Sudetenland. Paradise Lost

Reviews

"The timeframe for this diverse and thematically and stylistically rich collection of stories extends from the First World War to the 1990s.

They discuss the numerous links between the two ethnic groups (the friendship between Rudiš’s Alois Nebel and a Czech German, the relationship between Petra Dvořáková’s protagonist and a German girl, mixed marriages in the prose works of Michal Vrba and Michaela Klevisová, the members of the boy’s gang in David Jan Žák’s narrative who do not resolve their family origins) and their long coexistence on a common territory (Šumava in Petra Klabouchová’s story as the home of exiles without distinction of language or faith), as well as the fact that ideology and politics drove a wedge between them long before the Nazi occupation (the protagonist in Maria Hajdová’s story, who enlists in the Great War, the outcome of which disperses former comrades-in-arms in Leoš Kyša’s story, and the historical injustices reflected in the life of Kateřina Tučková’s protagonist).

Most of these authors have taken full advantage of the prescribed genre and subject matter: even within their limited space, they have managed to portray their characters in a vivid way, to set them against colourful backdrops, and to play out the unusual plots of compelling stories with them. The most experienced ones have successfully employed tried-and-tested methods: Rudiš has made use of rambling Hrabalesque dialogue, Kyša alias Kotleta action scenes, Žák a child’s perspective, and Tučková a specific “place of memory”. The resulting volume, whose first print-run sold out in no time at all, thus abounds in various shades – here slightly nostalgic, elsewhere (melo)dramatic (especially in Jakub Katalpa’s work), but never black and white."

Petr Nagy Reflex

 

"If anything is typical of the book’s ten short stories, it is that both the Czechs and the Germans are given an equal share of space and narrative empathy. (...)

In terms of their stylistic skill and distinctiveness, [the individual stories] differ only slightly from one other. And in the end, empathy wins out over sensation every time."

Jonáš Zbořil, Seznam zprávy

 

"A theme going back to one of the principal Czech historical traumas has recently been raised in an anthology aptly titled Sudetenland: Paradise Lost / Sudety: Ztracený ráj. Give it a chance, and not just because of its beautiful cover, illustrating the areas that were “cleansed” after World War II.

No expense was spared on this book. You can see this at first glance on its cover, from the almost dreamy illustrations (Jaromír 99), the paper used, the graphic design and the blue font... And also on the choice of the ten authors of the individual short stories, who are counted among some of the best contemporary writers, with the exception of one pleasant surprise for me, Michal Vrba.

This is a real gem that has substance. The sophisticated foreword by two erudite historians, Martin Groman and Michal Stehlik, the men behind the Přepište dějiny (Rewrite History) podcast, gives context to everything.

The individual short stories will offer you trips to the Sudetenland as you may not know it. Without grand gestures, injustices, violence and blood. With no regrets at all, they take you through the ordinary lives, loves, traditions, disappointments and tragedies of people whose descendants are mostly no longer living in the Czech Republic because of the expulsion.

They will introduce you to the territories they have inhabited and ennobled for thousands of years, but which were fundamentally different from each other (just like the stories presented here). It will show you a world that was firmly rooted in faith, hard work and a certain predisposition. It will also introduce the uninitiated to the historical context, including the fact that what we Czechs considered to be our right to self-determination, others, i.e.  the Germans, perceived as an injustice, which they actively, sometimes violently, fought against soon after the declaration of Czechoslovakia.

However, everything described here is in a way just the background to the purely individual human fates. What is important is their fragile poetics, set in regions that have lost their soul, history, legends and, most importantly, their inhabitants, who used to be closely connected to the landscape and were usually not among the richest, regardless of whether they lived in the Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria, Austria-Hungary or Czechoslovakia.

The authors have brought these ordinary fates to life in an engaging way (in fictional form), and notably, they have presented them in a faithful and factual manner. Certainly, thanks to the fact that many of them grew up in the resettled areas (e.g. Jaroslav Rudiš, Leoš Kyša, Kateřina Tučková, Petra Klabouchová and David Jan Žák, to name a few...).

This German heritage has often been stumbled over. Not infrequently it is the “little things”, the tombstones, wayside shrines and orchards that once thrived alongside long-ago demolished buildings in razed villages. Even these details can tell a story if you are able to listen...

The anthology is simply one of those books that are worth reading.

(…)

I also have no doubt that this is one of the best Czech titles of 2025 and beyond."

Lenka Hloušková, Novinky.cz

 

"At the fringes of the republic, where languages, customs, and tensions have interfused for centuries, a literary map has been created that aims to capture the moods, echoes, and unrest of the past. In this collection of ten short stories, each author’s individuality is infused with respect for the place and sensitivity to what has been displaced or forgotten. The collection has brought together, among others, Kateřina Tučková, Jaroslav Rudiš, Leoš Kyša, and Michaela Klevisová – and together with historians from the podcast Přepište dějiny [Rewriting History], they set off on a difficult journey across the Sudetenland landscape. Each of the authors has chosen a specific location – a city, a village, a region – and breathed life into it through a story that takes place before 1938, when Czechs, Germans, and Jews rubbed shoulders. This is not a history lesson, but rather an attempt to illuminate in a distinctive style (from diary entries to virtual detective stories) the moment before the turning point, the point when something unspeakable hangs in the air, and one feels that what one knows is soon coming to an end."

