{"product_id":"the-hours-and-the-minutes-paperback","title":"The Hours and the Minutes - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAlfonz Bednár\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eDavid Short\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eRajendra A. Chitnis\u003c\/b\u003e (Afterword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith their courageous and engaging critique of Communism in the 1950s, these critically acclaimed Slovak classics demask one of the founding myths of modern Slovakia.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Hours and The Minutes \u003c\/i\u003ewas first published in Bratislava in 1956, the year of Nikita Khrushchev's \"secret speech,\" in which the Soviet leader formally acknowledged Stalin's tyranny and opened the way for political reform throughout the Eastern Bloc. Alfonz Bednár's writing was one of the first free of nationalist and communist propaganda, rejecting earlier ideologization of life by both the fascist right and Stalinist left and finding more empathetic ways to explore the complexity of human experience. His novellas defy traditional heroic depictions and portray the human individual, his relations, and morality as the subject of history rather than a utopian, collectivist ideology. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In these five novellas, Bednár is preoccupied with the insensitive, even inhuman, rootless, and amoral modernity that the war and Communist Party import into traditional Slovak life. The destruction of the traditional Slovak countryside during the twentieth century through modernization and urbanization, and with it a particular approach to life, forms his central theme. His spare, epic style and devotion to plot and dynamic narration render \u003ci\u003eThe Hours and The Minutes\u003c\/i\u003e a genuine and gripping read.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlfonz Bednár\u003c\/b\u003e (1914-89) was a Slovak novelist, screenwriter, and translator. \u003cb\u003eDavid Short\u003c\/b\u003e is an acclaimed translator of numerous books from Czech and Slovak to English.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 480\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.42 x 7.48 x 5.12 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 25, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47266780905721,"sku":"9788024658964","price":24.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/afGMWTXVtd9788024658964.webp?v=1768857320","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/the-hours-and-the-minutes-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}