Lvíče – Škvorecký Josef (2018)

Which Czech novel contains a love story stretched from cynicism to fatalism, while being humorous, ironic, and ultimately transforming into a crime drama culminating in the age-old question of betrayal and revenge, moral failure and punishment? Its heroine is surrounded by an almost impenetrable mystery... The answer is singular: it is Škvorecký's Lvíče. The author, an excellent observer and storyteller, an admirer of F. S. Fitzgerald and J. Conrad, set the depiction of the complicated conquest of Miss Lenka Stříbrná by the seasoned womanizer and editor Karel Leden in the Prague intellectual milieu of the early 1960s, in the publishing backstage with all its intrigues and political compromises. Leden plays out his undeniable personal charm, draws on rich experiences, and delivers serious love confessions to get Lenka Stříbrná into bed, but she rebuffs his efforts with wit and irony, until their dialogues resemble Dangerous Liaisons, the pinnacle of romantic cynicism. Is he only after a few nights, or has he ultimately fallen madly in love with the dark-haired girl with a boyish haircut, whose eyes are 'large, black and completely without irises. Just two black discs like bakelite...' Before the end of the story, humor suddenly disappears, coldness arrives - strange and mysterious...