Letters from Prison - Softcover

Simecka, Milan; Turner, Gerald; Havel, Vaclav

4.33

21 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8086264033 ISBN 13: 9788086264035

Publisher: Twisted Spoon Press, 2002

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Cultural Writing. Translation. Translated from the Czech and Slovak by Gerald Turner. Foreword by Vaclav Havel. The letters printed in this volume were written during Milan Simecka's stay in prison (the author's crime: smuggling his texts out of the country to be published abroad.) Not allowed to mention politics, Simecka--one of the most widely translated dissidents opposing the Communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia--wrote instead about people and human relations. The selection presented here contains philosophical reflections as well as practical advice for his wife and sons, bearing witness to both his attitude towards others and to the period in which he lived. Similar to Vaclav Havel's Letters to Olga, Simecka's LETTERS FROM PRISON give us a glimpse into the difficult struggle undertaken by Czechoslovak dissidents in opposition to a Soviet-style regime that was considered the most hard-line in Eastern Europe.

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About the Author:

Milan Simecka was born in 1930 in the Czech town of Novy Bohumin. Orphaned by the war, he attended university in Brno on a state stipendium, studying Russian and Czech literature. He moved to Bratislava in 1954 where he taught at the university and then the School of Performing Arts. After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Simecka was dismissed from the university and his life became devoted to dissident activities and trying to maintain an independent culture. During the years of Soviet occupation he was prolific in having his articles and essays translated and published abroad. After the revolution in 1989 he headed the team of Vaclav Havel's presidential advisors, and was given special responsibility for Czech-Slovak relations. He remained at this post until his death in September 1990.

Review:

I know how important writing letters can be for a prisoner. Frequently the texts have a particular intrinsic authenticity. -- Vaclav Havel

Milan Simecka's philosophical prison letters belong with the best of the genre. -- Central European Review

Milan Simecka’s Letters from Prison is a moving example of the epistolary form at its finest. -- The Prague Post

Simecka was one of the great figures in modern Czech and Slovak history ... a man of courage and of wisdom. -- H. Gordon Skilling

Tolerance, Simecka teaches, offers its own kind of freedom — a lesson for writers and nations alike. -- Rain Taxi

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