Good fiction for contemporary Budapest and Prague
 

I love reading fiction or non-fiction about the place I am going to visit - and right now that means Prague and BUdapest. Any suggestions appreciated.
Many thanks
Alice

I Served the King of England is a very good book, although not 'contemporary' and not set wholly in Prague.

Milan Kundera is the obvious Czech writer to cite, although personally I didn't like his stuff.

Vaclav Havel, the former President of the Czech Republic, is a prolific writer of plays and essays. Besides leading the so-called Velvet Revolution, he oversaw the peaceful separation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia and was a political prisoner under the Soviets. A great of his work has been published in English.

http://vaclavhavel.cz/index.php?sec=1&id=1

The most obvious answer is the novel "Prague," which is (ironically and intentionally) set in Budapest.

Two excellent novels, both on the long list for the Booker prize in various years:

THE GLASS ROOM by Simon Mawer http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Room-Sim.../dp/1590513967


FAR TO GO by Alison Pick (on this year's long list)
http://www.amazon.com/Far-Go-Novel-A...4201338&sr=1-1

I agree that Milan Kundera is a tough read. I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Slowness last year when I was in the Czech Republic.

You can also try something by Kafka.