A classic of postwar literature, a small masterpiece of humour, humanity and heroism from one of the best Czech writers
Bohumil Hrabal (Author)
Bohumil Hrabal was one of the most important and admired Czech
writers of the twentieth century. He was born and raised in Brno in
what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914. After working as
a railway labourer, insurance agent, travelling salesman, manual
labourer, paper-packer and stagehand, he published a collection of
poetry that was quickly withdrawn by the communist regime. His
best-known books include I Served the King of England, Closely
Watched Trains (made into an Academy Award-winning film directed by
Jiri Menzel) and Too Loud a Solitude. In 1997, he fell to his death
from the fifth floor of a Prague hospital, apparently trying to
feed the pigeons.
Hrabal bounces and floats. His mode is a sort of dancing realism,
somewhere between fairy tale and satire. He is a most sophisticated
novelist, with a gusting humour and a hushed tenderness of detail.
We should read him
*Julian Barnes*
Hrabal, to my mind, is one of the greatest European prose
writers
*Philip Roth*
One of the most authentic incarnations of magical Prague; an
incredible union of earthy humour and baroque imagination... What
is unique about Hrabal is his capacity for joy
*Milan Kundera*
Hrabal's comedy is completely paradoxical. Holding in balance
limitless desire and limited satisfaction, it is both rebellious
and fatalistic, restless and wise
*London Review of Books*
A poignant, humorous tale
*New York Times Book Review*
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