Dream of my father – Dream of me

These brilliant autobiographical prose pieces, which launched the author into the literary scene of the 1960s when he was not yet thirty, bring forth images of childhood, adolescence, and the first years of adulthood from his memories. They portray a fragile man searching for his place in the world, tormented by passions and doubting his ability to love. Dream about my father is the author's debut. Its central tragicomic plot revolves around a childhood deception involving a school report book. Young Karolek's father was tortured to death in Terezín, and his mother later remarried. It is precisely the relationship with his mother, the dramatic clashes with her, the escapes from the grip of her love, and the subsequent returns that form the core of Karolek's narrative. The follow-up novella, Dream about me, presents the harrowing confession of a man faced with infidelity. The effort to understand his relationship with his own wife (much like his earlier relationship with his mother) is an attempt to understand the mystery of life and death. The brutally open confession of the second prose piece is balanced by the first text, which, thanks to its child's perspective and merciful distance, introduces charming humour alongside its cast of 'pabitel' storytellers, 'seducers', and heroes. After more than twenty years, these prose works are being released in their third edition with an afterword by the author.

Book details:
Author: Karol Sidon
Year of publication: 2016
ISBN: 978-80-747-0137-5
Number of pages: 408