The Comanche at the Václav Havel Library
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: June 25, 2019, 19:00 – 21:00
US novelist S.C. Gwynn’s Empire of the Summer Moon is a gripping account of the rise and crushing of the Comanche, the most powerful Native American tribe in history. It touches on the era of Spanish rule of the New World, the U.S. Civil War, the mass eradication of the bison and the advent of the railroad. It raises once again the cruel question of colonialism and genocide but does not shirk from describing the brutality of the Comanche free of any veneer of political correctness or even kitsch. The tribe were famed for their unequalled equestrian and martial skills as well as legendary fighting spirit and halted both the expansion of a Spanish empire from Mexico and the French colonisers of Louisiana. However, they were unable to withstand Anglo-Saxon settlers who were well-organised and possessed modern weaponry.
The book, which was widely reviewed in the US and was very warmly received by the American public, delivers a thrilling account of the clash between the rulers of the Great Planes and the conquering white civilisation, employing an objective approach to this complex and sensitive issue.
Taking part in the debate will be Milan Gelnar, director of the Argo publishing house; Miroslav Černý of the Department of English and American Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Ostrava University; Martin Svoboda, editor and translator (Pynchon, Bukowski, McCarthy etc.); and Mnislav Zelený-Atapana, an ethnologist and novelist.
Jáchym Topol will chair the discussion and read excerpts.
Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with Argo.