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The Xenophobe's Guide
The Xenophobe's Guide to the Czechs
All roads lead to Czechia. The Czechs seem to believe that the Earth is the center of the Universe, Europe is the centre of the Earth, and Czechia is at the centre of Europe. Reality Czechs. The ability to put up with a situation adjusting as needs must has been elevated to an art form. Chuckling Czechs. Czech humor is distinguished by mad screams, breast and thigh slapping, and uncontrollable braying. Top of the Czech list. The Czechs would like to be seen as the cauldron in which all that's good from West and East melts; and if not the best, then at least one of the top nations in the world.
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 15, 2017
I am Czech, so I was reading this book only to see what it would say about us (you know, because I am really obsessed with our image). The worst thing about this book is that most of it is true even though you really can't apply it on everybody (for exemple, I hate the taste of beer and cant tell jokes properly).
But not being able to tell jokes is actually no handicap. Telling jokes is too staged for most of the Czechs. It's more imporant to be able to make amusing, ironic or sometimes caustic comments about any situation (even the most unfortunate one – you should have seen the super speed with which jokes about about horrid catastrophes spread around, because the Czechs are keen on another telling: what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger).
Then, there is another type of humor that Czech often use and it wasn't mentioned in the book. The book said that the Czechs were cunning and I suppose that this connects to it: its a type of humor so subtle you never know when the person is serious and when he's picking on you. That other nationalities have a hard time understanding it is quite clear when for exemple the american media are interviewing Jaromír Jágr (hockey player if you don't know). He uses this type of humor a lot and the interviewers are sweating their way through.
Apparently I am a very typical Czech since most of the things in the book not only don't seem one bit weird to me, but I was even surprised that it's so unusual that they mentioned it. For exemple the mushroom picking or the slippers or hiking. I knew that the cottages are unusual and that nobody (including some of the Czechs) really knows what ruchadlo is and how to pronounce "ř", but I was not aware there is anything weird about forests being opened to the public.
But not being able to tell jokes is actually no handicap. Telling jokes is too staged for most of the Czechs. It's more imporant to be able to make amusing, ironic or sometimes caustic comments about any situation (even the most unfortunate one – you should have seen the super speed with which jokes about about horrid catastrophes spread around, because the Czechs are keen on another telling: what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger).
Then, there is another type of humor that Czech often use and it wasn't mentioned in the book. The book said that the Czechs were cunning and I suppose that this connects to it: its a type of humor so subtle you never know when the person is serious and when he's picking on you. That other nationalities have a hard time understanding it is quite clear when for exemple the american media are interviewing Jaromír Jágr (hockey player if you don't know). He uses this type of humor a lot and the interviewers are sweating their way through.
Apparently I am a very typical Czech since most of the things in the book not only don't seem one bit weird to me, but I was even surprised that it's so unusual that they mentioned it. For exemple the mushroom picking or the slippers or hiking. I knew that the cottages are unusual and that nobody (including some of the Czechs) really knows what ruchadlo is and how to pronounce "ř", but I was not aware there is anything weird about forests being opened to the public.
August 14, 2016
I had almost no idea about the typical (self)-image of the Czech Republic / Czechoslovakia except for stodgy food, Prague as a holiday / party destination, and a reputation for very beautiful women including a high number of supermodels. The book hasn't clarified things as much as some titles in this series. Perhaps because it's too much in a vacuum and didn't say enough about ways in which Czechs and their neighbours think of themselves as similar to and different from each other. I enjoy these as fun trashy reads, but it's also interesting to learn to spot when novelists and filmmakers from a region are stereotyping, or obviously counter-stereotyping, their fellow countrymen and/or neighbouring nationalities.
