Too Loud a Solitude
Bohumil Hrabal
Hanta rescues books from the jaws of his compacting press and carries them home. Hrabal, whom Milan Kundera calls "our very best writer today," celebrates the power and the indestructibility of the written word. Translated by Michael Henry Heim.
Posted by hughes-a (1 year ago ) A delightfully comedic, obscure little read about a waste-paper presser accidentally educated by the great works he destroys and reverentially collects. Very European in feel, like Hesse meeting Kadare with a snippet of Szerb, it's apocalyptic on a micro-budget and the hard to say but easy to read Bohumil Hrabal captures the lonely life of a reclusive drinker, imprinted upon his ghastly lifeworld very much like the protagonists masterpieces, attached to his bales of rubbish with ease, beauty and delicacy. A worthy and short read as an introduction to Hrabal and fellow heroes of (Eastern-ish) European literature. A thorough 9 out of 10
(Losing one point for being just 100-odd pages, instead of 300.)
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