Notes from Underground

by Roger Scruton

Overview

Bronze Winner of a 2015 Independent Publisher Award in the Suspense/Thriller Category

Set in the twilight years of the Czechoslovak communist regime and recalled from the suburbs of Washington. Roger Scruton evokes a world in which every word and gesture bears a double meaning, as people seek to find truth amid the lies and love in the midst of betrayal.

Notes From Underground tells the story of Jan Reichl, condemned to a menial life by his father’s alleged crime, and of Betka, the girl who offers him education, opportunity, and love, but mysteriously refuses to commit herself. Their doomed love affair within the system that traps them comes alive on the pages, creating a beautifully tense look into life under communist regimes and the effects it has on the people living within them.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825307850
Publisher:	Beaufort Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	08/03/2015
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	520,261
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Roger Scruton (1944-2020) was a freelance writer and philosopher, who rescued himself from the academy twenty years ago. He held posts in the American Enterprise Institute and in the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He authored 40 books, including five works of fiction, and composed two operas. He is widely known on both sides of the Atlantic as a public intellectual with a broadly conservative vision. Until his death in 2020, Roger lived in rural Wiltshire, England with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Bronze Winner of a 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Suspense/Thriller category — Independent Publisher Book Awards

From the Publisher

Bronze Winner of a 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Suspense/Thriller catagory.

Independent Publisher Book Awards

01/13/2014
Philosopher and activist in Eastern Europe Scruton (The Meaning of Conservatism) weaves references to literature, the subway, and dissident movements into both his title and this bittersweet tale, set in Prague during the twilight of Communist Czechoslovakia. Jan Reichl is a young man living on the fringes of society whose mother has just been arrested for underground publishing. What she conceals from the police is that her son is also “Comrade Underground,” author of Rumors, a collection of his impressions of the lives of fellow passengers on the Metro. It is this book that leads to his romance with Alžbeta Palková, or “Betka,” as she is known. Betka introduces Jan to an alternative Prague, where ideas are freely discussed behind closed doors. Decades later, Jan reflects from suburban Washington, D.C., on his brief romance with Betka and the tumultuous times that they lived through. A familiarity with Czech culture and history will enhance the reader’s experience, but Scruton’s prose will satisfy anyone with an interest in this place and period. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly