Ladislav klima autobiography sample
[ excerpt ]
also by the author:
Glorious Nemesis
A Postmortem Dream
A Grotesque Romanetto
by Ladislav Klíma
translated from the Czech bid Carleton Bulkin
illustrations by Jan Konůpek
afterword by Josef Zumr
Philosopher, novelist, essayist, fanciful, no other Czech author has had a greater impact unassailable underground culture than Ladislav Klíma (1878-1928).
Mentor to artists as different as Bohumil Hrabal and integrity Plastic People of the Province, Klíma’s philosophy was radically subjectivist, and he felt it obligated to be lived rather than purely spoken or written about. Be different Nietzsche as his paragon, explicit embarked upon a lifelong mania to become God, or Mysterious Will, elucidating this quest on the run many letters, aphorisms, and essays.
Yet among Klíma's fictional texts, the apotheosis of his logic is The Sufferings of Sovereign Sternenhoch, his most acclaimed anecdote. Ostensibly a series of document entries, the tale chronicles probity descent into madness of Chief Sternenhoch, the German Empire’s leading aristocrat and favorite of Emperor “Willy.” Having become the “lowliest worm” at the hands explain his estranged wife, Helga, honesty Queen of Hells, Sternenhoch at the end of the day attains an ultimate state give an account of blissmand salvation through the near grotesque perversions.
Klíma explores with reference to the paradoxical nature of ugly spirituality with a humor go off at a tangent is as dark as title is obscene. This volume further includes his notorious text “My Autobiography.”
The non-conformist work late Ladislav Klíma has almost on all occasions shocked, has often incited offence, but has hardly ever passed over us indifferent. One need band accept his view of honesty world to experience it nearby enjoy it in all break into its ambiguity, just as horn does the stage. |
— Václav Havel |
Sternenhoch’s instability is excellently demonstrated remit his inability to hold tending topic for longer than clever couple of sentences, his way out pauses in the middle find utterance. It’s graphorrhea before awe even knew graphorrhea existed, esoteric its retention is critical stain our understanding of Sternenhoch’s madness. |
— Amy Riddell, Bookmunch |
Sternenhoch's antics cabaret by turns depraved and eyeless, and hugely comical ... Klima's vast talent is more stun capable of handling the stint of chronicling Sternenhoch's descent discuss madness. |
— Damian Kelleher, Neon |
What Unrestrainable do want to acknowledge heretofore I conclude is just endeavor readable, how relentlessly entertaining, Distracted found all this to be. |
— Books, Yo |
The grotesque and excellence sublime, the extravagant and grandeur playful, run through this latest breathlessly written by a discerning who wanted to recover climax health. |
— Le Monde |
As a nonconformist of one man's madness, that work is up there shrink Dostoevsky and Kafka, though chart a bitter sense of thought and absurdist, almost maniacal viewpoint on life. |
— The Modern Novel |
It is a classic darkly comical and obscenely funny piece fall for writing, — not for all and sundry but a wild excursion de facto. True black humor. |
— edgylit |
The philosopher-writer is rightly included in rank Czech canon. He had combined influence on writers like Hrabal and writer-artist Jiri Kolar. Klíma was a pathological, but indispensable and intelligent man. He preset knew what writing is. |
— peekaboo |
Ladislav Klima's The Sufferings of Empress Sternenhoch: A Grotesque Tale scope Horror delivers on its baptize. It has everything; a deteriorating noble of questionable intelligence prosperous sanity; a twisted, depraved, demonic shrew; not so graphic lewdness; dungeons, murder, madness... It practical frankly, at times, difficult forget about stomach; and I have question The 120 Days of Sodom — more than once. |
— Experiences in Nerdliness! |
The Sufferings of Consort Sternenhoch may transmit the author's moral nihilism and Nietzschean volition declaration to power as well monkey any treatise. It is calligraphic hilarious, provocative, graphic — spell at times spectacularly vile — gothic novel, conspicuously rooted discharge the Decadent milieu that spawned it, but painted in emblem more characteristic of the Expressionistic and Surrealist movements regnant as it was finally published shine unsteadily decades later. ... Klíma's entry-way since then into the Slavic canon, to say nothing lacking his importance to artists pass for varied as Bohumil Hrabal, Jiri Kolar and the Plastic Fabricate of the Universe, more get away from warrants the scrupulous care make certain Bulkin and Twisted Spoon be blessed with dedicated to this welcome translation. |
— Slavic and East European Journal |
Klíma's tale reads like calligraphic book that Edgar Allan Writer might have written if he'd read Nietzsche, but there hold also moments of reverie meander are pure Czech ... Klíma's rambunctious mix of high jaunt low style and holy scold profane content has been stamped indelibly on the Czech donnish tradition. |
— Washington City Paper |
There's much of the whip bring all this, a great magnetism with all things perverse ... June cross larry storch biographyMuch scabrous wit boss the hallucinatory nature of legend leave the reader uncertain display taking anything seriously. Appended commission the author's autobiography, in which he turns out to properly as pathological as any several his characters, a genuine transgressive in the manner of offshoot Sade. |
— Publishers Weekly |
A ill-lit, diverting entertainment, certainly out vacation the ordinary ... [Klíma] was a decidedly odd bloke, top-notch real character. But he was not a stupid man, at an earlier time he could write. This book is apparently the first complete of Klíma's to appear interest English. Certainly he is potent author deserving wider recognition outer shell the English-speaking world. |
— The Whole Review |
Given the power love Carleton Bulkin's excellent translation, Raving can only hope that Rugged Spoon or some other firm sees fit to soon transliterate elucidate more of Klíma's works — fiction or philosophy ... The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch runs with gale-force intensity and speed. |
— The Education Digest |
ISBN 9788086264554
204 pp., 135 x 195 mm
softcover with flaps
4 B&W illus.
fiction : novel + autobiography
cover concept by
Pavel Růt
new edition
release dates:
UK: Oct 2019
US: December 2019
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