Barbara Häckelová, Elle

 

"In addition to the Sudeten theme, all ten stories share an exceptionally high quality. However, it is interesting to observe how each of the participating authors has approached this environment and topic from their own particular perspective.

In the case of Jaroslav Rudiš, the railway environment comes as no surprise of course, while Šumava native Petra Klabouchová has created a distinctly Klostermannesque dark and tragic tale.

Kateřina Tučková has also kept close to the topic, which she explores in some detail. Her story takes place against the backdrop of the brutal expulsion of Germans from South Moravia after the end of World War II.

Breaking with the totally serious tone of the individual stories, David Jan Žák offers a humorous tale told somewhat in the style of Karel Poláček in We Were a Handful / Bylo nás pět.

In any case, the Sudetenland: Paradise Lost audiobook is a short-story collection of truly high quality in terms of its authorship, voice-acting and direction."

Ilja Kučera ml., novinky.cz (audiobook review)

 

"The book is produced in a truly lavish, one might even say, well-appointed style. It is printed on heavy-weight paper in a blue font, the same colour as for the accompanying illustrations by Jaromír 99. It was this artist and musician from Jeseníky who came up with the initial idea for the project after all, as the editor of the collection, Jakub Šilhavík, informs readers. On the magnificent cover, the attentive reader will also discover four pressings corresponding in shape to the territories of those “unruly” provinces. (…)

The anthology features settings from all four border regions in essentially equal proportions: three stories (by Rudiš, Vrba, and Klevisová) are set in northern Bohemia, three (by Klabouchová, Katalpa, and Žák) in the Šumava foothills, two (by Hajdová and Kyša) are set in northern Moravia, and two (by Dvořáková and Tučková) in southern Moravia.

Sheer beauty, that’s what comes to mind when you first look at this exceptional anthology. The seemingly hackneyed topic of the Sudetenland has acquired a different face here, thanks to the best contemporary authors. Their stories record the world of a people who lived with the Czechs for centuries. However, after World War II, which they caused, they had to leave almost to a man. The anthology is unique in that you “only” suspect everything. The ordinary Germans, who “simply vanished one day”, show you their routine lives. Their stories usually end somewhere in the early 1930s. For me, the book of the year! And why? Simply because it is “human”."

Lenka Hloušková, Novinky.cz, Ten Czech books worth reading in 2025

 

"Sudetenland: Paradise Lost (…) is thus more interesting than a lot of thick Sudetan novels.

Unlike them, these stories are not predictable, and the narrative ideas of individual writers suggest that literature can be published on any territory, perhaps indefinitely. However, it must not rely on simply imitating established patterns.

(…) The authors of these short stories mostly avoided the usual pattern of “Sudeten novels” and set their tales in the pre-war period, thus offering fresh, new plots."

Kryštof Eder, Deník N

 

"The Czech border region is overwhelmingly associated in literature, film, and documentaries with the war and the subsequent deportation of the German population. But this anthology with its subtitle Paradise Lost (with some exceptions) depicts the Sudetenland, where Czechs, Germans, Jews and other nationalities lived side by side. Sometimes as neighbours, sometimes as rivals... Each of these stories takes place in a different part of the border region and they are equally varied in style. Here you will find boyish adventures, fateful love, an ode to the native landscape and dramas full of hatred. But all of them are connected by three-dimensionally drawn characters, who make you feel you are living their lives alongside them. In addition to the storytelling art of Kateřina Tučková, Jaroslav Rudiš and Michaela Klevisová, the illustrations by Jaromír 99 also contribute to no small extent to the uniqueness of the collection."

Aneta Špíglová, Glanc

 

"It begins with the shots that set the engines of the First World War in motion (Jaroslav Rudiš) – and ends in the 1990s with a look back at the devastation that was left behind (Kateřina Tučková). In between, there is room for almost everything, e.g. for unique texts that rivet readers to their seats with their electrifying atmosphere, which is very often close to a muted, implied lyrical horror, such as the stories by Petra Klabouchová, Michal Vrba and Jakuba Katalpa. For texts that work on the topic more schematically, they deliberately follow the clash or harmony of the Czech-German element. Sometimes the author’s sights are set on a broad landscape, the mountains and forests, and the River Elbe frontier. Sometimes a psychological profile is depicted in detail: sometimes vital and active, sometimes deviant, progressing slowly towards liberating madness. The topic is mostly treated seriously, but sometimes with sharp humour (as in the case of David Jan Žák’s short story, parodying Foglar’s club activism in the Mladý hlasatel magazine).

The highlights of this anthology? One is definitely Petra Dvořáková’s short story. Mainly because of the edge that the author doesn’t usually work with, namely spontaneous eroticism plus comedy, which is almost grotesque – ultimately almost like Chaplin. Here a Czech of small stature falls in love with a German giantess, whose parents supposedly work at a famous theatre in the big city; but there is theatre and then there is theatre, as the conclusion shows.

Another highlight is Klabouchová’s text, which progresses through generations, across a cruel snowstorm in which a pack of human cubs almost freezes to death. The motif is somewhat reminiscent of the famous text by Adalbert Stifter – but something else is more important. A sentence that could well serve as the motto for the entire anthology is: “As long as they are telling each other stories, they are still alive.” As long as someone writes stories on the Sudeten theme, this historical stage is still in circulation – it is still here with us. No matter how full of injustices, grievances and pain it is. No matter how much it is a historical period more “lost” than “paradise”..."

Radim Kopáč, MF Dnes