Science Fiction: Spaceman Of Bohemia By Jaroslav Kalfar

(Drivebycuriosity) - I just finished reading "Spaceman of Bohemia" by Jaroslav Kalfar (amazon). What is the book about? As the title suggests the novel is partly science fiction, but the title also mentions  Bohemia, a region of the Czech Republic (about 10 million people), which doesn´t launch space ships. So the novel is also a satire - and much more.

The book is written in first person. Jakub, the spaceman, tells about his experiences in space, his youth, about his father, his grand parents, his wife and his life in a post-socialist middle European country (this is a spoiler free blog). The plot is sometimes absurd & surreal, but large parts are very realistic. "Spaceman" reminds me of a chameleon who changes its colors frequently and spontaneous.

Kalfar wrote a baroque novel about love, marriage, history, probability theory, martyrs, socialism & capitalism and much more. I enjoyed his analytical style & his philosophical musings and the hilarious and sometimes romantic & erotic paragraphs. "Spaceman" reminds of Stanislaw Lem and and a bit of Kafka, also of Günter Grass and - why not -  of Knausgård and the Count of Monte Christo. I want to read more by Kalfar.