Love and Garbage

I like Klima's refusal to give into the cliche, the accepted role, and his determination to peer over into the abyss: the quality he fears and admires in his predecessor Kafka. As with most of his work, you find out less about the streets of Prague than his inner labyrinthine intellect. I do wish, however, that Klima could break out of his familiar narratorial role: his protagonist always seems like himself, despite at the novel's start a disclaimer. Which is wise, considering Klima's faithful rendition of a love triangle that motivates what plot that exists to thread the multiple digressions and sub-plots along. His account of infidelity certainly carries the whole theme of lies and decay forward and grounds the novel in its elaborations.

Actually, the garbage crew proves the least interesting part of this novel, and the relationship between him and his wife and his mistress the most engrossing--I expected to be excited by just the opposite motif! Klima comments elsewhere that he took on the garbageman job as "research" for a novel. On the other hand, under the communist regime, he may not have had many alternatives. See "My Golden Trades" for some of his other tasks.

More admirable than Kundera, in my opinion, is Klima's moral stance; you can read his interview with Philip Roth in Klima's essay collection "Spirit of Prague" to understand more about how the two Czechs differ in their decisions. For readers willing to be moved more by insight than titillation, this is a fine place to begin your introduction to Klima's world.