Dům o tisíci patrech – Weiss Jan (2021)

The House of a Thousand Floors is perhaps Jan Weiss's most famous literary work and one of the foundational texts of Czech fantasy. The main protagonist, Petr Brok, falls into a terrible dream in which he becomes a detective in the so-called Mullerdome, a gigantic skyscraper that represents a world unto itself. His task is to rescue Princess Tamara, who has been kidnapped by Ohisver Muller, the unlimited and cruel ruler of this fantastic structure and its inhabitants. During his search, aided by the fact that he is invisible, Brok gradually discovers that behind the most modern inventions and technological advancements found in the Mullerdome lies an absence of love, free will, and happiness. Therefore, he ultimately decides that in addition to rescuing the kidnapped Princess Tamara, it is also essential to deal with Muller himself, and preferably forever... Weiss's novel serves as a contemporary allegory of capitalism, but it can also confidently be classified among dystopias. The author strongly criticizes totalitarian tendencies and militarism, and like his contemporary Aldous Huxley, author of the famous Ends of Civilization, he uses technology as the most effective means of control over people.