The View from Stalin's Head

The ten stories in Hamburger's lovely debut collection focus primarily on Americans in Prague--a new lost generation on a quest for something they can't quite name in a world that makes even less sense to them than their own. Throughout, Prague is depicted as a city scarred by its recent communist past, as the collection's ominous title suggests. The title story, in fact, is perhaps the most disturbing, in which an elderly victim of the Soviet regime hires a young man to humiliate him in an S/M game that echoes his dangerous past. Elegantly structured and well-written, these are primarily character-driven stories, moving portraits of young people floundering through life. Hamburger effectively captures the uniqueness of each character--from an overweight American girl who imagines love out of desperation to a hardened lesbian who runs an unconventional synagogue--all their dreams and foibles alike resonating with real life. The book's unrelenting darkness gives rise to a question that I, having never been to Prague, can't answer: is there something about Prague itself that makes it a natural backdrop for these sad tales, or is it an unfortunate coincidence, a projection of hopelessness onto a city that has other sides unexplored in this book? I'm cautiously inspired to find out for myself.

In his "Acknowledgments" to this his first collection of short stories, Aaron Hamburger thanks Christopher Isherwood for his inspiration. Just as Isherwood brought to life the Berlin of the 1930's in BERLIN STORIES, so does this writer make Prague in the 1990's a very real place. His characters are Czechs, American tourists and expatriates, Jew and Gentile, gay and straight. They teach English, They take side trips to Israel, they study in a desire to convert to Judaism, they make a living drawing pornographic illustrations. When in Prague, they visit churches and synagogues, concentration camps and sex clubs. These characters have blood flowing in their veins; they possess both breath and body odor. In "This Ground You Are Standing On," a Jewish woman, along with her husband, returning to Prague, the city her parents fled in 1939, rents a room from an elderly blonde woman she initially mistakes as Jewish who may have aided the Nazis but is not altogether unsympathetic, under this author's pen, however.Mr. Hamburger's language is both precise and poetic. One character's thin wire-framed glasses had narrow lenses, "as if all she needed to see of the world could fit within those two rectangles." American tourists wear warm-up suits. Some of them are obtuse: "Trying to explain the hazards of privatization to bozos like Jake was like trying to drive a car stuck in neutral." A go-go dancer speaks bad English, "which was all right. . . because his body was a poem."In addition to creating ten fascinating stories where something actually happens, Mr. Hamburger, whether he means to or not, has written a fine travel book. Reading this collection made me want to visit Prague. I also look forward to reading his novel we are told in "About The Author" is now in progress.

Hamburger has created something of beauty here. There are no tricks, just the straightforward (and rarely accomplished) building of characters--distinct, human, often strange, yet always believable, characters. Hamburger has a gentle, Chekhovian approach to storytelling, and his saddest moments are tinged with humor. Reading this collection was a pleasure.

These ten stories, about the lives that intersect in booming '90s Prague, are smart, poignant, and deliciously funny. Aaron Hamburger introduces us to a variety of characters - hopeful Rachel, lonely Donald, understanding Jirka -who are straight and gay, European and American, Jewish and Jew-curious. Each one is indelible. This collection is such a delight, and I find myself rereading the stories and always finding something new in them. I hugely recommend this book.

This collection of stories caught me by surprise. I lovedthe rich characters, and the complexity of the themes. And thepeople stuck in my head long after reading it. Also I laughedout loud several times. Even though I'm not familiar at allwith Prague, the book spoke to me on many different levels.A definite recommend.