Sestra

(City Sister Silver)

The Tom Stoppard Prize 1988

About the Book
Original TitleSestra
First Published1994
Publisher Atantis, Brno
Pages487
Rights Sold
GermanyVolk und Welt – Berlin
HungaryKalligram  Budapest
United SatesCatbird – North Haven
PolandWAB – Warsaw

City, Sister, Silver is both startling and fast-paced, satirical and romantic, wild and restrained. The novel is full of stories, myths, dreams and nightmares, moving through different genres. It is a novel for readers who want an unforgettable reading experience.What makes City Sister Silver so special is its language, energy and ability to creatively capture the feelings that accompanied the opening up of Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, when, in Topol’s words, “time exploded.” It is truly a breathtaking book.

It is not a realistic approach to a major historical turning point, but rather a unique, imaginative one. As one Czech critic wrote, “City Sister Silver tells me more about the era than many of the books that try so hard to articulate and explain the burning ideas of the time.”

“Jáchym Topol’s literary self is rugged and romantic.”

— Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

“Readers embarking on City Sister Silver are in for an exhilarating, exasperating journey … kaleidoscopic and ethereal, full of motion for its own sake, with many memorable stops along the route.”

— New York Times Book Review

“Topol is already being hailed as the supernova of post-1989 Czech fiction.”

— San Francisco Bay Guardian

“A masterpiece of post-communist Czech fiction”

— Talk Magazine

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