{"product_id":"the-cremator-9788024632902","title":"The Cremator","description":"\"The devil's neatest trick is to persuade us that he doesn't exist.\"--Giovanni Papini \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It is a maxim that both rings true in our contemporary world and pervades this tragicomic novel of anxiety and evil set amid the horrors of World War II. As a gay man living in a totalitarian, patriarchal society, noted Czech writer Ladislav Fuks identified with the tragic fate of his Jewish countrymen during the Holocaust. \u003ci\u003eThe Cremator\u003c\/i\u003e arises from that shared experience. Fuks presents a grotesque, dystopian world in which a dutiful father, following the strict logic of his time, liberates the souls of his loved ones by destroying their bodies--first the dead, then the living. As we watch this very human character--a character who never ceases to believe that he is doing good--become possessed by an inhuman ideology, the evil that initially permeates the novel's atmosphere concretizes in this familiar family man. A study of the totalitarian mindset with stunning resonance for today, \u003ci\u003eThe Cremator\u003c\/i\u003e is a disturbing, powerful work of literary horror.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLadislav Fuks\u003c\/b\u003e (1923-94) was a Czech writer of primarily psychological fiction. His novels include \u003ci\u003eMr. Theodore Mundstock\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cb\u003eEva M. Kandler \u003c\/b\u003eis a translator of Czech origin who has lived in the United Kingdom since the 1960s. \u003cb\u003eRajendra A. Chitnis\u003c\/b\u003e is a senior lecturer in Czech, Slovak, and Russian literature at the University of Bristol, UK.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Karolinum Press, Charles University","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50681797476626,"sku":"9788024632902","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_924cd8dc-474e-457b-984c-783afc197ecb.jpg?v=1733958420","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-cremator-9788024632902","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}