Lifelines in the Sudety. On »Grandhotel« by Jaroslav Rudiš Cover Image

Sudeckie linie życia. O »Grandhotelu« Jaroslava Rudiša
Lifelines in the Sudety. On »Grandhotel« by Jaroslav Rudiš

Author(s): Michał Kaczmarek
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: Czech literature; Jaroslav Rudis; Liberec; Sudeten Mountains; Czechs; Germans; twentieth-century history;

Summary/Abstract: The novel Grandhotel is a work by Jaroslav Rudis, the Czech writer of young generation. The main protagonist of the novel is Fleischman, whose portrait, together with other characters, is presented against the historical background of twentieth-century Liberec and the Sudeten Mountains. By describing Fleischman's complicated personality and identity, Rudis attempts to evaluate social spirit of contemporary Czechs. Out of the novel Grandhotel two main dimensions emerge: the first is existential and presents individuals who with their complicated - life lines - and personal dramas look for their own place in the world; the second presents a community in the historical, social and cultural context. In addition, the latter dimension is filled with complicated twentieth-century stories and relations between two nations living in the Sudeten Mountains: the Czechs and the Germans. The twentieth-century world created by Rudis in the novel does not imply optimism, but it is not deprived of humor and irony, either.

  • Issue Year: XII/2012
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 289-301
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish
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