Books in Czech
Voyage to a Distant Dream
(Putování za dalekým snem)
Publishing House: Togga
http://www.kosmas.cz/knihy/214923/putovani-za-dalekym-snem/
Year of Publishing: 2016
hard cover, 400 pages, 80 photos
ISBN 978-80-7476-092-1
Preface
A well-known Czech singer and song writer in the sixties, Karel Kryl, composed an emotional song called My Generation. If you do not belong to this generation, you might be surprised by diversity of a life story from times which must seem so distant to you. Since early childhood days, the main character of this novel Ernestine (Arnoštka in Czech) nourishes some ideas how she would like to spend her life. These ideas are changing during the time only a little. She takes everything life has to offer, and at the same time succeeds to comply with the adage “live and let live”. She has to get through a series of crises and adventures, personal and historical twists. If you do belong to her generation, you might feel close to her and sympathize with her.
In her youth, Ernestine could not imagine living in countries like Angola, Cuba or India nor a possibility of getting acquainted with so many other countries. However, she always liked meeting people from various social classes and found a lot of friends among them. Later on, during extensive travels, she realized that the vast majority of people, regardless of their religion and colour of the skin, shared identical dreams with her. Whilst voyaging to her distant dreams she found out that the ideas of a happy life are very similar. Therefore also photos in the novel are selected in a way to show the external diversity of people whom Ernestine met - in contrast to their similar dreams and desires.
The book is a novel, but parts of it are a travelogue novel. It offers excursions into a history of exotic countries and a look into some individual fates of their inhabitants. It also contains reflections and journal entries of the main character. The flow of ideas and narrative is interspersed with dialogues, memories and insights into the future. The action takes place in about sixty years and shows a circle of one life.
The novel contains photos of people from various nations.
It was a very difficult decision for me which photos should be selected. I believe that in the end, the choice in the book is representative enough, however, some of my favourite photos did not make it to the final. I could not resist and made out of them a small mosaique so that they could please my readers at least on the webpage.
Contents
I. The World of Childhood
II. From the Village to the City
III. At the Crossroads
IV. The Indian Adventure
V. Plaisir d´amour
VI. Search
VII. The End of Bohemians
VIII. Journey to Africa
IX. Family Intermezzo in the Czechlands
X. Habanos, Cuba Libre, La Revolución
XI. Stormy Years
XII. What will happen next?
XIII. Travels with Frederic
XIV. Adventurers on the Road
XV. On the Indian Subcontinent
XVI. In the Maelstrom of Globalization
XVII. Stand by Me
XVIII. Clouds are Gathering over Nashik
XIX. From the Pyramids to the Geishas
XX. From Islam to Buddhism
XXI. India, a Country of Eternal Surprises
XXII. Full Circle
List of the photographs
Photographs actually published in the novel are only illustrative - they mostly show people from various countries in interesting situations. They are not directly related to the story, however, they originate from the countries mentioned in the book, and are timewise connected with the period of the relevant chapter.
Prague in the sixties – frontispiece 2-3
I. Village in the Czech-Moravian Highlands 10
II. Prague in the sixties 27, 30, 35
III. West Berlin (Brandenburg Gate) 40
West Berlin (Berlin Wall) 45
West Berlin 48, 49
IV. Afghanistan (Hindukush) 57
Afghanistan (Kabul) 64
Pakistan (Lahore) 71
Pakistan (Karachi) 76
V. Romania (Moldavia) 83, 86, 87, 90
VI. Odessa 97
Odessa (Potemkin Stairs) 100
VII. Sweden 109
Norway 114, 115
VIII. Island of St. Thomas and Prince 123
Angola 128, 135, 140
IX. Armenia 151, 154
X. Cuba (Havana) 161, 166, 175
XI. New York 184, 191, 194, 198, 199
XII. Hong Kong 204, 211, 216, 221
XIII. French Polynesia (Bora Bora) 228
Hawaii (Oahu) 237
French Polynesia (Moorea) 244
XIV. Morocco (Atlas Mountains) 253
Morocco (Marrakesh) 256, 263
XV. India (Mumbai) 270
India (Agra) 275
India (Jaipur) 278
India (Nashik) 279
XVI. Germany (Hamburg) 287
Great Britain (Edinburgh) 290
Great Britain (Haworth Yorkshire) 295
XVII. Brazil (Amazon) 300
Brazil (Manaus) 303
XVIII. Vietnam (Mekong River) 308
Vietnam (Hanoi) 316
Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) 317
XIX. Egypt (Cairo) 325
Japan (Miyajima) 332
Japan (Tokyo) 339
China (Shanghai) 346
China (Guilin) 353
XX. Sri Lanka (Pinnawala) 358
Sri Lanka (Kandy) 361
XXI. India (wedding, State of Maharashtra) 368
India (festivity Dussehra, Nashik) 375
India (thread ceremony of a Brahmin boy) 380
India (wedding, State of Kerala) 385
XXII. Nepal (Kathmandu) 389
Tanzania (Ngorongoro Conservation Area) 394–395
Interview with the author about her life was transmitted by Czech Radio Ostrava in June 2016.
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October 2019
More than 3 years are gone since The Voyage to a Distant Dream was published. It is a pleasure for me to say that most of the books are sold out. I am happy that the novel found its place in the exhibitions and in the households of my friends. As always the books remain after traveling my second great passion.
