SOURCE: Czerwinski, E. J. Review of No Saints or Angels, by Ivan Klíma. World Literature Today 76, no. 2 (spring 2002): 221.

In the following review, Czerwinski praises No Saints or Angels as one of Klíma's strongest and compelling works, but faults the translation for its confusing melding of British English and modern slang.

Like good wine, Ivan Klíma improves with age. During the sixties and seventies his works seemed guided by a heavy hand and a censor's steady gaze. As the political climate became more oppressive, his writings acquired an air of freedom. His latest novel [No Saints or Angels] (perhaps more accurately translated as “Neither Saints nor Angels”) is undoubtedly his finest work.

Klíma has always been praised for experimenting with the boundaries of point of view. In Saints he manages to incorporate several voices into a harmonious whole. The central figure, Kristýna, dominates the...