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Disturbing The Peace: A Conversation wiith Karel Hvizdala
Tells about his political and theatrical work, and his view of recent events in Eastern Europe
228 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
38 people are currently reading
955 people want to read
About the author
Václav Havel
268 books495 followersVáclav Havel was a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). He wrote over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally. He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the freedom medal of the Four Freedoms Award, and the Ambassador of Conscience Award. He was also voted 4th in Prospect Magazine's 2005 global poll of the world's top 100 intellectuals. He was a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.
Beginning in the 1960s, his work turned to focus on the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became increasingly active. In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto 'Charter 77' brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment. The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. In this role he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy. His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.
Beginning in the 1960s, his work turned to focus on the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became increasingly active. In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto 'Charter 77' brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment. The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. In this role he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy. His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
September 9, 2008
I most likely would never have read this book if it hadn't been given to me as a gift. I have never seen or read any of Havel's plays, have spent all of 3 days in the Czech Republic, and knew of the Prague Spring primarily through Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being and Stoppard's Rock and Roll--I basically have no strong connection to Havel and had never even heard of this book.
Disturbing the Peace is, however, quite a wonderful read. Havel, who says so himself at the end of the book, had a pretty entertaining life: Absurdist playwright, political dissenter, prisoner, president. While Havel filled the last role after the book was published, the first three provide quite enough to bring a certain excitement to the work.
Yet the events themselves aren't what makes this book special. Rather, it is Havel's personality that brings the book its uniqueness. While not quite a true autobiography--the book is one long interview between Havel and a friend--Havel is very open about his feelings and thoughts. He comes off as a very good man, one who wasn't bombastic or aggressive, but rather one who stood up for his beliefs and his friends. He actively pursued what was right but was never sanctimonious about it. His humility is quite extensive; I would like to see an American president talk with the same candor about his own foibles as Havel does.
I'm not going to say that book is explosive or exhilarating--there are a number of boring patches. But knowing that such a person like Havel exists and succeeded is inspiring. He wasn't some kind of Ghandi superhero but he still managed to help bring down a repressive regime. You finish reading the book not just wishing there were more Havels in the world but thinking maybe I can do more with my own life.
Disturbing the Peace is, however, quite a wonderful read. Havel, who says so himself at the end of the book, had a pretty entertaining life: Absurdist playwright, political dissenter, prisoner, president. While Havel filled the last role after the book was published, the first three provide quite enough to bring a certain excitement to the work.
Yet the events themselves aren't what makes this book special. Rather, it is Havel's personality that brings the book its uniqueness. While not quite a true autobiography--the book is one long interview between Havel and a friend--Havel is very open about his feelings and thoughts. He comes off as a very good man, one who wasn't bombastic or aggressive, but rather one who stood up for his beliefs and his friends. He actively pursued what was right but was never sanctimonious about it. His humility is quite extensive; I would like to see an American president talk with the same candor about his own foibles as Havel does.
I'm not going to say that book is explosive or exhilarating--there are a number of boring patches. But knowing that such a person like Havel exists and succeeded is inspiring. He wasn't some kind of Ghandi superhero but he still managed to help bring down a repressive regime. You finish reading the book not just wishing there were more Havels in the world but thinking maybe I can do more with my own life.
July 14, 2011
Czech writer Vaclav Havel found a cause he was willing to die for. Disturbing the Peace is his story of how he came to that cause and what happened. (Spoiler: he didn’t die; he became President) In 1975, he writes, “it was time to stop waiting to see what ‘they’ would do and do something myself, compel them for a change to deal with something they hadn’t counted on.” “They” were the totalitarian government of Czechoslovakia. He was arrested in January 1977 and held until May 1977. He was next arrest was in May 1979 and was imprisoned for four years.
Vaclav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia in December 1989, six years after being released from prison. Disturbing the Peace, in his own words, covers his writing and dissident life until age 50. The book is very personal and written in a conversational tone. It is from written and audio taped interviews conducted in 1986.
Havel rejects labels. He does not consider himself a socialist or a Christian. Others have on occasion labeled him an anti-communist and Catholic. He speaks of a higher power. Havel is an intellectual but the book is quite accessible. He believes in collective action and personal responsibility. He reaches the community organizer part of me with his telling of strategic thinking and action as well as doing the right thing without an expectation of immediate benefit. He seeks incremental change.
