''The Miracle Game'' (originally ''Mirákl'') is a
Czech novel by
Josef Škvorecký published in 1972 by
Sixty Eight Publishers in
Toronto, Canada. It was translated into English in 1990 by Paul Wilson, and according to ''
The Times'' is Skvorecky's masterpiece. It was his response to
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in
the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...
events of 1968
Czechoslovakia. and contains unflattering references to real people, Future Czech President
Václav Havel becomes "the world-famous playwright Hejl", the writer
Bohumil Hrabal
Bohumil Hrabal (; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century.
Early life
Hrabal was born in Židenice (suburb of Brno) on 28 March 1914, in what was then the province ...
appears as the "gifted non-party novelist Nabal".
[from ''Publishers Weekly'']
Retrieved 10th Aug 2014.
Plot introduction
In a Bohemian church in 1948 an apparent miracle is denounced as a hoax by the
Communist party. Danny Smiricky (the hero of Škvorecký's 1977 novel ''The Engineer of Human Souls'' who also appeared in the previous novel "The Cowards")
was present at the church but slept through the event. Twenty years later the case is re-examined during the Prague Spring.
[
]
References
External links
Books of The Times; Tricks, Miracles and Consequences
by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, '' New York Times'', Published: February 7, 1991.
Kirkus Reviews
1972 Czech novels
Novels set in Czechoslovakia
Fiction set in 1948
Fiction set in 1968
Prague Spring
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