Jaroslav Kalfar

An intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Procházka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country's first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he's dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father's sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions. Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka? Rich with warmth and suspense and surprise, Spaceman of Bohemia is an exuberant delight from start to finish. Very seldom has a novel this profound taken readers on a journey of such boundless entertainment and sheer fun.

In a nativist near-future America obsessed with eternal life and under the increasing threat of technological surveillance, a long-lost brother and sister risk everything to reclaim their mother from oblivion. When Adéla contracts a terminal illness, her thoughts turn to Tereza, the daughter she gave up at birth, forty years earlier. Leaving behind her moody, grown son, Roman, in their rural Czech village, she tracks down her daughter in New York City. But the America of 2029, with its authoritarian government and closed borders, is a different place from the country she experienced as a young woman, when she eloped with a filmmaker and starred in his cult sci-fi movie.Tereza, the star researcher for a secretive biotech company hellbent on discovering the key to immortality, is overjoyed to reunite with her mother. But before she can find a cure, her mother dies mysteriously and is whisked away to a mass grave for undocumented immigrants in the swampy Florida wastelands. Distraught, Tereza travels to the Czech Republic to convince Roman, the brother she’s never met, to defy the law and the odds and return their mother’s remains to Czech soil.Narrated from the beyond by Adéla, A Brief History of Living Forever is a high-wire act of storytelling that demonstrates once more Jaroslav Kalfař's endless powers of invention. By turns insightful, moving, and funny, the novel blends an immigrant mother's heartbreaking journey through the American dream with her children's quest to reclaim her from a country that would erase any record of her existence. Above all, it is a reminder that neither space nor time can sever our connection to the ones we love.

Praga, primavera 2018. Rimasto orfano in giovane età e cresciuto in campagna dai suoi strambi nonni, Jakub Procházka è uno scienziato di scarsa importanza con un grande sogno: diventare il primo astronauta del suo paese, la Repubblica Ceca, una nazione in cerca di identità dopo il crollo della cortina di ferro. Per questo, quando gli viene proposta una missione sul pianeta Venere, non ha dubbi: potrà diventare un eroe e riscattare il nome della sua famiglia, infangato dalle gravi colpe del padre, informatore e torturatore durante il regime comunista. Ma tutto ha un costo, e il prezzo da pagare in questo caso è abbandonare la moglie Lenka, sacrificando sull'altare dell'ambizione personale il matrimonio e il progetto di un figlio insieme. Sotto lo sguardo adorante del suo popolo, Jakub parte a bordo dello shuttle: d'ora in poi sarà solo nello spazio profondo, anzi no, godrà della compagnia (reale o immaginaria) di un bizzarro alieno. Ma l'impresa è pericolosa e Jakub rischia la vita: sarà l'intervento di una flotta russa in missione segreta a riportarlo sulla Terra dalla sua Lenka?

O mundo está intrigado com um estranho fenômeno no céu, mas bancar uma viagem espacial parece arriscado demais. A República Tcheca, porém, aceita o desafio e designa o professor de astrofísica Jakub Procházka para a missão, talvez o único capaz de realizar uma tarefa tão perigosa. Uma vez no espaço, ele deverá coletar a misteriosa poeira cósmica que surgiu entre Vênus e a Terra. O astronauta torna-se, então, uma celebridade, mas nem tudo acontece como ele imaginara. Quando passa a se sentir insuportavelmente solitário, Jakub faz uma amizade inusitada com uma aranha alienígena. Alucinação ou realidade, os dois se entregam a conversas profundas sobre temas diversos, desde a maravilha do bacon até a natureza do amor, da vida e da morte. Entre ficção e realidade, Kalfař esmiúça o passado de Procházka e a história política da República Tcheca, tornando o leitor testemunha não só de uma intrépida viagem interplanetária, mas da busca de reconciliação do personagem consigo mesmo e com sua nação.