Reviews for Prague: A Cultural and Literary History

The average rating for Prague: A Cultural and Literary History based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-06-25 00:00:00 Scott Mcdonald First things first, to this press and the acquirer of this series: Fire your copyeditor and your QA person (if you actually have one--there's no evidence for their existence in this book). The text was distractingly error-ridden and this contributed to my overall star rating. Sure, I'm an editor and I'm attuned to it, but you should be striving to a higher level of perfection than this for a series. Come on. I did learn from this book. I feel that it deepened certain aspects of my visit to Prague. If you have time in the city to really explore it, I think this is a valuable addition to your explorations. But it is not, as other reviews have suggested, really a guidebook, because it doesn't do much in the way of guiding you around the city. Certainly its organization sets it up as an academic tome and not a companion as you make your way around Prague. So if the other book you brought is Frommer's--I wouldn't buy this. If you really care about getting deeper into the Prague psyche and don't mind the occasional reach for a theory digression common to professors, pick this up.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-03-21 00:00:00 Bill Donaldson The lens of how this book is looking at Prague history and culture is wonderful--what other book on a city would outline themes such as defenestration, automaton, and martyrdom when describing the history and sites of a city? It is a great read of Prague through its art and literature as well. However, I am a bit perplexed by the sudden pessimism in the last chapter, as if Prague, once it is no longer a perpetually oppressed nation, somehow loses its identity. Still, wonderful read.