Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal

Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal

90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books

Closely Watched Trains tells the story of Miloš Hrma, a young railroad apprentice coming of age in wartime Czechoslovakia. Miloš 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. Poignant, 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.

Bohumil Hrabal was one of the most important and admired Czech writers of the twentieth century. He was born and raised in Brno in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914. After working as a railway labourer, insurance agent, travelling salesman, manual labourer, paper-packer and stagehand, he published a collection of poetry that was quickly withdrawn by the communist regime. His best-known books include I Served the King of England, Closely Watched Trains (made into an Academy Award-winning film directed by Jiri Menzel) and Too Loud a Solitude. In 1997, he fell to his death from the fifth floor of a Prague hospital, apparently trying to feed the pigeons.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780241752142
ISBN 10	0241752140
Title	Closely Watched Trains
Author	Bohumil Hrabal
Series	Penguin Archive
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Books Ltd
Year published	2025-04-17
Number of pages	112
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.