Two feasts

Under its somewhat metaphorical title, the collection Two Feasts presents a selection of short stories by leading Vietnamese representatives of two phases of modern Vietnamese realist literature. Among the first generation of Vietnamese who had the opportunity to achieve a modern Western-style education in their country, Nguy? n Công Hoan. Nam Cao, on the other hand, was one of those who gained literary fame at the end of the colonial era. < br> < br> In an excursion into three decades of modern Vietnamese literature since, when Vietnamese writers were just becoming familiar with the genre of the Western-style short story, through the most developed phases of realism to the period of open resistance to French rule, the Czech reader has the opportunity to get a closer look into the Vietnamese soul through the modern concept of literature, which realistically describes everyday life, while maintaining the traditional understanding of the writer's moral and social commitment. < br> < br> The brilliant translation of the short stories into modern, brisk Czech without the slightest tendency to a certain archaism that we might expect makes the book a pleasant and informative read. An insightful afterword introduces the historical and literary context of the prose, while an editorial note briefly outlines the most important moments of Vietnamese pronunciation and the translator's difficult task in the field of the "exotic" language. The team of editors, translators, linguistic and factual advisors has thus prepared a real feast for the readers.