Glorious Nemesis

This book, published by Twisted Spoon Press in Prague, presents the unique writings of a Czech author whose intense inner life and complex mental state are vividly expressed through eccentric style and volatile prose. The novella explores deep conflicts in thought processes, particularly in "Glorious Nemesis." Set in the Tyrol, it unfolds as a balladic ghost story that delves into the metaphysics of love, death, crime, and reincarnation. The protagonist, Sider, a twenty-eight-year-old man, is faced with the imposing Stag's Head mountain and an ancient hovel beneath a dark cliff. During a hike, he meets two women who alter his destiny: the elder Errata in red and the younger Orea in blue, colors symbolizing the Virgin Mary. Sider embarks on a quest for the All and the Absolute, striving for eternity by atoning for his past life’s misdeeds. He risks his fortune and sanity, drawn into dreams and hallucinations where Orea, or her doppelgänger, embodies the goddess Nemesis, guiding him through the mysteries of divine retribution. Last revised by the author in 1926 and published posthumously in 1932, this is the first English translation, featuring illustrations by renowned Czech designer Pavel Rut, who created a samizdat edition during the 1980s when the Communist regime banned the author's work. In the 1970s, the novella was also set to music by The Plastic People of the Universe.