"You should write a book based on your experiences in Czech," became a refrain over the years from both my English and Czech families and friends. So I did.
It didn't take much encouragement as it was always high on my "to do" list and was one of the few things on the list that I had a realistic chance of fulfilling. Once you hit 40 and the chilling realisation that you will never play in midfield for Manchester City or be the bass player in the Rolling Stones dawns, then it becomes time to look at slightly more realistic goals.
So here it is, a book written to raise a smile on a rainy day, make a long journey shorter and make you laugh out loud when you least expect it, all for the price of a pint of beer.
The book is available in MOBI (for Kindle) and is available exclusively from Amazon
OVERVIEW
It’s late 1992 and happy-go-lucky James Craig pitches up at the shambolically run Star of Brno language school on the eve of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Enlisting the help of Ladka, a chatterbox student who shares his love of the absurd, he sets out on a journey to discover the Brno that the guidebooks never mention.
When a convenient arrangement becomes more than convenient, James embarks on a tumultuous roller coaster ride that is frequently derailed by Hadrian, his dapper Scottish flatmate, a potty-mouthed class of beginners and Grenville, his grammar-obsessed nemesis with a penchant for building igloos.
After James discovers that Ladka has been holding back bombshell news throughout their relationship, she is forced to decide whether to break their bond or the pact they made — a decision that will determine not only her own but also James’s future in Brno.
REVIEWS - Here's what people are saying on Amazon about Eight Crowns to Brno
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read 31 Oct 2014
By john hurst
Format:Kindle Edition
Having been to what was then Czechoslovakia and is now the Czech Republic many times, I bought this book out of curiosity, and have to say it didn’t let me down in the slightest. The book evokes a feel of a time in unfashionable Brno where there were no mobile phones or Internet, while the story sets off at a cracking pace and never lets up.
The book is packed with laughs as the laid back James encounters one mishap after another, and is interwoven with a love story with the feisty Ladka and his realisation that he has found his spiritual home. The dialogues rattle along amid a whole host of characters and situations, with an amazing twist at the end.
It says it's part one of a trilogy and I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.
5.0 out of 5 stars engaging and laugh-out-loud-in-a-public-place funny. An excellent read 3 Nov 2014
By Brnojack
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
As somebody who moved to Brno to teach in 1997, this book was always going to appeal to me.
Also,this is the first time I have written a review on Amazon, but felt I must. Eight Crowns To Brno is a really well-written book , it is lively, engaging and laugh-out-loud-in-a-public-place funny. An excellent read, I would recommend not just to those of us who taught English abroad in 90s, but to everyone who reads this review
It didn't take much encouragement as it was always high on my "to do" list and was one of the few things on the list that I had a realistic chance of fulfilling. Once you hit 40 and the chilling realisation that you will never play in midfield for Manchester City or be the bass player in the Rolling Stones dawns, then it becomes time to look at slightly more realistic goals.
So here it is, a book written to raise a smile on a rainy day, make a long journey shorter and make you laugh out loud when you least expect it, all for the price of a pint of beer.
The book is available in MOBI (for Kindle) and is available exclusively from Amazon
OVERVIEW
It’s late 1992 and happy-go-lucky James Craig pitches up at the shambolically run Star of Brno language school on the eve of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Enlisting the help of Ladka, a chatterbox student who shares his love of the absurd, he sets out on a journey to discover the Brno that the guidebooks never mention.
When a convenient arrangement becomes more than convenient, James embarks on a tumultuous roller coaster ride that is frequently derailed by Hadrian, his dapper Scottish flatmate, a potty-mouthed class of beginners and Grenville, his grammar-obsessed nemesis with a penchant for building igloos.
After James discovers that Ladka has been holding back bombshell news throughout their relationship, she is forced to decide whether to break their bond or the pact they made — a decision that will determine not only her own but also James’s future in Brno.
REVIEWS - Here's what people are saying on Amazon about Eight Crowns to Brno
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read 31 Oct 2014
By john hurst
Format:Kindle Edition
Having been to what was then Czechoslovakia and is now the Czech Republic many times, I bought this book out of curiosity, and have to say it didn’t let me down in the slightest. The book evokes a feel of a time in unfashionable Brno where there were no mobile phones or Internet, while the story sets off at a cracking pace and never lets up.
The book is packed with laughs as the laid back James encounters one mishap after another, and is interwoven with a love story with the feisty Ladka and his realisation that he has found his spiritual home. The dialogues rattle along amid a whole host of characters and situations, with an amazing twist at the end.
It says it's part one of a trilogy and I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.
5.0 out of 5 stars engaging and laugh-out-loud-in-a-public-place funny. An excellent read 3 Nov 2014
By Brnojack
Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase
As somebody who moved to Brno to teach in 1997, this book was always going to appeal to me.
Also,this is the first time I have written a review on Amazon, but felt I must. Eight Crowns To Brno is a really well-written book , it is lively, engaging and laugh-out-loud-in-a-public-place funny. An excellent read, I would recommend not just to those of us who taught English abroad in 90s, but to everyone who reads this review
A Scandal in Bohemia (MX Publishing 2014) is the first of four Sherlock Holmes graphic novels by Petr Kopl to be translated into English by SimpsonTrans.
This is the English translation of the original work in Czech, which was voted comic book of the year 2013, earning Petr, a graphic artist and illustrator from Jihlava, three Fabula Rasa awards. The book is now on sale through Amazon and the link is here A review of the book can be found here |
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Scheduled for release on 12.12.2014 is the second book in the series, the classic 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', again translated by SimpsonTrans.
Amazon is now taking advance orders and details can be found here |
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