(01/29/2008) The End Of Lieutenant Boruvka by Josef Skvorecky. New York. 1990. Norton. Translated From The Czech By Paul Wilson. keywords: Literature Translated Czech Eastern Europe Mystery. 185 pages. Jacket design by Linda Kosarin. 0393027856. February 1990.
Join the melancholy Lieutenant Boruvka once again for this third installment in the series by Josef Skvorevcky.
FROM THE PUBLISHER -
Third in the series of linked detective tales featuring the 'downbeat Prague cop' of THE MOURNFUL DEMEANOUR OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA and SINS FOR FATHER KNOX, this collection of six stories takes place around the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. The stories include a murder in which a famous writer and supporter of Alexander Dubcek is implicated, but evidence uncovered by Boruvka points elsewhere. In a second story the murderer has reached a position of influence by the time our detective comes on the scene. A Soviet army sentry turns out to be responsible for a third murder. In the final story Boruvka must decide whether to jeopardize his career as he pursues an American gangster. In each of these cases, some of which are based on actual events, Boruvka is pitted against his colleagues, the secret police, and even his country. This third volume of tales 'demonstrates Skvorecky's formidable story-telling gifts, sharp wit, and understanding of the human heart' 'Boruvka is, I suppose, in the British or European tradition of developed detective characters-he has problems, he even falls in love. If Woody Allen were stouter, he could play the part. ' -Josef Skvorecky, commenting on his sad-eyed detective.
JOSEF SKVORECKY was born in Bohemia, emigrated to Canada in 1968, and was professor of English at Erindale College, University of Toronto. He and his wife, the novelist Zdena Salivarova, ran a Czech-language publishing house, Sixty-Eight Publishers, in Toronto. Skvorecky's novels include DVORAK IN LOVE, THE ENGINEER OF HUMAN SOULS, COWARDS, MISS SILVER'S PAST, THE BASS SAXOPHONE, THE MOURNFUL DEMEANOUR OF LIEUTENANT BORUVKA, and SINS FOR FATHER KNOX. He is the winner of the 1980 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1984 Governor General's Award for Fiction in Canada.
Check zenosbooks.com for either a used or a new copy of this book, or you can add it to your wishlist.
