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Sorry - forgot to take a book to work so that I could enter a quote during a break.
English translation of a 1984 book by an East European emigre.
"Cemeteries in Bohemia are like gardens. The graves are covered with grass and colorful flowers. Modest tombstones are lost in the greenery. When the sun goes down, the cemetery sparkles with tiny candles. It looks as though the dead are dancing at a children's ball. Yes, a children's ball, because the dead are as innocent as children. No matter how brutal life becomes, peace always reigns in the cemetery. Even in wartime, in Hitler's time, in Stalin's time, through all occupations. When she felt low, she would get into the car, leave Prague far behind, and walk through one or another of the country cemeteries she loved so well. Against the backdrop of blue hills, they were as beautiful as a lullaby.
"For Franz a cemetery was an ugly dump of stones and bones."
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