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leic01's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
manda2491's review against another edition
3.0
Through repetition and allusion, Hanta outlines and expands on how much he enjoys working as a trash compacter. He has a particular fondness for simplicity, beer, gypsies, and philosophy. Overall, an interesting novel exploring the idea of permanence in a rapidly-changing society.
olicooper's review
4.0
This short novel was a delightful and surreal romp in the mind of the protagonist Hanta-- he has worked for 35 years at a wastepaper plant-- crushing paper and books in a hydraulic press-- all the while, stealing various volumes of books everyday-- saving them in a time of censorship in Prague.
Written in this stream of conscious style and barely enough sentence breaks to give you time to take a breath, I was not sure if I was going to be a fan. But the way the author crafts this story pulled me in. Since it is a short novel, there was not much time to find the stream of conscious style tiresome, then he starts layering in repetitious phrasing quite cleverly, adds some humor, adds eclectic and comprehensive literary references, and some dashes of philosophical whimsy.
It was an enjoyable time and worthy read.
Written in this stream of conscious style and barely enough sentence breaks to give you time to take a breath, I was not sure if I was going to be a fan. But the way the author crafts this story pulled me in. Since it is a short novel, there was not much time to find the stream of conscious style tiresome, then he starts layering in repetitious phrasing quite cleverly, adds some humor, adds eclectic and comprehensive literary references, and some dashes of philosophical whimsy.
It was an enjoyable time and worthy read.
felo's review against another edition
5.0
Pierwszą książką Hrabala, jaką przeczytałam było Auteczko, z polecenia, jako świetna lektura. Czytanie jej, choć króciutka, frustrowało mnie i denerwowało, mimo oczywistego kunsztu literackiego autora. I na dodatek nie lubię kotów. Zbyt Głośna Samotność tkwiła na moim Kindlu już jakiś czas i w niedzielne popołudnie postanowiłam dać Hrabalowi jeszcze jedną szansę, choć on mojej łaski wcale nie potrzebuje, niezaprzeczalnie - był świetnym fachowcem. Wpadłam w potok obrazów, znów trudnych, czasem nieprzyjemnych, czasem tęsknie nawołujących do naszych własnych głębokich pragnień i popłynęłam. Tekst toczy się jakby na jednym wdechu i jest wyśmienity. Bardzo polecam.
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
“My education has been so unwitting I can't quite tell which of my thoughts come from me and which from my books, but that's how I've stayed attuned to myself and the world around me for the past thirty-five years. 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.”
“When I start reading I'm somewhere completely different, I'm in the text, it's amazing, I have to admit I've been dreaming, dreaming in a land of great beauty, I've been in the very heart of truth. Ten times a day, every day, I wonder at having wandered so far, and then, alienated from myself, a stranger to myself, I go home, walking the streets silently and in deep meditation, passing trams and cars and pedestrians in a cloud of books, the books I found that day and am carrying home in my briefcase.”
I have always wanted to read many more books than it was possible for me to finish. When I was in high school, I had a little notebook with numerous titles of books that would be good for me. I gleaned these from books like Good Reading: A Guide for Serious Readers which proposed books that would help me be a better citizen.
I mention this because I suspect that this book about Hant’a and his wastepaper was in a later edition of Good Reading for several reasons. One, it is about books and reading. That was always a popular topic in those compliations. Two, the author, Hrabal was Czech and a good citizen of the world would read texts from many other countries.
The bad part of reading to improve myself is sometimes I read things because they were on “the list,” not because I was really interested. If I had met Hant’a in that period of my life, I would have soldiered on, but when I finished the book, I might not have enjoyed it. Now at 65, I read this because it appealed to me – not because this story was going to make me a better person.
Hant’a was a wonderful invention. He seemed very real to me and his words about books struck me deeply. I do like reading because I am in a place completely different from where my body is. I don’t know how Hrabal found the words to create Hant’a, but he did an amazing job.
If you love books and reading, if you want to see the world through other people’s eyes, I highly recommend this novel. It is short, only about 100 pages. Those pages will change your life.
