The House Of A Thousand Floors

Jan Weiss shared the fate of tens of thousands of Czechs and Slovaks, by spending the decisive years of the birth of Czechoslovakia away from his homeland - first on the eastern WWI front, then from 1916 as a POW in Russia, later joining the Czechoslovak Legion (like his world famous colleague Jaroslav Hašek). Upon his return to Prague, Weiss worked as a ministry clerk and began publishing in 1927.

First appearing in 1929, Weiss' unusual novel soon became a modern classic which has remained in print ever since. Part science fiction, part fantasy, this is a dystopian tale of one man's quest through an absurd, nightmarish universe ruled by a mysterious, omniscient and almighty dictator, who may just as well be the figment of a delirious imagination. Weiss dazzles with his experimental style and skilful use of fantasy and dream versus reality. Translated into French, German, Italian and Portuguese, this outstanding example of Czech literary modernism is available in English for the first time.