Havel describes himself quite simply at the top of his website:
We hear the thinking of a person who is part of nonviolent resistance in Czechoslovakia. He was a banned writer in the 1970s but still releasing material outside of the country. A significant player in the Charter 77 movement, Havel put his writing skills to use for social change and betterment. He talks about his plays and being a writer as well as his role (with mixed feelings) in the Writers Union when the government granted and denied publication rights.
In some strange ways, Havel seems to have some affinity or connection with rock ‘n’ roll. Havel identified himself as part of the Beatles generation. 1976 organizing around the arrest of 19 rock musicians was successful and developed into the Charter 77 development. One GR reviewer indicated that Rock ‘n’ Roll: A New Play by Tom Stoppard is a companion book to Havel’s. I’ll let you know if I agree!
Disturbing the Peace takes us through the 60s and Prague Spring, the 70s and the 80s. I was fascinated that we were getting the view of history from the man who would be elected President of the country just three years after the book was being written. I suppose the constant release of “tell all” books about politics and politicians might make this book seem dated. But Havel, in my mind, creates a personal and inside look by focusing on the issues and tactics rather than the personalities. Of course, I lack knowledge of Havel’s plays and other writing as well as the many Czechoslovakian artists he does mention.
The book was originally written in Czech so the English reader is at some disadvantage. My lack of knowledge about Czech history and culture meant there were many opportunities to expand my limited knowledge.
This is another book from the 80s off my parents’ bookshelf. If you want to read only a portion of the book, I strongly recommend the last section, “The Politics of Hope,” as an informative glimpse into the mind of a leader of Czechoslovakia.
Disturbing the Peace is easily available used online.
Vaclav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia in December 1989, six years after being released from prison. Disturbing the Peace, in his own words, covers his writing and dissident life until age 50. The book is very personal and written in a conversational tone. It is from written and audio taped interviews conducted in 1986.
Havel rejects labels. He does not consider himself a socialist or a Christian. Others have on occasion labeled him an anti-communist and Catholic. He speaks of a higher power. Havel is an intellectual but the book is quite accessible. He believes in collective action and personal responsibility. He reaches the community organizer part of me with his telling of strategic thinking and action as well as doing the right thing without an expectation of immediate benefit. He seeks incremental change.
Havel describes himself quite simply at the top of his website:
Writer and Dramatist; One of the first Spokesmen for Charter 77; Leading Figure of the Velvet Revolution of 1989; Last President of Czechoslovakia; and First President of the Czech Republic. Source: http://www.vaclavhavel.cz/index.php?s...
We hear the thinking of a person who is part of nonviolent resistance in Czechoslovakia. He was a banned writer in the 1970s but still releasing material outside of the country. A significant player in the Charter 77 movement, Havel put his writing skills to use for social change and betterment. He talks about his plays and being a writer as well as his role (with mixed feelings) in the Writers Union when the government granted and denied publication rights.
In some strange ways, Havel seems to have some affinity or connection with rock ‘n’ roll. Havel identified himself as part of the Beatles generation. 1976 organizing around the arrest of 19 rock musicians was successful and developed into the Charter 77 development. One GR reviewer indicated that Rock ‘n’ Roll: A New Play by Tom Stoppard is a companion book to Havel’s. I’ll let you know if I agree!
Disturbing the Peace takes us through the 60s and Prague Spring, the 70s and the 80s. I was fascinated that we were getting the view of history from the man who would be elected President of the country just three years after the book was being written. I suppose the constant release of “tell all” books about politics and politicians might make this book seem dated. But Havel, in my mind, creates a personal and inside look by focusing on the issues and tactics rather than the personalities. Of course, I lack knowledge of Havel’s plays and other writing as well as the many Czechoslovakian artists he does mention.
The book was originally written in Czech so the English reader is at some disadvantage. My lack of knowledge about Czech history and culture meant there were many opportunities to expand my limited knowledge.
This is another book from the 80s off my parents’ bookshelf. If you want to read only a portion of the book, I strongly recommend the last section, “The Politics of Hope,” as an informative glimpse into the mind of a leader of Czechoslovakia.
