Prague, My Love

Apart from his childhood in the Terezín concentration camp, Ivan Klíma spent virtually his entire life in Prague. It is also the setting for most of his short stories and novels, for which he became famous both at home and abroad. He wrote about Prague in his essays and contributed texts to various photographic books on the city. In his book Prague My Love, he chose to present his native city not only as an attractive place to live or visit for a short time, but above all as a crossroads through which European history has passed, a city where cultures have converged. He writes about Czech and German Prague, about Jewish Prague, and about Christian Prague. He writes about German-language writers and world-class monuments, and how they have gone down in history. He writes about the struggles that took place in Prague, about religious reformers, about rulers, and about periods of history such as the Nazi occupation or the communist era. Although it describes historical facts and topographical details, the book is written in the style of an experienced author of engaging prose, so that reading it is not only far from boring but, on the contrary, creates a sense of anticipation in the reader, compelling them not merely to leaf through it but to read it from start to finish in one go. The book was discovered amongst the author’s literary estate and is now being published for the first time. V pozůstalosti českého spisovatele byl nalezen soubor velmi osobních textů o Praze, o městě, ve kterém se narodil a kde žil téměř celé století až do své smrti v říjnu 2025. Ivan Klima píše o neznámých, ale obzvláště krásných koutech Prahy, o palácích a jejich někdejších majitelích, o památkách, o jejichž často krutém historickém pozadí se však ví jen málo, o lidech, kteří dodnes utvářejí obraz Prahy, jako jsou Albrecht Valdštejn nebo Franz Kafka, o Václavu Havlovi či Alexandru Dubčekovi, o soužití, často i o střetech české, židovské a německé kultury, o místech, která lze navštívit mimo Prahu, ale která mají mnoho společného s pražskou historií.