Josef Nesvadba

Josef Nesvadba (June 19 1926 Prague, Czechoslovakia – April 26 2005 Prague) was a Czech science fiction writer, the best known from the 1960es generation and translated also in the West.

Nesvadba had a degree in psychiatry, he was a pioneer of group psychotherapy in Czechoslovakia.

He originally translated poetry from English and wrote several theatrical plays as a student at the turn of 1940-50es; towards the end of the decade he started to write short stories, his interest being satirical SF.

As befitting his background, psychiatry is often a theme in his SF. These tend to revolve around stories of human weakness, divided personalities, and so forth. However the tendency was often toward satire and irony. As with much Czech fiction the humor tends to be dark. In "Vampires Ltd" cars run on blood. In "Tomorrow I'll Wake up and Scald Myself with Tea" film he scripted, issues of causality and Hitler crop up. He also directed satirical barbs at the Communist government. He had little faith in the grandiose dreams of Communism, but overall agreed with a Marxist analysis of things.

Starting in the 1970s he began to move away from science fiction. From a commercial perspective this did not work well, but in retrospect was likely inevitable. This is because his main interests are slightly divergent from Western views of science fiction.

Some of his stories were bases to movies (e.g. "Death of Tarzan", "The Half-wit of Xeenemunde", "Vampires, Ltd", "Tomorrow I'll wake up and scald myself with tea"), he also worked on several TV and radio serials.

Works

(partial list)

Early theatrical plays

* "Výprava do oceánie"
* "Ocelový kruh"
* "Ráno"
* "Tři podpisy"

Story collections

* "Tarzanova smrt" ("Tarzan's Death") – 1958
* "Einsteinův mozek" ("Einstein's Brain") – 1960
* "Výprava opačným směrem" ("Expedition in the Opposite Direction") – 1962

Later selections were "Výpravy opačným směrem" ("Expeditions in the Opposite Direction", 1976) and almost complete "Einsteinův mozek a jiné povídky" ("Einstein's Brain and Other Stories", 1987). The English translations were "Vampires Ltd." (Prague 1964) and "In the Footsteps of the Abominable Snowman" (UK 1970; in US 1971 as "The Lost Face").

Novels

* "Dialog s doktorem Dongem" ("Dialogue with Dr. Dong") – 1964
* "Bludy Erika N." ("Delusions of Erik N.") – 1974
* "Tajná zpráva z Prahy" ("Secret News from Prague") – 1978; uncensored original version in 1991 as "První zpráva z Prahy" ("The First News from Prague")
* "Minehava podruhé" ("Minehava for the Second Time") – 1981
* "Hledám za manžela muže" ("I Want a Man for My Husband") – 1986
* "Peklo Beneš" ("Beneš Hell") – 2002

ee also

*Czech science fiction and fantasy

External links

* [http://home.sprynet.com/~awhit/nesvadba.htm The Josef Nesvadba Page]
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