Disturbing the Peace is easily available used online.
December 23, 2014
This is a pretty stunning historical document. In ’85, Havel started to write responses to questions posed by a fellow writer who was in West Germany, all via underground mail. Havel published it DIY, then it became the first samizdat book to be published in the free Czechoslovakia.
To appreciate Havel’s politics is to understand that he was a literary man as much as a political one. So it’s not surprising that he’s at his best when he synthesizes his the artistic and the political: “Even the toughest truth expressed publicly [in the theater], in front of everyone else, suddenly becomes liberating” (200). On of the best themes he explores here is that an artistic sense of the absurd allows one to maintain a degree of distance necessary to respond politically:
“People often ask me how my ‘preposterous idealism’ goes along with the fact that I write absurd plays. I reply that they are only two sides of the same coin. Without the constantly living and articulated experience of absurdity, there would be no reason to attempt to do something meaningful. And, on the contrary, how can one experience one’s own absurdity if one is not constantly seeking meaning?” (114).
His reflections on hope during dark times is insightful and that much more powerful because as readers, we know that, indeed, Havel’s hope prevailed. His hope partly stems from his own sense of the spiritual. But it also emanates from his faith in civil society: “None of us know all the potentialities that slumber in the spirit of the population, or all the ways in which that population can surprise us when there is the right interplay of events, both visible and invisible (109).
His brave discussion of suicide underscores how intentional of a life he led and how much he lived by hope. “…suicides—in a certain sense—place the worth of life very high: they think that life is too precious a thing to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily, without meaning, without love, without hope. Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren’t in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life” (188).
Ed told me to read this book around 11 years ago. I finally got around to it last winter, and just wrote up this review a year later… Thanks Ed!
To appreciate Havel’s politics is to understand that he was a literary man as much as a political one. So it’s not surprising that he’s at his best when he synthesizes his the artistic and the political: “Even the toughest truth expressed publicly [in the theater], in front of everyone else, suddenly becomes liberating” (200). On of the best themes he explores here is that an artistic sense of the absurd allows one to maintain a degree of distance necessary to respond politically:
“People often ask me how my ‘preposterous idealism’ goes along with the fact that I write absurd plays. I reply that they are only two sides of the same coin. Without the constantly living and articulated experience of absurdity, there would be no reason to attempt to do something meaningful. And, on the contrary, how can one experience one’s own absurdity if one is not constantly seeking meaning?” (114).
His reflections on hope during dark times is insightful and that much more powerful because as readers, we know that, indeed, Havel’s hope prevailed. His hope partly stems from his own sense of the spiritual. But it also emanates from his faith in civil society: “None of us know all the potentialities that slumber in the spirit of the population, or all the ways in which that population can surprise us when there is the right interplay of events, both visible and invisible (109).
His brave discussion of suicide underscores how intentional of a life he led and how much he lived by hope. “…suicides—in a certain sense—place the worth of life very high: they think that life is too precious a thing to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily, without meaning, without love, without hope. Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren’t in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life” (188).
Ed told me to read this book around 11 years ago. I finally got around to it last winter, and just wrote up this review a year later… Thanks Ed!
April 4, 2012
a Q and A format for the most part, with short but good intro by paul wilson and the questioner is karel huizdala, most of the "interrview" was done long distance. they go through havel's young life as a playwright, then what got him trhown in the slammer, then how charter 77 worked and worked out, then a last very good chapter called "the politics of hope" where havel talks about the serious thinking he did in prison in the 1980's. has a helpful glossary too. this is really a must read companion and extension of "to the castle and back" To the Castle and Back havel now i suppose is turning in his grave as the present president is a chip off bill clinton's block [neoliberal fuckdogs that is]
see paul wilson's musing on havel's life and death here http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
havel said change starts with the individual first, then the world
see paul wilson's musing on havel's life and death here http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archi...
havel said change starts with the individual first, then the world
December 31, 2016
Disturbing the Peace--a book-long interview with the former dissident/former president of Czechoslovakia Václav Havel. Havel was a playwright originally, before he became involved in opposition groups, so the book covered both his ideas on theater and his ideas on humanity. The interview was conducted before the 'Velvet Revolution' and before Havel was vaulted into the presidency by popular acclaim.
