy na (nejen) českou historii a zajímavosti o naší zemi. Navíc to bylo i vtipné - už to, že samotný kosmonaut Jakub Procházka startoval se svou lodí z brambořiště za Petřínem mi přišlo mile úsměvné. Mimozemský pavouk Hanuš, tajně ujídající po nocích Nutellu, to už jen završil. Kniha je neuvěřitelně čtivá, jazyk jednoduchý a zároveň schopný popsat vše do detailu. Vyskytuje se zde motiv samoty a odcizení od společnosti, trochu připomínající Kafku. Líbilo se mi i popsání Jakubova vztahu s jeho Lenkou, které je vlastně protkáno celým příběhem. Některé pasáže jsem si s chutí četla znovu a některé stránky si i označila, abych se k nim později mohla vr��tit. Hlavně část, kde Jakub přemýšlí o naší konzumní společnosti, která se pořád jen za něčím žene a (marně?) se snaží ovládnout chaos, do kterého jsme všichni vrženi.
Na konci do sebe všechno zapadne a při posledních větách jsem měla doslova husí kůži. Krása!
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