Člověk v chaosu světa: Osamělý rváč Miloše V. Kratochvíla

Miloš V. Kratochvíl applies the psychological concept of historical novel in his novelistic debut Osamělý rváč (1941). He focuses on the existential experience of the characters and lays stress on the poetic dimension, polished style and vivid imagery of the text. The book follows the life story of Heřman Kryštof Count Rusworm, a military commander living at the time of the Emperor Rudolf II; however, the author also pays full attention to the era which he perceives as early baroque. He chooses the dark side of the baroque antitheses; he gives the disturbing picture of feverish visions of the world in the corners of which death is awaiting and in the labyrinth of which an individual is not able to orientate oneself. The study also deals with the comparison of the novel in the first and third editions (1955) and follows fundamental changes in the text that were mostly ideologically motivated.