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Uh-oh, it looks like your Prague: A Novel Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. NOOK Book. And I suppose this is what I had in mind when I said that we should find something for her to do. Home 1 Books 2. Read an excerpt of this book! Add to Wishlist. Sign in to Purchase Instantly. Members save with free shipping everyday! See details. Overview Prague: A Novel and Henry are Americans living in Prague; she works for the State Department, he is a rare books dealer. Related Searches. The Deed: A Novel. Prague: A Novel hip and hilarious debut novel about a twentysomething guy searching for love, for meaning View Product. Foe: A Novel. Hearsay: A Novel. Like his namesake, Lemuel Gulliver, Lem Grosz, the central character, sees a fair bit of Prague: A Novel his namesake, Lemuel Gulliver, Lem Grosz, the central character, sees a fair bit of the world, and it is a very odd sort of place. Nora and Annie have been best friends Prague: A Novel In This Moment: A Novel. Bestselling author Karma Brown is back with a morally infused and emotionally riveting exploration of Joy of Man's Desiring: A Novel. Peasant civilization possesses as a gift human qualities which philosophical civilizations spend Prague: A Novel first defining, Peasant civilization possesses as a gift human qualities which philosophical civilizations spend centuries first defining, then desiring, and finally losing. Luxe: A Novel. Bleu Montclair knew as a young girl that she would one day escape the hard, unrelenting streets of MeAsWell, A Novel. Arnie Pepper is having the worst day of his life. The Pulitzer-prize winning sports columnist The Pulitzer-prize winning sports columnist for the Washington Post has lived a thrilling, prestigious and mostly blameless existence over nearly four decades of rubbing shoulders with athletic royalty at all Counterpoint Press. Best Books Set in Prague ( books)

Curiously, Arthur Prague: A Novel first novel, Pragueis set in Budapest. A nod, maybe, to Milan Kundera's suggestion that "Life is Elsewhere" - especially since the twentysomething Americans sojourning in that recently liberated city, the former "Paris of the South", all share in the suspicion that they are missing out; that the true post-Cold War moment is occurring nearby, in the headier, impeccably photogenic environs of Prague. But this isn't the novel's real complaint. In its subjects' evident longing to belong to a Lost Generation, Prague reveals an envy of Paris in the s rather than Czechoslovakia in the '90s. Romantic disillusionment is a central concern, just as it was in that ur-text Prague: A Novel expatriate life, Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Not so gallant in heartbreak, perhaps, nor as grimly nonchalant in banter, and certainly less heroic in dissipation - but Prague's characters Prague: A Novel a similar swagger, albeit with a paralysing degree of self-consciousness. The denizens of Prague are stumped. They just can't "get lost"; these characters spend the course of the novel devising ways to outwit their own "knowingness". Mark Payton, one of the expats introduced at story's outset, makes the dilemma explicit. Thrice an outsider plump, gay, CanadianMark is a scholar settled in Budapest to research a popular history of nostalgia. But Mark's project begins in excitement and ends in breakdown. He fails the Prague: A Novel of the exile to form interior virtues, without reference to society and flees the city. Meanwhile, his less intelligent, though mentally sturdier friend, John, actually takes pleasure in the same dizzying ironies: "The pleasantly dry, infinitely regressing amusement he felt at his own expense". While Prague's opening section is concerned with debating the nature and difficulty of exile, its remainder is engagingly narrative-driven. In short order Prague: A Novel are introduced to John and Mark's circle: Scott, John's resolutely aloof brother, hawking his linguistic wares throughout the former Eastern Bloc he's an English teacher ; Emily, the banal, square-jawed Nebraskan wholly inculcated into the "American Way" of her work at the American embassy; and the charming, cynical young venture capitalist Charles Gabor, child Prague: A Novel Hungarian refugees, whose scheming to acquire part-ownership of a venerable Budapest publishing house forms the greater part of the novel's course. Charles is the only figure apparently free from the disease of romantic idealism regarding Hungary: he Prague: A Novel Eastern Europe in pragmatic terms. The real importance of newly liberalised nations is economic. A Westerner who speaks Magyar, a child of the free market in a wonderland of denationalised companies, he is uniquely placed to manipulate the Prague: A Novel, and does so, deftly playing West off against East, and vice versa. But it is John with his hopeless, unrequited love matches who most often takes centre-stage, and his responses drive the novelist's message home. It is his stubborn preservation of foolishness that illuminates; his acceptance of emotion neither warped by nostalgia nor airbrushed by idealism in which he strikes the difficult balance that this intriguing novel has aimed at achieving - a balance which is the mark of the successful exile, and of the artist. Prague: A Novel. The Sydney Morning Herald. Geordie Williamson is a London-based reviewer. Save Log inregister or Prague: A Novel to save articles for later. License this article. Prague: A Novel - Arthur Phillips - Google книги

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Prague by Arthur Phillips. Prague by Arthur Phillips Goodreads Author. A novel of startling scope and ambition, Prague depicts an intentionally Prague: A Novel Lost Generation as it follows five American expats who come to Budapest in Prague: A Novel early s to seek their fortune. They harbor the vague suspicion that their counterparts in Prague have it better, but still they hope to find adventure, inspiration, a gold rush, or history in the making. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. More Details Original Title. Hungary Budapest Hungary. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Pragueplease sign up. Wouldn't you love to see a real-life exhibition of Nicky's art? Celeste Peterson Yes, can only imagine the shocking graphics! Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Prague. How does your short, uneventful life compare to Prague: A Novel lives of those who actually resisted, fought, and died? What does your angst mean in a city still pocked with bullet holes from war and crushed rebellion? When he was younger, Scott w "What does it mean to fret about your fledgling career when the man across the table was tortured by two Prague: A Novel regimes? When he was younger, Scott was a fat, unathletic, unhappy kid, but since leaving for Europe, he has sculpted his body and mind into someone very different from whom he used to be. By being around John again all the insecurities of his past come back to nag Prague: A Novel the veneer of his new identity. When I graduated from high school, I moved to Phoenix to go to college. I was elated. I could finally be me. Growing up, especially in a small farming community, everyone knows everything about you. They have these disjointed ideas of who you are that have been formed from the shedded skins of your younger self. You have no control over what they decide to remember or exaggerate about you, and to ever escape Prague: A Novel older versions of yourself is impossible. Scott does introduce John to his group of ex-pat, pseudo-intellectual friends. In the midst of them is a corn fed, patriotic to the bone woman from Nebraska named Emily. There is also Charles, an investment banker, who in the course of the novel puts together a deal to bring the historic Horvath press back to life. His smile and word of Prague: A Novel were wrong. He was made of dirty mirrors. He finds an apartment, absurdly cheap. He meets a Prague: A Novel Hungarian woman named Nadja at a bar who tells him stories of her past. Prague: A Novel has been forced to leave Budapest too many times but always comes back when sanity has returned. John takes Emily to see Prague: A Novel in the hopes of impressing her, but Emily can Prague: A Novel believe that someone has had that many Prague: A Novel. To John those stories are wonderful pieces of culture history. To Emily they are just lies. As I skimmed Prague: A Novel other reviews of this book, it was interesting to see the reactions to these twenty something characters who are all very intelligent, who have just read enough, seen enough, to formulate what they feel are informed opinions, but of course they are just on the beginning edges of actually knowing what they are talking about. The people who gave this book one star because they loathed the characters I believe missed some of the point of the book because Arthur Phillips is very hard on these people. He exposes them. He certainly does not romanticize them. I identified with many aspects of these characters. The flaws they display are certainly ones that I could attribute to my past self as I grappled with Prague: A Novel, trying to evolve beyond just being smart into someone with actual intelligence. I must warn you about travelling to Budapest. I did have to dance for my supper. Many of them admitted, begrudgingly, that the lyrical writing is at times awe inspiring. The term unhappiness referred to the feeling of taking the wrong things seriously. She is so square, so judgmental, and Prague: A Novel someone who would give this book a one star rating. Luckily, John meets the plucky, bald headed, artist Nicky who makes him really see things, and forces him to expand his thinking about what he really wants out of life. She has her thorns certainly and is always looking to fortify the voracious Prague: A Novel of the creative monster. The Press survived war, poor ownership, and anticipated the changing tastes of the Hungarian population. The books he published saved the cultural history not only of his city, but also of his country. For some, the book acted almost as an opiate: The pleasure of leisurely or impatiently traveling from page to page and seeing Prague: A Novel Budapest unbombed, undamaged, in black and white, was almost pornographic in its unattainable, voluptuous gorgeousness. Lipotavaros, the Elizabeth Bridge, the Corso, the Castel, the Nyugati Station in the day of its inauguration--the day it was Prague: A Novel largest, cleanest train station in the world…. Mark becomes absolutely addicted to CNN, which was the station that first gave us the twenty-four hour news cycle. We brought a TV up to the front of the store so that we could get updates as the war unfolded. The war was over so quickly that it almost felt like a movie with too abrupt an ending. Like most of America, for quite a while, I continued to be addicted to news. My obsession with play-by-play Prague: A Novel cooled a long time ago as I discovered that news is Prague: A Novel influenced by half lies, hidden truths, and political agendas. Maybe there is some fascinating reason why Phillips decided to call this book Prague, but I actually find it annoying. Almost all the book is set in Budapest, so logically the book should bear the name of that city not the sister city on the Danube who has always been considered more elegant, more interesting. Each city was easily explored on foot and provided new wonders around nearly every corner. You may not like the characters, but I will say that no one remains twenty forever, and most pseudo intellectuals eventually discover how much more there is to know than what they can Prague: A Novel know. They grow up, and most become more humble. With time, they become less self-absorbed and start to realize the benefits of using their intellect to help people instead of using it to offer a pithy evaluation of others' shortcomings. The wax of their character is still being poured into the mold. View all 30 comments. Aug 19, Michael rated it really liked it. This novel perfectly captures youth on the precipice of adulthood, full of earnest yearning, eternal questions, irony and a creeping cynicism and even dread that that moment, right then, is about as good as it gets. It's about a group of American Prague: A Novel hanging out in Eastern Europe, Budapest to be exact, where they all yearn for Prague, the epitome of cool, told in thick stylish ironic prose that I enjoyed, laughed at, and occasionally envied. Having been an expat myself at about the same point This novel perfectly captures youth on the precipice of adulthood, full of earnest yearning, eternal questions, irony and a creeping cynicism and even dread that that moment, right then, is about as good as it gets. Having been an expat myself at about the same point in my youth, I immediately recognized these characters, and by the end, I knew them nearly Prague: A Novel well as their real-life counterparts. View all 4 comments. Aug 03, Lp rated it did not like it. I'm with the reviewer who wants a medal for finishing this book. It was a slog, during which I kept stopping to read reviews to figure out what on earth I was missing. The promo copy compared the author to Proust and Joyce. Reviewers likened him to Kundera. To me his work resembled nothing more than pretentious freshman ramblings designed to impress writing professors. I am here to tell you, the emperor has no clothes.