Working Knowledge
Published on 30. October 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-1-901285-73-4 (ISBN)
Description
Over the course of one hundred brief and evanescent texts, Kral brings together, as his compatriot Milan Kundera writes in his introduction, "this strange and beautiful existential encyclopaedia of the everyday". Whether describing twilight, a toothpick, the ritual of shaving or the act of going upstairs, his gaze is ingenuous, humble, and amazed. Mute objects, fleeting gestures, changeless passions: Kral forces us to look at them anew. Each limpid, graceful essay is a brief voyage of discovery in which lowly objects and everyday actions, so often unobserved, are transfigured. Petr Kral has the unerring ability to perceive, to catch the commonplace by surprise and with the unsettling clarity see beyond the everyday to the fabric of life beneath.
Reviews / Votes
It is our blindness, existential blindness which makes the world around us so mysterious. In his discreet way, Petr Kral lifts the veil -- Milan Kundera With Kral's virtuosic ability to get at the meat of a thing [...] we're treated to a sober and bittersweet and painfully observant volume -- Jeff Waxman * Review of Contemporary Fiction * Elegant and incisive meditations [...] Kral hints at the metaphysical ramifications of whatever he comes across -- John Taylor * Times Literary Supplement *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-901285-73-4 (9781901285734)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Petr Kral, born in Prague in 1941, was a leading member of the Czech surrealist movement, studied cinema and moved to Paris in 1968. A poet, essayist and screenwriter, he has lived in Prague since 2006. His books Working Knowledge (2008) and In Search of the Essence of Place (2012) are also published by Pushkin Press.