Ester Krumbachová Reihenfolge der Bücher (Chronologisch)

This book, published by Twisted Spoon Press in Prague, features a work written in 1935 during the peak of Czech Surrealism, though it wasn't released until 1945. It presents a bizarre erotic fantasy centered on a young girl's journey into womanhood coinciding with her first menstruation. Drawing inspiration from various sources, including Matthew Lewis's *The Monk* and Marquis de Sade's *Justine*, the narrative weaves a lyrical, menacing dream of sexual awakening. Elements include a vampire with a craving for chicken blood, changelings, lecherous priests, and a grandmother yearning for her lost youth. In the Foreword, the author expresses his fascination with ancient tales and superstitions that captivated him yet remained elusive in meaning. This work blends fairy tale and Gothic horror, reflecting on themes of youth, age, sexuality, and death. It explores the grotesque and features a fluid interplay of language, mood, and genre, characteristic of the Czech avant-garde. The 1970 film adaptation is regarded as a significant achievement in Czech new-wave cinema. This edition also includes original illustrations by Kamil Lhoták.

This publication is dedicated to Ester Krumbachová (1923–1996), a significant costume designer, screenwriter, writer, director, and artist. She collaborated with theater figures such as Miroslav Macháček, Ladislav Smoček, and Ivan Vyskočil, as well as filmmakers like Otakar Vávra, Věra Chytilová, Jan Němec, Karel Kachyňa, and Petr Václav. The aim of this work is a critical examination of the previously unknown legacy of Ester Krumbachová, her oeuvre, and themes that resonate into the present. The book consists of multiple layers, featuring scholarly and essayistic texts by both Czech and international specialists from various fields, alongside archival materials organized into thematic, loosely connected clusters. This rhizomatic structure closely reflects Krumbachová's own working methods and reveals her thoughts on directing, scenography, costume design, screenwriting, as well as on detail, active objects, color concepts, the symbiosis of film professions, magic, folklore, exoticism, realism, subjectivity, hierarchy, gender polarity, queerness, feminism, love and sexuality, food, and companionship.

Ester Krumbachová proslula především jako scénografka a kostýmní výtvarnice, v mnoha případech se však zásadně podílela i na tvorbě scénářů a celkové koncepci filmů jak československé nové vlny, tak i filmů starší generace tvůrců (Vávra, Kachyňa, Jasný atp.). Publikace přináší výběr z jejích scénářů a její tvorbu pro film a televizi komplexně přibližují studie editora Jana Bernarda a další doprovodné materiály. Jako celek publikace představuje zatím nejúplnější pohled na scenáristickou tvorbu této výjimečné umělkyně.

Vtipná a pozoruhodná knížka zahrnuje "neúmyslně zapomenuté, úmyslně neodeslané dopisy, smíchané s černými pohádkami".