The portrait here is of a casually-dresser joker not too fond of work. (The Good Soldier Svejk is a kind of national hero or emblem.) There is the trait combination common to many of the East European Guides which probably sounds contradictory to the average Brit: prone to complaining in conversation, yet also stoic and enduring. (I see it as the complaints aired being the tip of the iceberg, simply what's needed to get by.) There are hints of a scruffier version of a Scandinavian country: quite modest families commonly having country cottages; a past in which the country had a higher standard of living and national satisfaction than surrounding countries, which it wants to return to; that it's notably atheistic. Curiously this last is never contrasted with the high level of religiosity in neighbouring Poland, so it left me slightly sceptical. And one of the more notable contradictions is that whilst they have traditionally, allegedly, been a prudish nation, they also have about 30 different words for having sex, depending on the mood, duration, the relationship of the parties etc. Most of those cited also have no written vowels.
The portrait here is of a casually-dresser joker not too fond of work. (The Good Soldier Svejk is a kind of national hero or emblem.) There is the trait combination common to many of the East European Guides which probably sounds contradictory to the average Brit: prone to complaining in conversation, yet also stoic and enduring. (I see it as the complaints aired being the tip of the iceberg, simply what's needed to get by.) There are hints of a scruffier version of a Scandinavian country: quite modest families commonly having country cottages; a past in which the country had a higher standard of living and national satisfaction than surrounding countries, which it wants to return to; that it's notably atheistic. Curiously this last is never contrasted with the high level of religiosity in neighbouring Poland, so it left me slightly sceptical. And one of the more notable contradictions is that whilst they have traditionally, allegedly, been a prudish nation, they also have about 30 different words for having sex, depending on the mood, duration, the relationship of the parties etc. Most of those cited also have no written vowels.
July 17, 2016
As a born-and-bred Czech, I found the book quite informative and funny. I learned quite a few things and, and there are some fantastic insights.
However, I was surprised by how much information in the book is plain wrong, how many inaccuracies there were, and how much stuff was true maybe 20+ years ago, although it was first released in 2008. For example, Czechs attend dancing classes in the second year of high school, not the last, celebrating name days is not a bigger deal than celebrating birthdays, the word "robot" was coined not by Karel Čapek, but his brother Josef, the word "brk" is never used to mean "penis", and many others.
Generally, I recommend this book to native Czechs who want to gain a new perspective on their country. Also, foreigners living or thinking of living in the Czech Republic will certainly find the book useful, but I suppose it goes without saying you need to take such books with a grain of salt.
However, I was surprised by how much information in the book is plain wrong, how many inaccuracies there were, and how much stuff was true maybe 20+ years ago, although it was first released in 2008. For example, Czechs attend dancing classes in the second year of high school, not the last, celebrating name days is not a bigger deal than celebrating birthdays, the word "robot" was coined not by Karel Čapek, but his brother Josef, the word "brk" is never used to mean "penis", and many others.
Generally, I recommend this book to native Czechs who want to gain a new perspective on their country. Also, foreigners living or thinking of living in the Czech Republic will certainly find the book useful, but I suppose it goes without saying you need to take such books with a grain of salt.
August 17, 2015
The Czechs gave the world one invention (the ruchadlo) and nobody knows what it's for; one 'Czech' writer (Franz Kafka) who wasn't a Czech; one national hero (the Good Soldier Švejk) who never existed; one artifical word (robot); and one unpronounceable letter (ř). The Czechs therefore are the number ONE nation.
June 11, 2019
I really like how each book is written by the members of the given nation. I can say that the Czech guide is spot on, not really funny, but gives a good idea about the Czechs. Sadly, you get also Czech racism towards the Romani population in the package. While the majority of the book keeps its light tone and uses expressions like "Czechs think that", "Czechs view X as", the Romani segment just repeats stereotypes and a false statement that it is not "allowed" to count Romani people in Czech Republic due to political correctness. That is not true, we simply do not count any ethnicity. The voluntary self-identification by ethnicity in the public census is the only official channel you get a count of any ethnicity.
May 4, 2025
Xenophobe's Guide to the bourgeois Czech from the turn of the century
I expected a self-deprecating humor that is deeply embedded in Czech nature. And was disappointed by a close minded view of small town Czech figures, without any grasp in reality.
Was it annoying?
-Yes.
Was it annoying to me just because I am a Czech?
- Can't give another point of view, but Czech spirits were missing from the text and (unfortunately proving the point of the book) we are better than that!
Why should I read it?
