Invalidní sourozenci – Bondy Egon (2023)

Bondy's joyful utopia, or rather anti-utopia, created during the bleakest years of normalization and once considered the "holy scripture" of the Czech underground, is not only a celebration of the "alternative way of life" of people living consciously and deliberately on the fringes of the so-called mainstream society, not just a mockery of the contemporary consumerist ideas of the police state, but also a light parody of science fiction, into which philosophical themes are organically incorporated, shaping some of the characters in their discussions. Although this work can also be labeled as "adventure literature," evoking, for example, scenes of a "mysterious island," its overall message reaches the strength of a religious, evangelical proclamation that, despite all expectations, it is still "possible to live" in this world. For this novel, first published by the Škvorecký couple at 68 Publishers in Toronto, the author received the Egon Hostovský Award; the work has also been published in translations into foreign languages. The fifth book edition of this most famous prose work by Egon Bondy corrects previous samizdat and printed editions, as repeated errors and typos (which also appeared in the previous fourth edition from 2012) are here corrected not only according to the author's manuscript but especially according to newly...