A classic of postwar literature,a small masterpiece of humour,humanity and heroism from one of the best Czech writersFor twenty-two-year-old Milos,bumbling apprentice at a sleepy Czechrailway station,life is full of worries: his burdensome virginity,hislove for the pretty conductor Masha,the scandalous goings-on in thestation master's office. Beside them,the part he will come to playagainst the occupying Germans seems a simple affair,in Bohumil Hrabal'stouching,absurd masterpiece of humour,humanity and heroism. Closely Watched Trains,which became the award-winning Jiri Menzel film of the'Prague Spring',is a masterpiece that fully justifies Hrabal's reputation as one of the best Czech writers of the twentieth century.
Publisher: Penguin Books LtdISBN: 9780241290224Number of pages: 96Weight: 78 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 5 mm
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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 himHrabal,to my mind,is one of the greatest European prose writersOne 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 joyHrabal's comedy is completely paradoxical. Holding in balance limitless desire and limited satisfaction,it is both rebellious and fatalistic,restless and wiseA poignant,humorous tale
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