“When I start reading I'm somewhere completely different, I'm in the text, it's amazing, I have to admit I've been dreaming, dreaming in a land of great beauty, I've been in the very heart of truth. Ten times a day, every day, I wonder at having wandered so far, and then, alienated from myself, a stranger to myself, I go home, walking the streets silently and in deep meditation, passing trams and cars and pedestrians in a cloud of books, the books I found that day and am carrying home in my briefcase.”
I have always wanted to read many more books than it was possible for me to finish. When I was in high school, I had a little notebook with numerous titles of books that would be good for me. I gleaned these from books like Good Reading: A Guide for Serious Readers which proposed books that would help me be a better citizen.
I mention this because I suspect that this book about Hant’a and his wastepaper was in a later edition of Good Reading for several reasons. One, it is about books and reading. That was always a popular topic in those compliations. Two, the author, Hrabal was Czech and a good citizen of the world would read texts from many other countries.
The bad part of reading to improve myself is sometimes I read things because they were on “the list,” not because I was really interested. If I had met Hant’a in that period of my life, I would have soldiered on, but when I finished the book, I might not have enjoyed it. Now at 65, I read this because it appealed to me – not because this story was going to make me a better person.
Hant’a was a wonderful invention. He seemed very real to me and his words about books struck me deeply. I do like reading because I am in a place completely different from where my body is. I don’t know how Hrabal found the words to create Hant’a, but he did an amazing job.
If you love books and reading, if you want to see the world through other people’s eyes, I highly recommend this novel. It is short, only about 100 pages. Those pages will change your life.
aloyamr's review against another edition
A man reading about another man, both are battling their existential angst in a world full of the absurd, a world where no one is in it by their own wish. Both are embracing the meaninglessness of life while simultaneously trying to rebel against it. All that, while slightly unnoticeably turning mad.
How can it get any more romantic than that? Maybe if it rains?
*c
How can it get any more romantic than that? Maybe if it rains?
*c
kynan's review against another edition
3.0
TL;DR: Worth a read and a think.
TL: I forgot to review this at the time, so I'm missing the initial visceral response. The main thing that I noticed is that it's very much not a "tender and funny story", I'm not sure what the heck that was meant to be describing, but it sure as heck wasn't this.
I'm pretty sure that the majority of this book just wooshed about three metres above my head. Ostensibly it's the story of Haňťa, a Czechoslovakian (I think that's the chronologically appropriate term for that area in 1976) manual labourer who fills a paper-compactor.
That's the obvious part of the story, but there's a trail of breadcrumbs that lead the reader to the conclusion that the author's intent was for the reader to "read between the lines", actually, it's not so much a trail of breadcrumbs as a fully-realised bread-factory, pumping out maps to bread-town.
I think I might give this one a re-read at some stage.
TL: I forgot to review this at the time, so I'm missing the initial visceral response. The main thing that I noticed is that it's very much not a "tender and funny story", I'm not sure what the heck that was meant to be describing, but it sure as heck wasn't this.
I'm pretty sure that the majority of this book just wooshed about three metres above my head. Ostensibly it's the story of Haňťa, a Czechoslovakian (I think that's the chronologically appropriate term for that area in 1976) manual labourer who fills a paper-compactor.
That's the obvious part of the story, but there's a trail of breadcrumbs that lead the reader to the conclusion that the author's intent was for the reader to "read between the lines", actually, it's not so much a trail of breadcrumbs as a fully-realised bread-factory, pumping out maps to bread-town.
I think I might give this one a re-read at some stage.
joshuamt's review against another edition
3.0
This was my book club selection, chosen because it is short and had a number of "favorite book" reviews on this site. I was hoping for something like [b:Invisible Cities|9809|Invisible Cities|Italo Calvino|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468623303l/9809._SY75_.jpg|68476]- a quick hit that stays with you.
Unfortunately, the book did not deliver for our book club, or for me personally. There were a dozen of captivating incidents and observations, but for our group, these parts did not hold together convincingly, let alone become something greater.
Still, the discussion was satisfying for its look at the surrounding history and politics, and I suspect that insights may bubble up over time.
Unfortunately, the book did not deliver for our book club, or for me personally. There were a dozen of captivating incidents and observations, but for our group, these parts did not hold together convincingly, let alone become something greater.
Still, the discussion was satisfying for its look at the surrounding history and politics, and I suspect that insights may bubble up over time.