- Maybe, if you want to write or film something like The Office about Czechs. But to warn you, Czech version of the series was made and didn't work for the targeted audience.
I expected a self-deprecating humor that is deeply embedded in Czech nature. And was disappointed by a close minded view of small town Czech figures, without any grasp in reality.
Was it annoying?
-Yes.
Was it annoying to me just because I am a Czech?
- Can't give another point of view, but Czech spirits were missing from the text and (unfortunately proving the point of the book) we are better than that!
Why should I read it?
- Maybe, if you want to write or film something like The Office about Czechs. But to warn you, Czech version of the series was made and didn't work for the targeted audience.
July 11, 2013
For an outsider, the Czech people is a curious bunch: they always seem at the very least bothered by something, some trams are known to harbor the lightest fingers in the world - and the rather impressive countermeasure is a "beware of the pickpockets" sign - and they have an endless appreciation for pork-derived products as well as for beer.
This book, although extremely fun to read, is full of details that will make you understand them: how they "work", how they think and how to approach them.
Definitely a must if you plan on staying more than two weeks in Czechia.
This book, although extremely fun to read, is full of details that will make you understand them: how they "work", how they think and how to approach them.
Definitely a must if you plan on staying more than two weeks in Czechia.
Read
July 13, 2010This was an excellent overview of the Czechs and gave me more insight into my two Czech students better. I began to read it while on a study trip with these two and their classmates from Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Mexico, and Kenya. It is a funny read and I will look up the Xenophobe's Guides to other societies in the future.
July 3, 2011
Martina got this book for me to read before coming to the Czech Republic, and I read it on the plane ride here. This review is being written from the Czech Republic, and I have to say that most of the book is quite true (very few things are exaggerated- they really do have weekend cottages, they really collect their own mushrooms, they seriously love their beer, etc.)
November 3, 2008
Not quite in the same class as "The Czech's in a Nutshell" but an interesting and funny little book. Tramping was a new one on me...
March 9, 2013
I read other Xenophobe's guide which I liked more... Thought this one was too acid in an attempt to be funny. I didn't really like it and felt in a hurry to finish it.
Read
August 30, 2016Very funny, nice and true book :)
April 12, 2021
You can tell this was published in 2008. I didn't find it particularly funny or, in places, that accurate.
There were a lot of moments that made me go "yikes".
If anything, it just reminded me of how racist, sexist and homophobic people from the CR can be (or were, back in 2008... is it better now? who knows).
There were a lot of moments that made me go "yikes".
If anything, it just reminded me of how racist, sexist and homophobic people from the CR can be (or were, back in 2008... is it better now? who knows).
March 23, 2022
The Xenophobe’s Guides are all quite amusing. They are dangerous because they go down easy and leave you imagining you are now intimately familiar with a national character. There isn’t really such a thing at all, of course, and besides you are not now familiar with it anyway. But you’ll probably want to visit and make some acquaintances.
June 2, 2018
Another in this irreverent series. Funny and somewhat true based on the characteristics I have seen in Czechs. Sometimes the authors try too hard to make a self-deprecating joke. Informative and entertaining, but you’re making a mistake if you regard this book as the last word on the Czechs.
October 13, 2022
Tongue in cheek but funny
Drawing out the absurd in Czech life, this short guide is amusing and insightful. Addressing the national character of this shall and intriguing state, it is an interesting view of the centre of Europe
Drawing out the absurd in Czech life, this short guide is amusing and insightful. Addressing the national character of this shall and intriguing state, it is an interesting view of the centre of Europe
February 9, 2019
a few inaccuracies or things downright wrong, but otherwise ok
July 22, 2021
Love reading Xenophobe's Guides. There's a mixture of history, comedy and a lot of eye-rolling information in a small package.
August 9, 2023
Quite a cute book of mostly true information on the Czechs, written in a full-of-shit manner xD
October 5, 2024
This was the most hilarious book I've ever read LMAOOOO I love it and it's very much true
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May 3, 2025These little books are mostly just fine as introductions to stereotypes, but I'm glad I read several or it would look like I just really had it out for the Poles.
March 12, 2019
Cute introduction for someone living at Prague.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews