About the Book
An intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition, and self-discovery
Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Procházka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country’s first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he’s dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father’s sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions.
Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka?
Format: ebook (288 pages) Publisher: Little, Brown
Publication date: 9th March 2017 Genre: Science Fiction
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My Review
Spaceman of Bohemia is a space adventure, chronicle of recent Czech history and love story all rolled into one.
Blasted into space to investigate a purple dust cloud christened Chopra, like Robinson Crusoe, Jakub detects signs of his strange companion before his actual encounter. But is this entity a product of space madness, Jakub’s infected tooth or a much more significant moment for mankind? Whichever it is, the encounter is a vehicle for Jakub to revisit the events of his youth, notably the trauma of discovering his father’s chequered history and a meeting that will reverberate in future years. ‘When my father the hero was lost, my father the nation’s villain came to light.’
Jakub’s belief that he is the biological carrier of his father’s curse – ‘It must rest within my bowels like a tapeworm’ – and must make amends for it is the catalyst for his resolution to undertake the dangerous space mission, so important for the pride of his fledgling nation.
A review would not be complete without mentioning the brutally honest depiction of the relationship between Jakub and Lenka that is both believable and ultimately moving. The author’s writing style grew on me and some of his metaphors are very imaginative: ‘Comets are the universe’s dumpster divers, vagrants pushing their carts of intergalactic junk tirelessly over the centuries.’ Others occasionally less so. His descriptions of sights, sounds and particularly smells are very evocative. A very impressive first novel.
I received a review copy courtesy of Little, Brown via NetGalley.
Post review note: A film version of the book entitled Spaceman starring Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan was released in 2004.
In three words: Quirky, imaginative, moving
Try something similar: The Things We Learn When We’re Dead by Charlie Laidlaw
About the Author
Jaroslav Kalfař was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic, and emigrated to the United States at the age of fifteen, speaking little to no English at that time but learning it by watching Cartoon Network. His debut novel, Spaceman of Bohemia, was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, The Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and a nominee for the Dublin Literary Award, and has been published in fourteen languages.
Jaroslav lives in Brooklyn where he splits his time between writing novels and screenplays, and devouring any book he can get his hands on, especially books that play with genre expectations and reflect the strangest parts of life which can be found both in the mundane and the extraordinary. He travels back to the Czech Republic as often as possible to reconnect with his family, his language, his culture and history.
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