Gottland opens an unusual window on the history of Central Europe, in particular the part of it occupied by the Czechs. Mariusz Szczygieł presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of the Czechs as a nation, gathering together a wide-ranging cast of characters: the sculptor commissioned to build the world’s biggest statue of Stalin; the stage star who was Goebbels’ lover; Franz Kafka’s niece; Karel Gott, who won the “Most Popular Male Singer” award a record thirty-six times; and the Bata brothers, founders of a shoe empire that shod half the world. Many of these people’s lives were marked by tragedy as they fell victim to the historical events that engulfed twentieth-century Europe. One of Europe’s preeminent investigative journalists and a devoted Czechophile, Szczygieł is uniquely placed to capture this country and its people through these bizarre, tragic stories. Built from meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Gottland is a mesmerising and offbeat tour of the nation that gave us Franz Kafka, Václav Havel and Tom Stoppard.
“One of those delightfully unclassifiable books... Szczygieł is strange and funny, constantly off at jaunty tangents.” Julian Barnes, Book of the Year, The Guardian
”Extraordinary... Gottland is one of the funniest books I have read and one of the shrewdest about what it was like to live under fascism and communism, the experience of so much of Europe in the last century. It is not about Czechoslovakia or Poland or even limited to Mitteleuropa, but about how one copes with tyranny and corruption and preserves a conscience... Important and enjoyable.” The Spectator
”Many of the stories in Mariusz Szczygieł's portrait of Czechoslovakia could have come from the pages of Kafka... Absorbing, offbeat history.” The Financial Times
”Non-fiction stories from Czechoslovakia, which show a country more fantastical than even its wildest literature led us to believe.” The Guardian
”Gottland offers an indelible account of the ravages of 20th-century totalitarianism and the way it continues to pollute human thought and behavior in the 21st century.” New York Times
Translator bio
Antonia Lloyd-Jones has translated works by many of Poland’s leading contemporary novelists and reportage authors, as well as classics, biographies, essays, crime fiction, poetry and children’s books. Her translation of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by 2018 Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk was shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker International prize. For ten years she was a mentor for the Emerging Translators’ Mentorship Programme, and is a former co-chair of the UK Translators Association. Her recent published translations include Not There by Mariusz Szczygieł, reportage about (broadly understood) loss, and as compiler and co-translator, The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories.
Author bio
Mariusz Szczygieł is one of Europe’s most celebrated journalists. A reporter for Gazeta Wyborcza, he is the author of a number of books of reportage about the Czech Republic and Poland. His books have been published in twenty-one countries and have been awarded the Europe Book Prize and the Prix Amphi, among other honours. From 1995–2001, he hosted a popular talk show on Polish television. Szczygieł runs the Institute of Reportage in Warsaw, a creative writing reportage school, and Dowody na Isnienie, an independent publishing house. Not There won the Nike Award and Nike Readers' Award in Poland on publication in 2019.
BUY THE BOOK: https://www.lindeneditions.com/shop/p/gottland-exploding-stalin-and-other-true-tales-from-the-heart-of-europe-by-mariusz-szczygie-translated-by-antonia-lloyd-jones
Translators Aloud is a YouTube channel devoted to sharing the work of literary translators, for both published and unpublished works.