Czech Glass
Russian pressure on Central Europe is one of the themes of this novel. Its young protagonist—a Czech diplomat with his family on his first posting—experiences in Estonia how the Russian secret services try to recruit him for their purposes. The young diplomat undergoes all this first-hand, with his family. And he also faces his own ambassador, who shows particular sympathy for the Russian perspective, even though the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just beginning. Marek Toman describes a diplomatic environment he knows intimately, having spent five years at the Czech Embassy in Estonia; he is a diplomat and writer.
The novel depicts the mechanisms of power and the psychological transformations of people in diplomatic positions. At the same time, it is a satirical story, presenting the subject with a good portion of humour. The novel has a detective and psychological line. Marek Toman is on similar genre ground as Graham Greene (Human Factor, Our Man in Havana, Quiet American), John le Carré (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Most Wanted Man, Our Kind of Traitor), Alek Popov (Mission: London) or Lucy Fricke (Die Diplomatin/ Diplomat).
A hundred years ago, in the 1920s, Estonia became a country on the border between the West and the East, where secret services from both sides were active, and this continues even more so today. Although the title Czech Glass refers to a typical Czech export article (of German origin), the novel is not about glassmaking.
This is not a very kind reading, but it is definitely necessary—and very well written.
Toman's great play of fabulation.
Czech Glass is comfortably (for a reader) written in short chapters, which are introduced in the headings with quotations from various texts by Master Sun, Machiavelli, Henry Kissinger and others. Thus the form is rewarding, appealing and contemporary. Still, other characteristics came to mind. The novel is also a thriller and at the same time presents an almost Balzac-esque realistic social typology.