Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (Czech: Valerie a týden divů) is a novel by surrealist Czech writer Vítězslav Nezval, written in 1935 and first published ten years afterward in 1945. The avant-garde experimental novel was written before Nezval's dramatic shift to Socialist Realism. It was made into a 1970 Czech film directed by Jaromil Jireš, a prominent example of Czech New Wave cinema.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
First edition (Czech)
AuthorVítězslav Nezval
Original titleValerie a týden divů
IllustratorKamil Lhotak
CountryCzechoslovakia
LanguageEnglish
GenreSurrealist, Gothic, Novel
Published1945 (original)
2005 (English translation)
Media typePrint (Paperback)
ISBN978-80-86264-19-6

With this novel, Nezval explored the gothic themes and settings of such novels as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and M. G. Lewis' The Monk (1796), as well as F. W. Murnau's film Nosferatu (1922; based on 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker).

The 2005 English edition features the illustrations by Kamil Lhoták that appeared in the original edition.

Adaptation edit

The 1970 film adaptation Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, directed by Jaromil Jireš, with Jaroslava Schallerová as Valerie.

External links edit

  • "Twisted Spoon Press".
  • Owen, Jonathan L. (2011). Avant-garde to new wave: Czechoslovak cinema, surrealism and the sixties. New York: Berghahn.