My feelings about this book were complex--or maybe I should say my feelings about Havel are. Number one, here is a fellow that stood up for what he believed was right, at a time when you could literally get shot for it. I think he is one of the 20th century's heroes, one that is probably not as well known in the U.S. as he ought to be. Like Lech Wałęsa, he was the popular face and voice of his country's opposition, and, again like Wałęsa, his post-communist role was perhaps not as romantic as his previous one. (That's doesn't take away anything from these two figures in my mind.)
Writing before the realities of governing took over his life, Havel's opinions on the state of the world and what's possible in it come across as hopeful, but I felt as though he suspected they would not come to pass. They didn't (or haven't yet), but not for the reasons Havel suspected (and it would have taken more than a mere Nostrodamus to see beforehand why not). First of all, the interview was conducted before the fall of the Berlin Wall, but when Gorbachev was already in power. In those early days of Glasnost, I don't think anyone expected events to proceed as quickly as they did, and I don't really think Havel had any inkling the world was going to completely upend in less than three years. Because he couldn't foresee that, I think he felt as though the possibilities he saw in mankind (or at least in his corner of the world) would not come to pass because communism wasn't going to pass.
The reality, I think, is much more depressing. The potential he saw didn't blossom because society is still made up of people. Essentially, he was saying--if we remove this one thing, this plague of totalitarianism, then it'll be like mankind taking its light out from under a bushel. I think that was a very popular belief. Heck, I believed it. A quarter of a century later, the results seem different somehow.
That's probably simplistic, and I think there is more to Havel than that--as I said, I think he was one of the genuine heroes of the century. But sometimes I wonder if mankind doesn't need these monolithic structures that it creates in order to set itself in opposition to them, and thereby exploit its potentials to the fullest; in art, in philosophies, in humanity. Remove the challenge, and rather than a utopia, we seem like rudderless navel-gazers. Was the 90's a great leap forward in the world, or did we obsess about Monica Lewinsky and O.J. Simpson?
I'd like to read a more complete overview of Havel's life and career, and some of his plays as well, but this served as an interesting side note, and at the same time, helped me to understand a little bit better about how I see the world
My feelings about this book were complex--or maybe I should say my feelings about Havel are. Number one, here is a fellow that stood up for what he believed was right, at a time when you could literally get shot for it. I think he is one of the 20th century's heroes, one that is probably not as well known in the U.S. as he ought to be. Like Lech Wałęsa, he was the popular face and voice of his country's opposition, and, again like Wałęsa, his post-communist role was perhaps not as romantic as his previous one. (That's doesn't take away anything from these two figures in my mind.)
Writing before the realities of governing took over his life, Havel's opinions on the state of the world and what's possible in it come across as hopeful, but I felt as though he suspected they would not come to pass. They didn't (or haven't yet), but not for the reasons Havel suspected (and it would have taken more than a mere Nostrodamus to see beforehand why not). First of all, the interview was conducted before the fall of the Berlin Wall, but when Gorbachev was already in power. In those early days of Glasnost, I don't think anyone expected events to proceed as quickly as they did, and I don't really think Havel had any inkling the world was going to completely upend in less than three years. Because he couldn't foresee that, I think he felt as though the possibilities he saw in mankind (or at least in his corner of the world) would not come to pass because communism wasn't going to pass.
The reality, I think, is much more depressing. The potential he saw didn't blossom because society is still made up of people. Essentially, he was saying--if we remove this one thing, this plague of totalitarianism, then it'll be like mankind taking its light out from under a bushel. I think that was a very popular belief. Heck, I believed it. A quarter of a century later, the results seem different somehow.
That's probably simplistic, and I think there is more to Havel than that--as I said, I think he was one of the genuine heroes of the century. But sometimes I wonder if mankind doesn't need these monolithic structures that it creates in order to set itself in opposition to them, and thereby exploit its potentials to the fullest; in art, in philosophies, in humanity. Remove the challenge, and rather than a utopia, we seem like rudderless navel-gazers. Was the 90's a great leap forward in the world, or did we obsess about Monica Lewinsky and O.J. Simpson?
