Books and Movies Set in Prague | Pre-Trip Reading List

The best preparation for Prague is not a guidebook — it is a novel that gets under the city's skin, or a film that shows you how the light falls on the Castle at dawn. Prague has been written about and filmed with an intensity that few cities can match, and arriving with that context changes what you see.

We recommend books and films to our guests regularly, and the ones who read or watch even one title before their trip ask better questions, notice more details, and connect with the city at a deeper level. This is not an exhaustive bibliography — it is a curated list of the works that genuinely matter, organised by what they will give you.

Essential Novels

The Unbearable Lightness of Being — Milan Kundera (1984)

Kundera's most famous novel is set partly in Prague during and after the 1968 Soviet invasion. The story follows Tomas, a surgeon, and Tereza through the political upheaval that transformed Czechoslovakia — but it is not a political novel in the conventional sense. Kundera uses Prague as a stage for philosophical questions about love, freedom, and the weight of decisions.

The city appears in fragments — streets in Mala Strana, the atmosphere of pre-invasion intellectual life, the suffocation of normalisation afterward. Kundera does not describe Prague the way a travel writer would; he describes what it felt like to live there during a specific, terrible period.

What it gives you: An emotional framework for understanding the 20th-century trauma that shaped modern Prague. When you walk through Mala Strana or sit in Cafe Slavia, the novel's atmosphere becomes tangible.

The Trial — Franz Kafka (1925)

Josef K. is arrested one morning without being told his crime and spends the rest of the novel navigating an opaque, labyrinthine bureaucratic system that is both terrifying and absurd. Kafka never names the city, but it is unmistakably Prague — the dark corridors, the cramped offices, the sense of being trapped in a system that operates by rules you cannot learn.

Kafka wrote *The Trial* in the evenings after his day job at the Workers' Accident Insurance Institute on Na Porici Street. The bureaucratic absurdity was not invented; it was observed.

What it gives you: A lens for Prague's darker atmosphere — the narrow lanes of the Old Town, the passages that lead nowhere, the sense that every building hides something you are not meant to see.

The Good Soldier Svejk — Jaroslav Hasek (1923)

Hasek's unfinished masterpiece follows Josef Svejk, a cheerfully incompetent Czech soldier, through the machinery of World War I. Svejk survives by appearing to be an idiot while quietly undermining every authority that tries to control him. The novel is funny, sprawling, and profoundly Czech — it encodes a national attitude toward power that persists to this day.

The early chapters are set in Prague, particularly in pubs in Zizkov and the New Town. U Kalicha on Na Bojisti Street — where Svejk's story begins — is still open and leans heavily into its literary fame.

What it gives you: The Czech sense of humour. If you understand Svejk, you understand why Czechs respond to absurdity with irony rather than outrage. It makes every interaction in Prague slightly funnier.

Too Loud a Solitude — Bohumil Hrabal (1976)

Hrabal's short novel is narrated by Hanta, a compactor operator who has spent 35 years crushing books and paper in a hydraulic press in a Prague cellar. He rescues the best books from destruction, drinks beer constantly, and delivers monologues that blend philosophy, literature, and the debris of the 20th century into something between elegy and comedy.

Hrabal is less known internationally than Kafka or Kundera, but within Czechia he is arguably more beloved. His prose captures a particular Prague energy — intellectual, earthy, slightly drunk, and deeply humane.

What it gives you: A connection to Prague's working-class intellectual tradition. The pubs Hrabal frequented in Zizkov and the Old Town are still there. Our Kafka guide touches on Hrabal's overlapping geography.

Non-Fiction

Prague in Black and Gold — Peter Demetz (1997)

Demetz, a Prague-born literary scholar who emigrated to the United States, wrote what is widely considered the definitive cultural history of Prague. The book traces the city from its founding legends through the Hussite wars, the Habsburg era, the First Republic, the Nazi occupation, the communist period, and the Velvet Revolution.

It is densely researched, beautifully written, and opinionated. Demetz does not pretend objectivity — he loves the city and is angry about what was done to it. The result is a history that reads like a novel.

What it gives you: Deep context. After reading Demetz, every building, square, and bridge in Prague carries a fuller story. It is the single most useful book for understanding the city you are about to visit.

Magic Prague — Angelo Maria Ripellino (1973)

Ripellino, an Italian Slavist, wrote a kaleidoscopic, literary portrait of Prague that blends history, fiction, art, legend, and personal obsession. It is not a conventional history and not a travel guide — it is a book about what Prague does to the imagination.

*Magic Prague* is dense and sometimes disorienting, but it captures something about the city that more orderly books miss: the way Prague layers reality and myth until the two become indistinguishable.

What it gives you: A sense of Prague's mystical and alchemical reputation — the traditions of Rudolf II's court, the golem legend, the city's persistent association with the occult. For a physical exploration of this side of Prague, our Hidden Prague Underground and Alchemy tour covers the same territory.

Films

Kolya (1996)

Jan Sverak's Oscar-winning film follows a middle-aged Czech cellist who, through a marriage of convenience, ends up caring for a five-year-old Russian boy in the last months before the Velvet Revolution. It is funny, tender, and quietly political — set against the crumbling backdrop of late-communist Prague.

The film captures a Prague that no longer exists — the grey, shabby, pre-renovation city where apartments leaked and the future was uncertain. Watching it before your trip provides a powerful before-and-after contrast with the restored city you will see today.

