Nebeská modř – Bataille Georges (2025)

The controversial and fascinating novel Heavenly Blue draws us into the politically and socially tense Europe of the 1930s. The protagonist Troppmann, torn by apathy and destructive impulses, gradually traverses Paris, Vienna, and Barcelona, ultimately realizing the impossibility of escaping his own fate. He is fascinated by death, eroticism, and absurdity, observing the decay of his own identity and the society around him. A desire permeated by violence sweeps him away to places where civil unrest rages, assassinations occur, or war looms. And the idea of death, its breathtaking proximity, represents the only way to satisfy such a desire. An encounter with it does not lead to cowardly humiliation – rather, it transforms into an unbounded affirmation of life, which Troppmann experiences in the arms of his three fateful lovers.
The work, created in the mid-1930s but published only in 1957, stands out for its combination of supreme imagery, existential reflections, and provocative, often taboo content. Not only does it reflect the crisis of interwar Europe, but it also forces today's readers to confront the dark and irrational aspects of human nature.