Customer Reviews

Prague in Black and Gold: Scenes from the Life of a European City

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have just returned from my first trip Prague and Ostrava. The history of the region is a bit confusing to us who are not familiar with this part of the world. This is an important part of the world, after all the genesis of the First World War is connected to the Bohemian Prince who was also a successor to the Habsburg throne.

Professor Demetz provides a comprehensive background to the history of the country, the intrigues and policitical fights that went on this part of the world. He provides a lively discussion of a serious subject. Prague went through a great number of battles and the people here were well involved with many events that rocked the European politics and religion.

Demetz is from Prague where he grew up and was a victim of anti-semitic tide that swept across Europe. This makes his story so human. This is not a dispassionate history book. I recommend this book to you, if are interested to know a bit more about the Czech republic and its people.

I started reading in preparation for long anticipated trip to Prague. I gave up about half way through before I was completely cured of my desire to visit the magic city. Demetz's goal is to demystify "Praga Magica" and he succeeds. This isn't to say that the book isn't entertaining, interesting and often fascinating, but you'd better bone up on the Reformation, Counter Reformation and various wars of Austrian Succession, or you'll find some chapters as dense and confusing as the labrynthian streets of the Old Town. And the long Latin and Czech citations don't help. To be on he Charles Bridge as night falls and sdee all the steeples and turrets of Prague in their golden aura is too marvelous a rush. Skip Prague in Black and Gold until you come back. It will deepen your appreciation of the magic you have experienced.

Despite its heft, discursive style, and lack of illustrations, read this before you visit Prague. You will understand more of the magic of this wonderful city, and how its one thousand years of history made it the special place it is. Your bus tour may take you to the Old Jewish Burial Ground, the Municipal House, the opera house, the castle, the cathedral, the simple church where Jan Huys preached. This book will give meaning to these sights. The only book I can think to compare this to, in its depth, understanding of European history, and understanding of geography, is Rebecca West's Black Lamb, Grey Falcon.

As with some of the other reviewers, I am glad I read this AFTER I visited Prague. It is best not read cover to cover, but use the index to read about the things you want to learn more about. Otherwise, you will be overwhelmed by personal names and places in a language most of us are unaccustomed to. Don't lie to me & tell me you will remember it all! (smile). (Unless you are an expert in Slavic languages).

Professor Demetz is especially strong in exploring the religious history of the city. I wondered how he could be so erudite in explaining both the Hussite revolt against Catholicism and Rabbi Loew's conflict with the Jewish establishment. He explained in his beautiful, elegiac afterword that his father's family was Christian; his mother's, Jewish. He spent time in a Nazi labor camp for half-Jews. My suggestion would be to read the afterword first. The bibliography is also very helpful, with rather blunt appraisals of cited works.

All those people who say that you "must" read this before visiting Prague are at least a little dishonest--I'll bet that they only half-read the book or just skimmed through it and now feel empowered to tell us all how important it was to their experience. Well, don't you believe them! People will always claim to have read Proust when they haven't... Nonetheless, if you've got a good head for numbers and a lot of time on your hands, then go ahead and read this. Interesting though it is to learn about all the turmoil this tiny piece of land has been through over centuries, this is a serious history book that will not please the casual browser. That said, it is a worthy effort; way too many tourists are coming to Prague these days, and someone oughta have told them what a bloody hellhole it was long ago.

As other reviewers have noted, this book is difficult to peg and, sometimes, to follow. As a (sort of) history book written by a literature professor, this is not surprising. The subtitle, "Scenes from the Life", is apt; while there are plenty of anecdotal gems, it doesn't provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of the city's history nor put it into a larger context. The strongest parts are those describing the occasional cooperations, but more frequent tensions, between Prague's Germans, Czechs, and Jews. Often billed as a tourist's introduction to the city, Demetz spends long sections on some pretty arcane literary history without really telling the layperson why he should care. There is an irony here too, since the last section is a 10-page, somewhat self-indulgent, gripe about how the city has been ruined, largely by tourists. If you are planning a trip to Prague and want to know more about the city, I think you can do better.

To write a history text which is so broad in definition but so inaccessible to the casual reader makes this a pretentious read. As a historian, there is much that is up for debate in his first three chapters - and that is not always clear. And some of his points, (eg. that the root of Slav is from the word "sklavenoi", meaning slave) has long been out of vogue among Slavic historians. Parts are fun to read, but I believe the greatness of the text is hyperbolic.

Evocative and mesmerizing. This is for lovers of history who may be lightly informed on the Austro-Hungarian empire and its role in world events, especially the two World Wars. Be sure to have maps with you as you read this delightful book.

Very solid chronicle of the history of Prague. Slightly monotonous at times, but each chapter works to capture the true essence and motivations behind each era of central Europe's past.