Prague, My Love: Newly discovered Ivan Klíma book comes out a year after his death
A new book by the late Czech writer Ivan Klíma has just been published, almost 25 years after he wrote it. His family only discovered the manuscript after his death.
Ivan Klíma, one of Czechia’s best-known and most widely translated writers, died last October at the age of 94. He left behind a large body of novels, short stories, essays, plays and memoirs.
But after his death, his family made a surprising discovery on his computer: several texts that had never been published. One of them was Prague, My Love, a personal book about the city that Klíma wrote almost 25 years ago.
His son Michal says discovering the book came as a surprise, and so did the book itself:
“First, it was a surprise that we found a book we did not know about. And second, that it is such a good and interesting book. Especially for people who like Prague and who come to Prague, it is very interesting reading – particularly for those who are not coming only to drink Czech beer, but also to learn something about the city, its culture and history, and about the buildings, palaces and gardens.”
Prague, My Love has now been published in Czech, English and German. The English edition was translated by Gerald Turner.
I asked Turner what kind of book it is.
“It's Ivan's own experience of Prague, basically. No more than that, I think. And I think the title is well chosen because it is a ramble of a book. It doesn't follow any sort of chronological order. The order is, in a way, idiosyncratic. It's his own order of priorities.
“So we wander through German-speaking Prague, through Jewish Prague. Then there are the Prague gardens, which he loved very much. So it's a personal book. You're right, it's not a travelogue. But I think it will be an eye-opener for the readers.”
Turner has translated four of Klíma's books, including his longest novel. He says this book presented a different challenge.
“It was very different. Although, let's say, there are several storylines within the book. But I know his style, and I know it very well. I've translated, I think, four books of his, including his longest novel. So, in a sense, I knew what to expect. So, yes, it was like walking back through my past, in a way, while doing it.”
The Czech and English editions are illustrated by Klíma's daughter, Hana Bergmannová Klímová. The book is also being presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is currently under way, with Czechia as this year’s Guest of Honour.
At the launch in Prague, Klíma's widow Helena spoke about her own reaction to discovering the book.
“I had no idea about this book, and for me, first of all, it was a very touching experience, because suddenly I was reading a text I had never seen before. I realised that it was something my husband had written and then put aside. Then my son found it, and it was very touching to read it.”
She says the book also reveals something about her husband's own relationship with Prague.
“I would say that this is a kind of inner experience expressed through the city of Prague. But actually, the main theme is my husband’s search for a place he could call home – a home for his soul – which he finally found in Prague. Because, you know, throughout his life, he was trying to find a place where he could feel at home.”
Prague, My Love is not the only unpublished work to emerge from Klíma's literary estate. The family also discovered a previously unstaged play about Karel Čapek, a television screenplay and several chapters from an unfinished third volume of his memoirs, My Crazy Century.
Michal Klíma says the unfinished memoirs were particularly surprising:
“It was again a surprise, because he always said that he would never write the third part. But we found that he had started it and had already finished two chapters, which cover the year 1990. It was a very interesting time in our history, because it was just a month or so after the fall of communism, when Václav Havel was elected president.”
The family is considering publishing the two chapters in a magazine, or perhaps adding them to a future edition of My Crazy Century.
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