My Golden Trades, by Ivan Klima (Granta, £6.99 in UK)

Although a fictionalised memoir, this book from the Czech author of Judge on Trial is ultimately a philosophical study of life. Divided into six episodes, each inspired by one of the several alternative "trades" Klima practised when not officially allowed to write during the years of oppression, it is a journal of observation. No amount of state pressure was capable of closing either Klima's mind or his eyes. Adopting the various personas imposed by his various occupation of the moment, he considers history and the legacy of the past in careful prose which is reflective, philosophical and frequently journalistic in its sharpness. His honesty of approach can border on the prosaic, but Klima has the gift of making the ordinary important. Wider observations about life and nature always undercut his personal experiences. Far more than a personalised document, this book is outward-looking, profound and often reminiscent of Primo Levi's The Periodic Table. If there is a central thesis it is surely that Klima believes human existence and civilisation is greater than even the most oppressive regime.