A review by bluestarfish
Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal

4.0

Haňt'a is a reclusive man who hoards books at home and compacts wastepaper for his job. His job has lead to an unexpected education and love for words as he snatches phrases and books from destruction, but also makes peace with all the knowledge and books that he is destroying in his job. The narrtive meanders along with the old man though Prague and memories and being yelled at by his boss for not doing a good job. This short novel was first published in a samizdat edition and has plenty to make you think about censorship and literacy and how indifference and uncaring are equally effective measures. But even in the underground basement hole where Haňt'a barely sees the light and has lost the will to venture outside much there is light and expansion and travelling and wonder in the mind through the written words. There's also some interesting points about hte worth and meaning of work. Funny and sad.

Translated from the Czech by Michael Henry Heim