I'd like to read a more complete overview of Havel's life and career, and some of his plays as well, but this served as an interesting side note, and at the same time, helped me to understand a little bit better about how I see the world
November 28, 2017
Havel is quite a guy. A creative writer, creative mind, with an engineering technical background who becomes the president of his country. A leader in the "velvet revolution" -- this book covers some of the territory that led up to the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. Including the formation of Charter 77. It covers time Havel spent in jail. He's remarkable as a public thinker -- astute analysis of social conditions and how change can be wrought . . .
A companion to this book is Tom Stoppard's play "Rock n Roll" . . . Stoppard is a Czech ex-patriate.
A companion to this book is Tom Stoppard's play "Rock n Roll" . . . Stoppard is a Czech ex-patriate.
February 10, 2014
Snad jen některé odpovědi by mohly být rozděleny otázkami, čistě pro plynulost textu. Jinak jsem se konečně dovzdělal ohledně Havla - je to jednak pěkná sonda do jeho myšlení (jak literárního, tak i trochu politického a především osobního), poučný vhled do minulosti, který mi přiblížil ty události o dost víc než učebnice dějepisu. Havel tak, jak z té knihy jako člověk vyznívá (i svou sebereflexí v poslední kapitole), je mi sympatický. Jdu si sehnat Zahradní slavnost.
January 21, 2009
Inspiring stuff. Helpful to anyone trying to understand how to live as a full human being under a police state.
December 14, 2020
The rating concerns the ideas expressed in the book. As a citizen of an Eastern European Country made me wonder about the choices made after the fall of the communism. Althoug the geopolitical positions of Czech Republic is/was a bit different from the Eastern countries, it is interesting to acknowledge that some countries decided to move further away from the old structures than other countries that were under the influence of USSR. Made me wonder about the origins of those choices. Even though I am aware of the geopolitical influences to the extend of my limited knowledge in the matter, I always wonder about the posibility that the choices made can also reside in a deeper structure of the people/nation itself.
September 30, 2007
Vaclav Havel has some quite nuanced opinions about politics, art, and social change. While you might expect him to hold strong reactionary opinions against the type of government that made him an illegal artist and imprisoned him several times, he still sees the merits in socialism and the pitfalls in capitalism. He longs for a system of political organization separate from these two, which does not suppress the human spirit.
March 28, 2018
This book is pure liberation porn of the best variety. It captures the moments surrounding the march to the castle, and is a wonderful glimpse of an utterly unique and triumphant time in Czech and world history.
June 30, 2019
Kniha která vznikala ještě v okovech komunistické moci (konec roku 1984). Havel ji namluvil na magnetofonové pásky, které odesílal přes diplomatickou poštu Karlu Hvížďalovi toho času žijícímu v Německu. Hvížďala jeho odpovědi přepsal a sestavil do této knížky, která měla být dárkem k Havlovým padesátinám. Najdete zde spoustu krásných Havlových myšlenek, které tu bohužel mají omezený prostor a mnohé z nich by si zasloužily být rozvedeny na mnohem větším půdorysu (samozřejmě na jiných místech jim bylo toto dopřáno). Rozhovor jako takový jé základním průřezem Havlovým životem, dotýkající se jeho počátků, práci v divadle Na Zábradlí, ve Tváři, v angažování ve Svazu spisovatelů, počátků pražského jara až po jeho hořký konec a následná nesvobodná léta která vyústila v Chartu a vězení. Velmi zajímavé jsou Havlovy reflexe sebe samého, či jeho vlastní interpretace jeho her, které člověka donutí nad nimi přemýšlet zase trochu jinak.
February 17, 2019
Great insight into what moved Havel as a writer and person. It was about time I read something by him, after having been to the Czech Republic dozens of times.
The book was written in the mid-1980s, so there are no traces of post-communist Czechoslovakia, let alone Havel becoming its president. It is interesting to see how nothing in the book actually seems to foresee that future.
The only drawback of the book is the number of events and people it references without proper explanation, which makes making sense of parts of it hard.
The book was written in the mid-1980s, so there are no traces of post-communist Czechoslovakia, let alone Havel becoming its president. It is interesting to see how nothing in the book actually seems to foresee that future.
