Come with us to Prague, to a quiet corner of the old town, to the Kavárna Martinská, where the regular customers sit at the bar and dream of other lives... of past or present lives, of better or worse lives, or perhaps of just holding on to the ones they have for a little longer...
At the Martinská, the master of the house is never found slacking. He takes care of introductions, he takes care to see no one is left out and, slowly but surely, he makes himself indispensable to all. Where he finds weakness, he offers strength; where he finds caution, he bestows confidence; he makes the aloof affable and loosens the tongues of the taciturn; inspiring bravery in the timid, he fortifies all feelings, sublime or ridiculous, and though blind to class, colour or creed and without prejudice, he can be a regular cause of it. Never suffering to see an empty glass, he is the best of friends, and the worst of them...
Whatever your interest, you will find someone with whom to share it at the Martinská. Maybe you are an actor or musician seeking company? Perhaps you are a writer? Or an artist? Then again, maybe philosophy is your love? Painter, poet, priest or prostitute, you can find one enjoying a drink or two at the Martinská, and, in short, if you can think of a talent, there will be one with a claim to it amongst the patrons. Don’t worry, though, if you can’t think of anything because empty heads are welcomed just the same.
Perhaps you are one for whom drink is the only reason to get out of bed? You won't be alone – you can find company with those who sit, day after day, staring into their absinthe, like ancient seers attempting to divine the future...
Of course, not all at the Martinská are hopeless alcoholics – some are merely hopeless drunks... adrift on rivers of beer, they are carried along aboard rafts of good intentions lashed together with fraying promises, and never noticing how the drink slowly rots the ties keeping them afloat.
Each of them has followed a different path; some started long ago and far away, and the traveller has been lucky to survive the journey; others have been shorter and easier; but wherever they began, all roads have led to the Martinská, an uncontrolled junction where the smallest collision can have the most devastating result...
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Coming soon to a bookshop near you. Or Amazon. And Netflix. Well, as the song goes, if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true...
"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like Reading!"
- Shane Austen, Slough.
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