She paused, a terrible look of surprise in her eyes. She didn't speak and I didn't say anything either.
One of our leading authors of psychological prose proved his masterful talent not only in writing novels, which today belong to the canonical works of Czech interwar literature, but also in his rich and varied short stories. This is also evidenced by the ten more or less well-known texts, which provide an eloquent cross-section of Havlíček the storyteller's work in terms of the period of its creation (1927-1940) and the diversity of its themes. Among them there are emotionally intense dramas (Coming from Hell, Whore of the Lord, Past), self-reflexive etudes on the border between reality and delirium (Murdered Dream, The shenanigans of spring, Mr. Bych), stories that are cruelly realistic (Vavřínek, Revenge, Adventure), but also one narrative set in the fantastic (Mr Balabán's Clock). The protagonists of these miniatures are no strangers to anything human, not even betrayal or murder, so many of them end up losing their dreams. And sometimes for life...
The original anthology of Jaroslav Havlíček's short stories includes the author's finest short texts of a romantic, realistic, fantastic and detective nature.