The only drawback of the book is the number of events and people it references without proper explanation, which makes making sense of parts of it hard.
December 6, 2023
A focused, book-length interview with the playwright future first president of the Czech Republic, in which he defies left-right pigeonholing, defends the human being against both ends of the axis, and defines a nationally significant notion of cathartic theater that uniquely succeeds in respecting both art and audience. Havel is by his own assessment neither intellectual, nor exactly philosopher, nor at all politician, but the reader comes away confident that we would do well to elect more people like him to office.
October 25, 2024
Seminal book for me. Political power combined with creativity.
June 20, 2009
I've been told that I work like an optimist but talk like a pessimist. I've always seen it more as having some kind of enduring hope for the future, but a realistic (?) awareness of the present, something like that.
I feel like Havel has actually expressed this dichotomy for me, far beyond how I might be able to. I guess I might say I feel a sense of inspiration, but not some sort of undirected inspiration, even though I can't really describe what the direction might be.
At the very least, Havel has convinced me to go back and read more Beckett, and to read Ionesco, and to go back to Kafka, and maybe it's time to actually seriously read histories of Central Europe again. There just seems to be a deeper meaning there that I've known about for a long time but which I've never bee able to really put a finger on.
It may finally be time to really read about Solidarnosc. And maybe also to explore the theatre. But how can I do these things when there are so many minor bylaws changes to be worked out? oh crumbs.
I feel like Havel has actually expressed this dichotomy for me, far beyond how I might be able to. I guess I might say I feel a sense of inspiration, but not some sort of undirected inspiration, even though I can't really describe what the direction might be.
At the very least, Havel has convinced me to go back and read more Beckett, and to read Ionesco, and to go back to Kafka, and maybe it's time to actually seriously read histories of Central Europe again. There just seems to be a deeper meaning there that I've known about for a long time but which I've never bee able to really put a finger on.
It may finally be time to really read about Solidarnosc. And maybe also to explore the theatre. But how can I do these things when there are so many minor bylaws changes to be worked out? oh crumbs.
June 21, 2011
An interview with Vaclav Havel - a playright, political dissenter, prisoner and eventually the president of Czechoslovakia after the fall of communism in 1989. I read this book with very little knowledge of Vaclav Havel or Czechoslovakia. I was interested in reading it because the "velvet revolution" was referenced a few times during an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi about her own political struggle for the people of Burma/Myanmar. As the interview with Vaclav Havel doesn't present the history of Czechoslovakia or go into any great detail about communism at the time, I felt I would have benefitted from reading a factual book about the events before coming to this interview. Having said that, Vaclav's comments on theatre/plays and their multiple genre/meanings/interpretations and how these conveyed a message to the public during the most censorious of times is absolutely fascinating. I liked Vaclav's openness and humility towards the end of the interview as he presents himself as a person full of paradoxes. A truly incredible man.
September 2, 2016
Nejdřív bych měl asi říct, že naději, o níž dost často přemýšlím (zvlášť v situacích obzvlášť beznadějných, jako například ve vězení), chápu především, původně a hlavně jako stav ducha, nikoli stav světa. Naději v sobě prostě máme nebo nemáme, je rozměrem naší duše a není ve své podstatě závislá na nějakých pozorováních světa či odhadech situace. Naděje není prognostika. Je to orientace ducha, orientace srdce, přesahující svět bezprostředně žitého a zakotvená kdesi dál, za jeho hranicemi. [...] Mírou naděje v tomto hlubokém a silném smyslu není míra našeho rozveselení z dobrého běhu věcí a naší vůle se investovat do podniků viditelně mířících k brzkému úspěchu, ale spíš míra naší schopnosti usilovat o něco proto, že to je dobré, a nikoli pouze proto, že to má zajištěn úspěch. Čím nepříznivější je situace, v níž svou naději osvědčujeme, tím hlubší tato naděje je. Naděje prostě není optimismus. Není to přesvědčení, že něco dobře dopadne, ale jistota, že má něco smysl - bez ohledu na to, jak to dopadne.
