When Czechoslovakia eased travel restrictions about five years ago, Western intellectuals ventured there with the wary air of men exploring some dark continent. They were surprised to dis cover that many Czechs were familiar with the plays of Samuel Beckett and Edward Albee, and had kept abreast of other Western cultural developments. If they dropped into Prague's Café Slavia around 4 p.m. any afternoon, they could have encountered several of the reasons why. A group of artists and writers who meet there have for years been assiduously importing and translating Western books,...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
