When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Communism (throughout)
- Marxism (throughout)
- Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (I.19.3)
- Sisyphus (II.6.13, II.8.12-13)
- Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros (III.1.1, III.8.2, III.8.8)
- Annie Leclerc, Parole de femme (III.2.3-5)
- Jaroslav Hasek (III.3.3)
- nouveau roman (III.5.5)
- André Breton (III.6.3, III.6.4)
- Paul Éluard (III.6.3, III.6.4, III.6.6-9)
- The Fall of Lucifer (III.9.5)
- Homer, Odyssey (IV.8.18)
- James Joyce (IV.8.18)
- Thomas Mann, Death in Venice (IV.17.2-5, VI.12.6-13)
- Honoré de Balzac (IV.18.6)
- Anton Chekhov (IV.18.6)
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, West-East Divan (IV.18.6, V)
- Franz Kafka (IV.18.6, VI.1.2-4)
- Giovanni Boccaccio (V)
- Mikhail Lermontov (V)
- Petrarch (V)
- Arthur Schopenhauer (V."Kristyna".3)
- Paul Verlaine (V)
- Voltaire (V)
- Yesenin (V)
- Max Brod (VI.1.5)
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées (VI.7.2)
- Novalis (VI.12.7)
- Daphnis and Chloe (VII.2.5, VII.14.14-21)
Historical References
- Aleksei Arbuzov (I.3.2)
- Andrei Zhdanov (I.3.2)
- Yom Kippur War (Battle of the Sinai), 1973 (I.5.1)
- Salvador Allende (I.5.1)
- Bangladesh Genocide (I.5.1)
- Cambodian Genocide (I.5.1)
- Russian Invasion of Bohemia (I.5.1, I.10.3, V."Theory".4)
- Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia (I.5.3)
- Prague Spring (I.10.2)
- Vladimir Clementis (I.1.2, I.5.6, I.17.6, I.19.4, VI.1.1-3)
- Communist Coup d'Etat, Czechoslovakia, 1948 (I.5.3)
- Klement Gottwald (I.1.1, I.5.6, I.17.6, I.19.4, VI.1.1-3, VI.2.1)
- World War I (II.4.4)
- Vladimir Lenin (III.5.5)
- Zen Buddhism (III.5.5)
- Mao Tse-tung (III.5.5)
- Milada Horakova (III.6.3)
- Zavis Kalandra (III.6.3, III.6.4, III.6.5, III.7.1)
- John the Baptist (IV.1.1)
- Edvard Benes (VI.2.1)
- Antonin Novotny (VI.2.1)
- Ludvik Svoboda (VI.2.1)
- Antonin Zapotocky (VI.2.1)
- Gustav Husak (VI.2.1, VI.13.5, VI.13.10-11, VI.18.7, VI.25.1-8)
- T. G. Masaryk (VI.2.1)
- Milan Hübl (VI.2.3-6, VI.3.1, VI.5.7)
Pop Culture References
- J. S. Bach (II.8.1)
- Duke Ellington (II.8.1, VI.18.3, VI.18.8)
- Bobby Fischer (II.11.17, II.12.1, II.12.9)
- André Barbault (III.3.3)
- Béla Bartók (VI.17.2)
- Ludwig van Beethoven (VI.3.6-8, VI.18.8)
- Gustav Mahler (VI.17.2)
- Arnold Schoenberg (VI.17.4, VI.17.8, VI.18.3)
- Igor Stravinsky (VI.17.2)
- Edgard Varèse (VI.17.4)