Paral, Vladimir

Born in Prague in the family of an officer of the General Staff of the Czechoslovak Army. Having graduated from a real gymnasium in 1950, Vladimir Paral entered the Faculty of Chemistry at the Brno Technical University . Then he moved to the Institute of Chemical Technology in Pardubice, which he graduated in 1954 ^[2] .

Since 1954, he worked as a process engineer at the Kolora plant in the cities of Liberec and Jablonec nad Nisou . Two years later, he began working at the Chemopharma plant in Usti nad Labem . First, he held the position of researcher, then he began to work as a shift foreman and chemical engineer. Since 1967, Vladimir Paral is a professional writer ^[2] .

His prose is characterized by "technological style", since Paral often describes laboratory experiments.

He made his debut with the comic tale "Six Hell Nights" (czech "Šest pekelných nocí") , written in 1962 under the pseudonym Jan Laban .

In 1964, the short story Fair of Fulfilled Wishes (Czech Veletrh splněných přání) ^[3] was published, the first book to form the so-called “black pentalogy” (Czech černá pentalogie) ^[4] . In this prose cycle of 3 novels and 2 novels, the author criticizes the consumer society. The main theme is the conflict between monotonous life and authentic experience. At the same time, monotonous life in this conflict is considered a negative element of human life ^[2] . In 1966, the novel “The Blizzard of Private Life” (czech Soukromá vichřice) was created and after three years the “Catapult” (czech Katapult) . The fourth novel of the cycle, entitled “Lovers and Killers” (Czech Milenci a vrazi) , did not comply with the principles of the cultural policy of the normalization regime. The author was subjected to sharp criticism, and in an effort to conform to the official ideology, in 1971 he created the novel Professional Woman (czech Profesionální žena) ^[3] .

In 1973, Paral wrote the work “A Young Man and a White Whale” (Czech Mladý muž a bílá velryba) . Together with the novels “Joy till the morning” (czech. Radost až do rána) , “Brilliant miracle” (czech. Geniální zázrak) , “Flour of imagination” (czech Muka obraznosti) , it forms the so-called “white tetralogy” (czech .bílá tetralogie) ^[4] . By writing these works, the author tried to overcome skepticism and create a positive social type.

In the 1980s, Paral turned to science fiction : “The temptation of A-ZZ” (czech. Pokušení A-ZZ), “The war with many faces of the beast” (czech. Válka s mnohozvířetem), “Romeo and Juliet 2300” (czech Romeo a Julie 2300) , "Country of Women" (czech. Země žen) . His latest prose works, for example, “The Decameron 2000, or Love in Prague” (czech Dekameron 2000 aneb Láska v Praze) or “The Book of Bliss, Laughter and Joy” (czech Kniha rozkoší, smíchu a radosti) are imbued with erotic motifs ^{[ 2]} .

Black Pentalogue

• 1964 - Veletrh splněných přání
• 1966 - Soukromá vichřice
• 1969 - Milenci a vrazi
• 1971 - Profesionální žena

White tetralogy

• 1973 - Mladý muž a bílá velryba
• 1975 - Radost až do rána
• 1977 - Geniální zázrak
• 1980 - Muka obraznosti

Science Fiction

• 1982 - Pokušení A-ZZ
• 1983 - Válka s mnohozvířetem
• 1987 - Země žen
• 1982 - Romeo a Julie 2300

• 1990 - Dekameron 2000 aneb Láska v Praze
• 1992 - Kniha rozkoší, smíchu a radosti