Literary Canon
Best Books from Czech Republic
The Czech lands produced, in a few extraordinary decades, three of world literature's defining texts: Franz Kafka's hallucinatory bureaucratic nightmares, Jaroslav Hašek's comic masterpiece The Good Soldier Švejk, and Milan Kundera's philosophical novels of erotic and political resistance. This concentration of genius in a small country under repeated historical trauma — Habsburg rule, Nazi occupation, Communist dictatorship — suggests a relationship between literary imagination and political pressure that few other national traditions can match. Contemporary Czech fiction, from Jáchym Topol to Bianca Bellová, continues to work with that legacy with remarkable originality.
#1
literary-fiction
The Trial
Franz Kafka· 1963
★Nobel Prize in Literature
Editorial Score80/100
#2
literary-fiction
Das Schloß
Franz Kafka· 1926
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score50/100
#3
literary-fiction
The Castle
Franz Kafka· 1926
ALA Notable Books
Editorial Score41/100
#4
literary-fiction
Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka· 1915
Library Journal
Editorial Score40/100
#5
literary-fiction
Amerika
Franz Kafka· 1927
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#6
literary-fiction
Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí
Milan Kundera· 1984
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#7
classic-literature
Tagebücher
Franz Kafka· 1937
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score40/100
#8
literary-fiction
The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka· 1915
ALA Notable Books
Editorial Score39/100
#9
literary-fiction
In the Penal Colony
Franz Kafka· 1919
ALA Notable Books
Editorial Score39/100
#10
philosophy
La Fête de l'insignifiance
Milan Kundera· 2007
Editorial Score38/100
#11
art-design
Une rencontre
Milan Kundera· 2009
Editorial Score38/100
#12
literary-fiction
Der Proceß
Franz Kafka· 1825
Library Journal
Editorial Score35/100
#13
literary-fiction
Směšné lásky
Milan Kundera· 1965
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score35/100
#14
short-stories
The penal colony
Franz Kafka· 1948
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score35/100
#15
literary-fiction
Žert
Milan Kundera· 1967
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score30/100
#16
literary-fiction
Kniha smíchu a zapomnění
Milan Kundera· 1979
Kirkus Reviews
Editorial Score30/100
#17
literary-fiction
Valčík na rozloučenou
Milan Kundera· 1976
Publishers Weekly
Editorial Score30/100
#18
biography-memoir
Briefe an Milena
Franz Kafka· 1952
Library Journal
Editorial Score30/100
#19
biography-memoir
Brief an den Vater
Franz Kafka· 1953
Library Journal
Editorial Score30/100
#20
cooking-food
Food for friends
Barbara Kafka· 1984
Library Journal
Editorial Score30/100
