The Engineer of Human Souls

Rating:
Summary: Living in History
Review: As brief as can be: this novel demonstrates how some live in history and some observe it. The contrast between the North American portions, where history happens 'out there', and the remainder of the book are striking and affecting. I shed tears while in this book, beware, it is real in the poet's way.

Rating:
Summary: Living in History
Review: As brief as can be: this novel demonstrates how some live in history and some observe it. The contrast between the North American portions, where history happens 'out there', and the remainder of the book are striking and affecting. I shed tears while in this book, beware, it is real in the poet's way.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite novels
Review: Better than Milan Kundera, this is a great novel. It may seem a little dated, as we are all tired of the alienated college professor rap(they write what they know). However the journey back to the war really are moving, and I do reccomend this book.

Rating:
Summary: You will miss these characters
Review: I first read "Engineer of Human Souls" in 1984. Every few years I start to miss Danny and Nadia, and then I know it's time to re-read it. Sometimes I jump into the story again partway through. Every time the characters seem a little different, as my own life experiences change my understanding of them.

One of Skvorecky's universal themes in this novel is how one can live as an exile, a theme Shakespeare also used (The Tempest, The Winter's Tale). Aren't we all exiles in some sense, from our parents' home, from our childhood playmates, from a hometown somewhere? Another theme is how a person should resist against the wrongs of a government (Nazis, Communists). There is plenty in this book to make the reader laugh, cry, and think.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Quite an amazing book. I picked it up after seeing it on a book list of top influential books in Prague. I guess it is popular in its original Czech language. The main character being a Canadian from the then communist, totalitarian regime - was quite an experience for myself, and gave me some insight on how the other half lived ... the fact was like a fairy tale, and the fiction was such truth.