Prose
Czechoslovakia, 1968. The Soviet troops have just invaded the country and, for the young orphan Ilya, life is suddenly turned on its head. At first there is relief that the mean-spirited nuns who run the orphanage have been driven out by the Communists, but as the children are left to fend for themselves, order and routine quickly give way to brutality and chaos, and Ilya finds himself drawn into the violence, both committing murder in order to save his best friend and forced to witness the death of his disabled brother. When the troops return, the orphans are given military training and, with his first-hand knowledge of the local terrain, Ilya becomes a guide to a Soviet tank commander, leading him ever deeper into a macabre world of random cruelty, moral compromise, and lasting shame. (The book was awarded the Best Book 2005 by the Czech Lidové noviny newspapers.)
More information in Norwegian here.
Information about the original Czech edition
Other selected published translations (7)
Spoelen met teerzeep Dutch
Zirkuszone German
Strefa cyrkowa Polish
Gárgaras con alquitrán Spanish
Zone cirque French
Gargling with Tar English