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Tidbits from Josef Škvorecký’s “Magnum Opus”
It was Milan Kundera who dubbed The Engineer of Human Souls, by the great Czech/Canadian writer Josef Škvorecký, “a magnum opus.” He was correct. I quoted from it in an earlier post, when I was part-way into the 570-page novel, and now that I’ve finished it, here are a few more gleanings: The most incredible comedies are written by life. • What we feel is obviously more important than what we know. That’s what we live for. We may think we live for wisdom, but in fact we’re living for the pleasure wisdom brings us.Read More
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The Statistical Minority
Josef Škvorecký, the great Czech novelist, author of The Engineer of Human Souls (beautifully translated by Paul Wilson) and other meditations on in the spiritual/intellectual havoc inflicted by totalitarians, writes this about the the rise and fall of the Prague Spring: The statistical majority struggles only for more bread; the statistical minority struggles too, for more non-bread.Read More
Joseph Hutchison, Colorado Poet Laureate 2014-2019, has published 20 collections of poems and edited or co-edited three poetry anthologies. He currently directs two master’s-level programs for University College at the University of Denver: Professional Creative Writing and Arts & Culture Management. Joe lives with his wife, Melody Madonna, in the mountains southwest of Denver, Colorado, the city where he was born. 
