Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light

Synopsis of Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light

«Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light» is the novel by Ivan Klíma, published by Penguin Books / Granta in paperback (240 pages, in English).

The novel follows Pavel, a Czechoslovak filmmaker who scrapes by as a cameraman at state television during the communist regime and dreams of making a portrait of his time. When communism falls, the new freedom unsettles him and he fails to make the film he always wanted. Klíma thus explores the clash between the ideal and the temptations of freedom in Czechoslovakia before and after the Velvet Revolution.

Translated from the Czech by Paul Wilson. Originally published in 1995 by Penguin Books / Granta.

For readers of contemporary fiction interested in Eastern Europe and in the political and personal transformations after the fall of communism.