088562
London
1995
13×19,5
meki
333
engleski
Cijena: 13,50 EUR
Monumental work (1973) by Italian scholar and poet Angelo Maria Ripellino (1923–1978). It breaks through standard tourist clichés to deliver a dark, deeply atmospheric cultural history of the Czech capital. The book is a lyrical blend of history, travelogue, fictional sketches, art criticism, and ghost stories. Ripellino explores Prague's unique creative identity shaped by centuries of cohabitation between Czechs, Germans, and Jews. The narrative moves extensively through the eccentric Renaissance court of Emperor Rudolf II, an era filled with alchemists, mystics, and astrologers. It connects physical spaces in the city to famous authors like Franz Kafka, Jaroslav Hašek (and his character Josef Švejk), and Gustav Meyrink. The legend of the Golem acts as a recurring leitmotif alongside stories from the old Jewish Quarter. Written after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Prague, which barred Ripellino from returning, the book serves as a powerful requiem for a repressed culture. Translated by David Newton Marinelli and edited by Michael Henry Heim.
