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karinlib's review against another edition
4.0
This was a difficult book to rate. It's a story of a man in Prague whose job it is to destroy books, art, ephemera, and yet because he can pick out a book from the pile and read it (which often gets him into trouble), he obtains an education. I love any book that celebrates books and reading.
maiamiga's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Una gran novela llena de crítica social, llena de poesía, llena de sensorialidad, llena de la ciudad de Praga y con un personaje único que nos repugna y nos provoca empatía y cariño a partes iguales. La atmósfera, las metáforas que crea, la defensa de la cultura y de los libros frente al sinsentido del poder.... Es una maravilla. No le doy más puntuación porque, a pesar de ser muy breve, a mí me ha gustado sobre todo el inicio y el final, sobre todo esta última. Pero igualmente es una obra inolvidable, simbólica a más no poder, que me ha hecho recordar a otro checo irrepetible como es Kafka.
missbookiverse's review
3.0
Ist ein bisschen wie ein tschechisches [b:Fahrenheit 451|13079982|Fahrenheit 451|Ray Bradbury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383718290i/13079982._SY75_.jpg|1272463], weil der Protagonist in einer Papierpresse arbeitet und immer Bücher aus dem Müll zieht und sie liest bevor er sie gezielt in die Presse wirft. Sogar der Schreibstil ist ein bisschen ähnlich und gerade am Anfang wunderschön:
Das verliert sich dann leider ein wenig und ich konnte nicht mit jedem Kapitel etwas anfangen, aber insgesamt fand ich es sehr originell und mit mehr historischem Kontext ließen sich sicher auch diese Kapitel besser erschließen.
For thirty-five years I've been compacting wastepaper and books, smearing myself with letters until I've come to look like my encyclopedias [...]. I am a jug filled with water both magic and plain; I have only to lean over and a stream of beautiful thoughts flows out of me.
Das verliert sich dann leider ein wenig und ich konnte nicht mit jedem Kapitel etwas anfangen, aber insgesamt fand ich es sehr originell und mit mehr historischem Kontext ließen sich sicher auch diese Kapitel besser erschließen.
mockingthebird's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Poetic, filthy, strange, and all the more beautiful. I honestly thought it was really good - with a depressing, yet fitting ending. Hes just a lonely little guy messing around with his mice and beer who gets overtaken by a progressing world that doesnt understand the value of the written word. Also there are so many things within the book to pick apart, like separate things that Hrabal talks about and touches on - political and not political. A very interesting little book.
Also this quote was delicious:
"Because when I read, I don’t really read; I pop a beautiful sentence into my mouth and suck it like a fruit drop, or I sip it like a liqueur until the thought dissolves in me like alcohol, infusing brain and heart and coursing on through the veins to the root of each blood vessel."
Also this quote was delicious:
"Because when I read, I don’t really read; I pop a beautiful sentence into my mouth and suck it like a fruit drop, or I sip it like a liqueur until the thought dissolves in me like alcohol, infusing brain and heart and coursing on through the veins to the root of each blood vessel."
mary_sh's review against another edition
4.0
4 stelle e mezzo
Un lungo flusso di coscienza sul tema del lavoro nella società industriale. Alterna passaggi ironici a passaggi grotteschi che mirano a inorridire. Il protagonista trova la via di uscita a un mestiere altrimenti alienante nella letteratura e nella bellezza artistica, trasmettendo una passione ben nota a noi lettori.
"Quello che io leggo non è nè per divertimento nè per far passare il tempo o addirittura per addormentarmi meglio, io, che vivo in un paese in cui quindici generazioni sanno leggere e scrivere, io bevo per poter non dormire mai più a causa della lettura, perchè la lettura mi faccia venire il tremito."
Un lungo flusso di coscienza sul tema del lavoro nella società industriale. Alterna passaggi ironici a passaggi grotteschi che mirano a inorridire. Il protagonista trova la via di uscita a un mestiere altrimenti alienante nella letteratura e nella bellezza artistica, trasmettendo una passione ben nota a noi lettori.
"Quello che io leggo non è nè per divertimento nè per far passare il tempo o addirittura per addormentarmi meglio, io, che vivo in un paese in cui quindici generazioni sanno leggere e scrivere, io bevo per poter non dormire mai più a causa della lettura, perchè la lettura mi faccia venire il tremito."
abagoflobsters's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
A very special, bizarre book. What a treat to spend time with such an incredibly imaginative character who delivers the novel in what seems to be one long ramble. Concise, but leaves me with a lot to think about. So much here to say about knowledge, the fallible material forms of knowledge, destruction, resistance in a police state, the power of daydreaming and memory, and the alienation of technology. Big rec.
jazose's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
mr_e_staley's review against another edition
5.0
I grabbed this book off the shelf of a used bookstore not knowing anything before I read this book. I love this book, I really did not expect the amount of enjoyment I’d get out of a ‘short read’. I am still flabbergasted by how much Hrabal put into this book while making it such an easy read.
This book brings to thought how people identify themselves by education and by their work. It also talked tangentially about how even if the career name is the same it may not be generation from generation, there may perhaps be a lost art or lost education that used to be tied to a job; yet the job no longer teaches that lesson.
This book brings to thought how people identify themselves by education and by their work. It also talked tangentially about how even if the career name is the same it may not be generation from generation, there may perhaps be a lost art or lost education that used to be tied to a job; yet the job no longer teaches that lesson.