(Still on vacation!) Prague Tales (no image available) is a collection of stories written in the mid-nineteenth century by Jan Neruda, and set in Mala Strana, the "old city" neighborhood of Prague. Full of slices-of-life and colorful characters, this was a fun read. Apparently, the Chilean author Pablo Neruda took Neruda's name as his own after reading "The Three Lilies," one of the stories from this collection. The only thing that rubbed the wrong way somewhat was the extremely negative portrayals of the occasional Jewish characters. Commentators generally put this down to Neruda's depicting Mala Strana residents' attitudes, good and bad.
This sounds like a good book to read while visiting the old city of Prague. Just look out your window and see the buildings and feel the atmosphere described in the book. "to read list"!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely--and that's where we were when I read this: in the Mala Strana, with a view out the living room window of the Charles Bridge. Really, it couldn't get any better.
ReplyDeleteI just ordered the book!
ReplyDeleteYay! Now you need to go to Prague. :)
ReplyDelete