Amadeus (1984)

Milos Forman's eight-time Oscar winner was filmed almost entirely in Prague, standing in for 18th-century Vienna. The Estates Theatre — where Mozart actually premiered *Don Giovanni* — serves as itself. Mala Strana's Baroque streets play Vienna convincingly, and the Archbishop's Palace near Prague Castle doubles as the imperial court.

For a detailed location map, see our Prague film locations guide, which traces every major scene to its real-world setting.

Anthropoid (2016)

The true story of Operation Anthropoid — the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague in 1942 by Czechoslovak soldiers trained in Britain. The film was shot on location, and the climactic siege at the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius on Resslova Street uses the actual building where the paratroopers died. Bullet holes from the original battle are still visible in the church wall.

This is a difficult film, but it provides essential context for understanding Prague's World War II history — a chapter that the city's beauty sometimes obscures.

Closely Watched Trains (1966)

Jiri Menzel's Czech New Wave masterpiece — winner of the 1968 Oscar for Best Foreign Film — is set at a rural Bohemian train station during the Nazi occupation. It is not a Prague film per se, but it represents the golden age of Czech cinema and the national filmmaking tradition that later attracted Hollywood to Barrandov Studios.

The film's blend of humour, sadness, and quiet resistance captures the Czech temperament more precisely than almost any other work. It is available with English subtitles and runs just 93 minutes.

TV Shows and Documentaries

Prague: A Jewel in the Heart of Europe (various travel documentary series) — several documentary series have produced Prague episodes. The best focus on architecture, the Velvet Revolution, and the Jewish Quarter. Look for recent productions (post-2015) that reflect the city's current state rather than outdated stereotypes.

The Burning Bush (Horici ker, 2013) — Agnieszka Holland's HBO miniseries about Jan Palach's self-immolation in 1969 and the legal battle that followed. Filmed partly in Prague, it is one of the most powerful dramatisations of the post-invasion period. The series has not received the international attention it deserves.

Carta Blanca: Prague (2019) — a thoughtful, slow-paced documentary that explores Prague through its architecture, music, and literary traditions. Less well-known than the standard travel documentaries, but far more substantial.

Insider detail: Czech cinema has a distinguished tradition that extends well beyond what international audiences typically encounter. If you explore further, look for films by Vera Chytilova (*Daisies*, 1966), Jan Nemec (*Diamonds of the Night*, 1964), and the early work of Milos Forman (*The Fireman's Ball*, 1967) — all products of the Czech New Wave that emerged from Prague's FAMU film school.

Where to Buy English Books in Prague

Shakespeare and Sons — two locations (Krymska Street in Vrsovice and U Luzickeho seminare in Mala Strana). The best English-language bookshop in Prague, with a strong selection of Central European literature, fiction, and history. The staff make genuine recommendations.

Globe Bookstore and Cafe — Pstrossova Street, near the National Theatre. A Prague institution since 1993, with a café, literary events, and a solid selection of fiction and non-fiction in English.

Palac Knih Luxor — Wenceslas Square. The largest bookshop in Prague, with a substantial English-language section covering everything from bestsellers to Czech literature in translation.

Our guide to famous people from Prague covers the writers mentioned here alongside composers, scientists, and political figures who shaped the city.

Experience It With a Private Guide

The books and films on this list come alive when you walk through the streets they describe. Our guides know the literary geography — which corner Kafka passed daily, which pub Hasek drank in, which church wall still bears bullet holes from 1942.

Our All Prague in One Day tour covers the Old Town, the Castle, Charles Bridge, and Mala Strana — locations that appear in nearly every work on this list. When your guide knows you have read Kafka or watched Amadeus, the tour becomes a conversation rather than a lecture.

For an evening that feels like stepping into a historical novel, our medieval dinner experience delivers candlelight, fire shows, roasted meats, and mead in a vaulted cellar — the kind of immersive atmosphere that writers have been trying to capture for centuries.

See all our private tours — just your group, no strangers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best book to read before visiting Prague?

If you read only one, make it Peter Demetz's *Prague in Black and Gold* — it is the most comprehensive cultural history and provides context for nearly everything you will see. For fiction, start with Kafka's *The Trial* or Kundera's *The Unbearable Lightness of Being*, depending on your preference for atmosphere versus narrative.

Are there any good movies set in modern Prague?

*Kolya* (1996) captures the transition from communism, which still defines modern Prague. For Hollywood productions filmed in Prague (though not always set there), see our film locations guide. Czech cinema continues to produce strong work — look for recent films from directors like Bohdan Slama and Petr Vaclav.

Where can I find Czech literature in English translation?

Shakespeare and Sons in Vrsovice has the best curated selection. Globe Bookstore on Pstrossova is also strong. For a wider but less curated selection, Palac Knih Luxor on Wenceslas Square carries most major Czech authors in English translation.

Is The Good Soldier Svejk difficult to read?

The complete novel (four volumes) is long and episodic — Hasek died before finishing it. Most readers find the first two volumes (covering the Prague chapters and the early military service) engaging and funny. The later volumes become more repetitive. Start with an abridged edition if you are uncertain.

Should I watch Amadeus before visiting Prague?

Yes. Even though the film is set in Vienna, it was filmed entirely in Prague, and the locations — the Estates Theatre, Mala Strana streets, Hradcany — are places you will visit. Knowing the film transforms those locations from beautiful architecture into living film sets.

Books and Movies Set in Prague — What to Read and Watch Before Your Trip