Lovers for a Day: New and Collected Stories on Love

by Ivan Klíma

Book Overview

Ivan Klima has been called a Czech genius by the Los Angeles Times Book Review. In these stories spanning his long career from the 1960s to the present, he gives us a gallery of people searching, in love, for escape: factory girls on their day off and assembly-line workers lost in Walter-Mittyesque fantasies; a young woman on a honeymoon with the man she did not marry; a divorce-court judge whose mistress cannot understand his affection for the routines...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802137474
• ISBN13: 9780802137470
• Release Date: November 2000
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Myriad Facets to the Relationship Called "Love"

Ivan Klima writes stories with crystal clarity, mini-vignettes of people's lives. Each story is unique, filled with despair, amusement, boredom, excitement, desperation, jealousy, unknown chance encounters, the fire of love or its opposite is explored. Intense desire, clandestine meetings, routine relations and habits, succombing to temptation after nearly a lifetime of committment ... loyalty/betrayal ... it is all here. Some of the stories are very deep and tragic, others are filled with humor and surprise endings. All the stories are creatively well crafted. "Conjugal Relations" is one favorite. Two people, a man and woman are conversing. One accuses the other of indifference, by taking words or lack of attention out of context. It leads to an argument as the "accused" partner is forced to defend himself. Both the accuser and defender recognize the absurdity of the situation but each has to participate to resolve the tension and dilemma. The situation is hilarous as it is so common. Another entertaining story is one where two lovers are speaking on the telephone. The man, living in Australia, wants to make the liason more serious ... the woman makes excuses, as she deals with her small child who is whining in the background. She feigns desire for him, all the time rebuffing him with numerous reasons,obligations to her husband/child, time away from her household, putting his successful career at risk. He carefullly knocks down each excuse to be near her. The duplicity of the female is cleverly revealed in the conversation, the man is equally charming as he calls her bluff with each deft maneuver to continue as lovers. A most highly recommended book. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

like waking up one day to the rain?

I love ivan klima's way of writing.of this book, which i strongly recommend to any czech author readers and ivan klima fans, i loved the last stories and i simply adored "the white house"- the stories in this book are of... yes, love. but not only love- chance meetings, night trysts, and death, yes, as well.though some stories will hold you with their enchantment of love... others will falter you with their blunt reality of love.all in all you can expect to find in these stories what you find in your own life. a little of enchantment, a little of sadness, a little of passion, a little of numbness.

Lovers for a Day : New and Collected Stories on Love

Probably after Capek and Kundera there has not been such a matured author as Klima in the Czeck language. As for Capek , he was often afraid to protest and Kundera lived in France but Klima has stayed in the country and protested. He is brilliant but in this book you get to see the maturity. Its a mix of Klima and Cortazar. This is love mixed with wit in the time of revolution which brings out the pain of human relations. Its a story of a class being detached from the lessons of human relation while a small group tries to get it back. All the stories are great. all the stories are great.