From the Bookshelf of Reading the World…

Closely Watched Trains

Bohumil Hrabal,

Edith Pargeter (Translator)

Start date: May 1, 2022

Finish date: May 31, 2022

Why we're reading this: Czech Republic
Translated
1001? Yes
Well Read World? Yes
[close] Czech Republic
Translated
1001? Yes
Well Read World? Yes

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Jun 15, 2022 Celia rated it really liked it

Shelves: translated, book-shelf, reading-the-wrld, classics, 2022-class-challenge, well-read-world-lit, 2022-read, ten-year-challenge, 1001-challenge, wholesale

The coming of age story of Miloš Hrma, who works at a train station under German occupation.

Miloš is a train station guard. His boss, the self-absorbed supervisor of the train station, is also an eccentric pigeon-breeder. Miloš is obsessed with having his first sexual encounter.

Atrocities abound in Czechoslovakia and beyond. The station is peaceful until word of an ammunition train approaching is received. (view spoiler) ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Oct 31, 2021 Shirley (stampartiste) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-classics, challenge-bingo-2021

Background: I read this book for my 2021 Bingo Challenge in the Goodreads Group "Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)". We were to read a book on Book Riot’s 2017 list, “100 Must-Read Classics in Translation.” I chose Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal because it sounded interesting, and I have only read a couple of other books by Czech authors.

Closely Watched Trains (also entitled Closely Observed Trains) is not an easy book to find here in the U.S. - I was able to borrow the sole li ...more

1 like · Like · see review