November 2, 2016
Having studied Havel mostly as a political figure, I picked this book to learn more about Havel as a playwright and dissident before actually starting reading his plays (and the newly edited volume on his prison diaries). It was fascinating to learn how his earliest experiences already helped to shape his writing, about his journey to become a playwright, his civic engagement, and his experiences while in prison...and even his perception of Dubček! The fact that he refers to Dubček as "the Kramář of my generation" as in a mostly forgotten political figure of the past just shows how back then Havel would have never even dreamed of the fact that only 3 years later he would be standing on a balcony overlooking Wenceslas square, together with Dubček (and, as Paul Wilson mentions in his preface to the 1990 edition, perhaps even dancing with Dubček!) in the middle of the revolution that brought down the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
January 8, 2016
"...as someone once concluded no one at all was holding the steering wheel of history." Other remarks are just as entertaining. How does one explain history? When is it made, or made up? "(Kundera's) idea is that amnesia rules history and that history is an inexhaustible source of cruel jokes...." I hadn't expected to like this book even half as much as I did, and then an anonymous airplane compagnon in my row leaned over the book and said, "Didn't Hillary Clinton just quote something from Havel?" This did not lead to a fascinating conversation in a cramped and noisy Easy Jet flight but I certainly began to wonder about Clinton's interest in quoting Havel.
March 10, 2016
Nečekala bych, že rozhovor s dramatikem absurdna, který by svou pozdější prezidentskou roli v době sepsání knihy, považoval za další svoji hru, se bude číst tak dobře. Vzpomínky a události jsou vyprávěny živě, bez důrazu na vlastní osobu. Havlův styl je věcný, realistický, bez sebechvály a hrdinství. Díky této věcnosti, sice vidíme události z pohledu jednoho u účastníků a hybatelů, ale atmosféra napětí, rychlých změn strmých vzestupů a pádů je popisovaná jaksi z odstupu. Čtenář ji nedostane možnost prožít, jen pozorovat jako v akváriu spolu s vypravěčem.
January 28, 2022
Absolutely loved the way Havel spoke about hope. I was inspired by this quote as I wrote my book.
“[T]he kind of hope I often think about… I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us, or we don’t… Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons… I feel that its deepest roots are in the transcendental, just as the roots of human responsibility are.”
“[T]he kind of hope I often think about… I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us, or we don’t… Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons… I feel that its deepest roots are in the transcendental, just as the roots of human responsibility are.”
January 23, 2014
I knew nothing about Czechoslovakia or the Czech Republic or Vaclav Havel until I read this book. I enjoyed reading about the political transformation/revolution of the country through the perspective of this absurdist playwright turned president. Havel became the first president of the newly independent country the Czech Republic in 1989, and this interview in book format takes place prior to him getting elected.
April 20, 2008
An excellent book, perhaps one of the best I've ever read. Havel's defense of the individual, his right to think and believe in accordance with his conscience, is not merely theoretically but is in fact grounded firmly in reality. His belief in a moral code, the value of living a moral life, the right to life with dignity, all of this and more is truly inspiring.
March 4, 2017
Not a great place to start with Havel; these are interviews chronicling his theatre and political careers in Prague. I skimmed a lot since I didn't know some of the context, but what I caught in the that spoke to a larger truth. Havel came off more pragmatic than I would have guessed; I expect everyone can find some lessons in this book.
March 26, 2017
Taken from a series of conversation with Václav Havel three years before he was elected to the presidency of the democratic Czechoslovakia. He presents a great contrast to many world leaders we are familiar with: a sturdy intellectual and artist who became an almost accidental leader of his people as they forged a new identity.
February 17, 2008
Havel is definitely an intriguing character, but this book disappointed me a little bit. It focuses on his ideas as a playwright and his introduction to politics, but it's not as riveting as I expected it might be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2014
I've always been a great fan of Havel the dissident and Havel the politician. This interview gives us Havel the author, playwrite, the man. Highly recommend for anyone who is interested in politics or modern European history
January 26, 2017
A good and important read from an inspiring political figure of recent history. There are some wonderful meditations in here about maintaining hope in the face of dire political circumstances, and taking action because that action is right and not necessarily because anything will be achieved.
July 22, 2007
very, very inspiring conversations...
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