{"title":"Bohumil Hrabal","description":"\u003cp\u003eBohumil Hrabal's works invite readers into richly textured narratives that blend humour, melancholy, and the quirks of everyday life. His stories, such as \u003cem\u003eClosely Watched Trains\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eI Served The King Of England\u003c\/em\u003e, explore human resilience and the absurdities of existence with a distinctively lyrical and often playful voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExpect prose that captures the spirit of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances, marked by vivid characterisation and a keen eye for life's small, unforgettable moments. Hrabal's writing offers a unique immersion into 20th-century Central European life, crafted with both warmth and wit.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"all-my-cats-by-bohumil-hrabal-9780241422199","title":"All My Cats","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA gem of a book about the aggravations and great joys of cats from a literary master.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the autumn of 1965, flush with the unexpected success of his first published books, the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal bought a weekend cottage in Kersko, about an hour's drive east of Prague. From then until his death in 1997, he divided his time between Prague and Kersko, where he wrote and tended to a community of cats. Over the years, his relationship with them grew deeper, becoming a measure of the pressures, both private and public, that impinged on his life as a writer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAll My Cats\u003c\/em\u003e, written in 1983 after a serious car accident, is the chronicle of a cat lover who becomes overwhelmed by his cats and his life and is driven to the brink of madness by the dilemmas his indulgent love for the animals has created.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46249836216556,"sku":"9780241422199","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241422199.jpg?v=1741562725"},{"product_id":"closely-watched-trains-by-bohumil-hrabal-9780241290224","title":"Closely Watched Trains","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA classic of postwar literature, a small masterpiece of humour, humanity and heroism from one of the best Czech writers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor gauche young apprentice Milos Hrma, life at the small but strategic railway station in Bohemia in 1945 is full of complex preoccupations. There is the exacting business of dispatching German troop trains to and from the toppling Eastern front; the problem of ridding himself of his burdensome innocence; and the awesome scandal of Dispatcher Hubicka's gross misuse of the station's official stamps upon the telegraphist's anatomy. Beside these, Milos's part in the plan for the ammunition train seems a simple affair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eClosely Watched Trains\u003c\/em\u003e, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46249873211628,"sku":"9780241290224","price":17.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241290224.jpg?v=1741522471"},{"product_id":"closely-watched-trains-by-bohumil-hrabal-9780241752142","title":"Closely Watched Trains","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eClosely Watched Trains\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of Milos Hrma, a young railroad apprentice coming of age in wartime Czechoslovakia. Milos is overwhelmed with worries—about his virginity, his love for the conductor, and ongoing scandals in the stationmaster's office—besides which the idea of fighting the Germans seems a simple affair.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePoignant, humorous, and the inspiration behind the 1966 Academy Award-winning film, this is a small masterpiece from one of the best Czech writers of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46463332417772,"sku":"9780241752142","price":17.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241752142.jpg?v=1747866019"},{"product_id":"why-i-write-by-bohumil-hrabal-9788024642680","title":"Why I Write?","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Glimmers in anticipation of Hrabal’s later virtuosity.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A collection of formative fiction from a writer whose work has earned comparison with Joyce and Beckett. . . . Early work from a writer who merits a larger readership.”\u003cbr\u003e —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis collection of the earliest prose by one of literature’s greatest stylists captures, as scholar Arnault Maréchal put it, “the moment when Hrabal discovered the magic of writing.” Taken from the period when Bohumil Hrabal shifted his focus from poetry to prose, these stories—many written in school notebooks, typed and read aloud to friends, or published in samizdat—often showcase raw experiments in style that would define his later works. Others intriguingly utilise forms the author would never pursue again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing the first appearance of key figures from Hrabal’s later writings, such as his real-life Uncle Pepin, who would become a character in his later fiction and is credited here as a coauthor of one piece, the book also contains stories that Hrabal would go on to cannibalise for some of his most famous novels. Altogether, \u003ci\u003eWhy I Write?\u003c\/i\u003e offers readers the chance to explore this important nascent phase of Hrabal’s writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExpertly interpreted by award-winning Hrabal translator David Short, this collection comprises some of the last remaining prose works by Hrabal to be translated into English. A treasure trove for Hrabal devotees, \u003ci\u003eWhy I Write?\u003c\/i\u003e allows us to see clearly why this great prose master was, as described by Czech writer and publisher Josef Škvorecký, “fundamentally a lyrical poet.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46853362352364,"sku":"9788024642680","price":37.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/4416253485045.jpg?v=1759198815"},{"product_id":"i-served-the-king-of-england-by-bohumil-hrabal-9781529976472","title":"I Served The King Of England","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA whirlwind of comic genius and moving poignancy following the rise and fall of one small, outrageous man, from the Czech Republic's master storyteller.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Our very best writer today'\u003c\/em\u003e Milan Kundera\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDitie is a pint-sized hotel waiter with big dreams. Between pocketing stolen change from unsuspecting customers and reminiscing on nights spent at the local brothel, he fantasises about his immense—and imagined—riches. Then, ludicrously, Ditie's dreams start to become reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYet while his chaotic adventures lead him to ever more glamorous hotels, beyond the sparkling dining halls, the forces of twentieth-century European history march on. A whirlwind of comic genius, a gut-punch of narrative power, this is the story of one small man's rise and fall—or fall and rise—against the shadowy backdrop of Europe's darkest days.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWith an introduction by Adam Thirlwell\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'An extraordinary and subtly tragicomic novel'\u003c\/em\u003e New York Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'Hrabal bounces and floats... with a gusting humour and a hushed tenderness of detail'\u003c\/em\u003e Julian Barnes\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'A joyful, picaresque story, which begins with Baron Munchausen-like adventures and ends in tears and solitude.'\u003c\/em\u003e James Wood\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47648324845804,"sku":"9781529976472","price":28.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529976472-i-served-the-king-of-england.jpg?v=1779256078"},{"product_id":"dancing-lessons-for-the-advanced-in-age-by-bohumil-hrabal-9781529986105","title":"Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA trail-blazing, transportive novella that contains all the energy, history and charm of one man's lifetime, this is Bohumil Hrabal's most unique masterpiece.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis ebullient, gallivanting novella encapsulates the world vision of the Czech Republic's best-loved author in one tumbling, breathtaking sentence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn ageing man holds court, spinning a single, unbroken stream of stories about his life—loves won and lost, jobs taken and abandoned, moments of absurdity and chance. As he talks, the line between memory and invention begins to blur.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBrief Encounters:\u003c\/em\u003e classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47976656339180,"sku":"9781529986105","price":24.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781529986105-dancing-lessons-for-the-advanced-in-age.jpg?v=1784694737"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/bohumil-hrabal.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}