{"title":"Vladimir Holan","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"selected-poems-book-vladimir-holan-9780140421347","title":"Selected Poems","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49931638964497,"sku":"GOR003012922","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50878182883601,"sku":"GOR004882882","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51505408639249,"sku":"GOR001857253","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0140421343.jpg?v=1751164489"},{"product_id":"dolour-book-vladimir-holan-9781845494735","title":"Dolour","description":"Reading Dolour is like looking into the most private depths of Holan's soul. Some of his poems are so simple that they are almost child-like; some are cruel and harsh, while others border on pornography. One can easily call him a wordsmith - he uses words as thoughts to convey his every written nuance. Sometimes, he purposefully chooses archaic and totally obsolete Czech words, which are virtually untranslatable. He was obsessed with women and sex, as well as his belief in God, Satan, Hell and Heaven. Both his sensuality and spirituality appear in most of his works and his intensity of emotion is almost tangible. Yet, he was so sentimental that he saw romance in every situation - even a glimpse of a woman's face in a passing train or encountering a woman in an elevator, or wondering what book that girl in a tram was reading. When the Communist Party took over Czechoslovakia, Holan was utterly devastated by their totalitarian regime, but his polemic was but a grain of sand in the oyster of hope. Reading Dolour is an experience you will never forget","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51058938151185,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51058940936465,"sku":"NIN9781845494735","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51941233623313,"sku":"GOR014470028","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1845494733.jpg?v=1750995421"},{"product_id":"first-testament-book-vladimir-holan-9781845490478","title":"The First Testament","description":"2005 marks the centenary anniversary of the birth in Prague of Vladimir Holan (1905-1980). He was one of the great poets of his time, yet is almost unknown to the English-speaking literary world. In the darkest part of the history of his country, he created such graphic poetry, with expressions and imagery so deep and rich, that the two apocalyptic poems in this book seem to be a precursor to the angst of the whole world today, as it struggles with the turmoil of terrorism and aggression. Never before published in English, the very title of this book must surely intrigue prospective readers. Does it imply a SECOND testament, or is Holan appealing to our individual spirituality? It is preceded by a short, almost nightmarish poem, with rather dismal overtones. Although both works are rich with graphic imagery, portraying a dark period in Prague's history, we catch glimpses of Holan's irrepressible humour, optimism and love of life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51059164709137,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51059167428881,"sku":"NIN9781845490478","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1845490479.jpg?v=1751314106"},{"product_id":"first-testament-book-vladimir-holan-9781845490300","title":"The First Testament","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51305291219217,"sku":"NIN9781845490300","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1845490304.jpg?v=1751411607"},{"product_id":"narrative-poems-i-book-vladimir-holan-9781845493257","title":"Narrative Poems I","description":"On reading Narrative Poems I, a particular music enters the mind: The echo of a ballad. It doesn't happen by chance. It is the tragic and mysterious ballad Maj by the Czech romantic poet K. H. Macha, that impressed Holan with its characters and its ritornello as a wonderful way of telling stories in the popular style. In 1938, the menace of war made Czech poets react and face the Nazi occupation bravely. Holan, in particular, changed his style to be clearer, to fight, and become the one people knew by heart. So the fight for the freedom went together with being closer to people. This tendency is represented by the three poems of this book: Prvni Testament (The First Testament), Terezka Planetova and Cesta mraku (The Trail of a Cloud). The poems contain reflections of the war, with strong epical elements, with regular strophes and very complicated system of rhyme. And the musical scheme is so powerful, beautiful and clear that it enters our ears like the voice of a stream. Clara Janes","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53223834812689,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53223834845457,"sku":"NIN9781845493257","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781845493257.jpg?v=1773000669"},{"product_id":"yet-there-is-music-book-vladimir-holan-9781845495220","title":"Yet There Is Music","description":"The poems collected in this book, Yet There is Music, are the entirety of Holan's lyrics from the period of 1939-1948. These poems were only published in book form well after that time, because of Holan's poetry being listed in the communist index of forbidden books. For Holan, the lyrics were always a realm of questioning the sense of human existence and the mystery of human existence in the world. His consciousness of the instability of the godless world, the impossibility of anchoring human existence, the ambiguity and delusiveness of all phenomena that surround humans, all led Holan to state: we come from ruins, with love besmeared . His poetry reveals the drama of a poet led by a time of crises and wars into the abyss of human existence: the picture that is not an abyss here \/ can't be a sign. The dread of the void, however, is accompanied, even if only slightly, by a faith in discovering a purposeful life. There are verses in which Holan uses the image of light appearing in the midst of shadows, as if the way towards a fuller, deeper, more complete humanity was not lost forever: O life - yes, you  Still only you. \/ You, in a friendly conversation and a kindly shaken hand, \/ you, in the deeds of good will because of heart's hope .","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53493780218129,"sku":"NIN9781845495220","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781845495220.jpg?v=1777806361"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-vladimir-holan.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}