Nebeská modř

The controversial and fascinating novel The Blue of Heaven draws us into the politically and socially tense Europe of the 1930s. The protagonist Troppmann, tormented by apathy and destructive impulses, gradually passes through Paris, Vienna or Barcelona, until he finally discovers the impossibility of escaping his own fate. Fascinated by death, eroticism and absurdity, he watches the disintegration of his own identity and the society around him. A desire imbued with violence carries him away to places where civil unrest rages, assassinations occur or war is imminent. And the idea of death, its breathtaking proximity, is the only way to satisfy such a desire. The encounter with it does not lead to cowardly humiliation - on the contrary, it turns into a boundless embrace of life, which Troppmann experiences in the arms of his three ill-fated lovers.

Written in the mid-1930s, but not published until 1957, the work stands out for its combination of supreme imagery, existential reflections and provocative, often even taboo content. And not only does it reflect the crisis of interwar Europe, but it also forces contemporary readers to confront the dark and irrational aspects of human nature.