Josef Somr

Stories by Czech writer and journalist Ota Pavel reads: Josef Somr. Ota Pavel, originally Popper, was born in 1930 to the parents we know from his stories: father Leo was a business traveller and mother Hermína an interesting and strong woman. It is important for the fate of Ota Pavel and his brothers Jiří and Hugo that their father was Jewish, and that their father and both older sons spent the Protectorate in Terezín, from where they miraculously returned alive. Ota Pavel started writing stories with themes from his family history after he suffered a bout of manic-depressive psychosis at the Innsbruck Olympics. Then he had to give up his journalistic profession and found solace in stories about his ridiculously heroic father and the people around the Berounka River. Behind every screw-up, humiliation, disappointment or failure is the message, ...that man pays for pride and vain desires in life, but if he has a wild heart and a big soul, he's getting something much more important, namely self-esteem and joy in life. Ota Pavel died prematurely in 1973 and his prose is among the best of 20th century Czech literature.