The Book of Bratislava

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A secret policeman investigates a library for stocking anti government literature, only to find himself applying for a library card...

A man’s dreams are invaded by a dark, unsettling figure, the ghost of a thug who once menaced the neighbourhood…

The manager of a theatre bar resorts to fending off violent customers with even more violent security guards…
 

The stories in this anthology reflect the Slovak capital’s many changing incarnations: from a hopeful city newly liberated from the Nazis; to an outpost of communist Czechoslovakia crawling with informants; to the capital of a new, democratic independent state. Bratislava may be a city still shaping its identity, but it is one where creativity blooms, despite – or perhaps because of – its complex and intricate history. From the dive bars of the infamous Petržalka estate, to the lush tree-lined banks of the Danube, the past and present are in continual conversation with each other, striving to recapture what’s lost, while adjusting to the fast pace of change.  

Translated from the Slovak by Katarina Gephardt, Jonathan Gresty, Paul Kaye, Janet Livingstone, John Minahane, Magdalena Mullek, Charles Sabatos, David Short, Isabel Stainsby. Translated from the Hungarian by Peter Sherwood.