Bohumil Hrabal (; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a
Czech writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century.
Early life
Hrabal was born in
Židenice (suburb of
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...
) on 28 March 1914, in what was then the
province of Moravia within
Austria-Hungary, to an unmarried mother, Marie Božena Kiliánová (1894–1970). According to the organisers of a 2009 Hrabal exhibition in Brno, his biological father was probably Bohumil Blecha (1893–1970), a teacher's son a year older than Marie, who was her friend from the neighbourhood. Marie's parents opposed the idea of their daughter marrying Blecha, as he was about to serve in the
Austro-Hungarian Army.
[“Vítová: Hrabal dostal šest pětek, a v Brně skončil”, Brněnský deník, 29 March 2009] World War I started four months after Hrabal's birth, and Blecha was sent to the
Italian front, before being invalided out of service.
[Novinky.cz, 31 October 2004, reprinted from Právo] Blecha's daughter, Drahomíra Blechová-Kalvodová, says her father told her when she was 18 that Hrabal was her half-brother. Bohumil and his biological father never met formally, according to Blechová-Kalvodová.
Hrabal and Blechová-Kalvodová met twice; a dedication in a picture from 1994 says: "To sister Drahomíra, Hrabal!"
Hrabal was baptised Bohumil František Kilián. Until the age of three, he lived mainly with his grandparents, Kateřina Kiliánová (born Bartlová)(d. 1950)
and Tomáš Kilián (died 1925), a descendant of a French soldier injured at the
Battle of Austerlitz, in Brno, while his mother worked in
Polná as an assistant book-keeper in the town's brewery. She worked there with her future husband, František Hrabal (1889– 1966); one František Hrabal was listed as Bohumil's godfather when he was baptised on 4 February 1914, but František was also the first name of Bohumil's future step-grandfather, a soft-drinks trader. František Hrabal, Hrabal's stepfather, was a friend of Blecha.
He is a prominent character in some of Hrabal's most famous fiction work, and in ''Gaps'', the second volume of his autobiographical trilogy, Hrabal wrote that he declined an invitation to meet his biological father and considered František Hrabal to be his father.
Marie and František married in February 1917, shortly before Bohumil's second birthday. Hrabal's half-brother, Břetislav Josef Hrabal (1916–1985), was born later that year; Břetislav, known as Slávek, is said to have been an excellent raconteur.
The family moved in August 1919 to
Nymburk, a town on the banks of the
Elbe River, where František Hrabal became the manager of a brewery. Both Marie and František were involved in amateur dramatics, though Marie was more active. Hrabal later recalled having a complex about this, and feeling embarrassed by her being the centre of attention.
Hrabal's uncle was Bohuslav Kilián (1892–1942), a lawyer, journalist and publisher of the cultural magazines ''Salon'' and ''Měsíc''. The latter had a German version, ''Der Monat'', that was distributed throughout Europe, but not in Nazi Germany.
In 1920, Hrabal started primary school in
Nymburk. In September 1925, he spent one year at a grammar school in Brno (now
Gymnázium třída Kapitána Jaroše
Gymnázium třída Kapitána Jaroše (historically known as the 1st Czech Gymnasium of Brno; commonly known as Jaroška) is a public gymnasium in Brno, Czech Republic.
History
Founded in 1867 as Slovanské gymnázium, the school is the oldest C ...
, later attended by
Milan Kundera). He failed the first year, and later attended a technical secondary school in Nymburk. There too he struggled to concentrate on his studies, despite extra tutoring from his uncle.
Wartime activities and early adulthood
In June 1934, Hrabal left school with a certificate that said he could be considered for a place at university on a technical course. He took private classes in
Latin for a year, passing the state exam in the town of
Český Brod with an "adequate" grade on 3 October 1935. On 7 October, he registered at
Charles University
)
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, image_size = 200px
, established =
, type = Public, Ancient
, budget = 8.9 billion CZK
, rector = Milena Králíčková
, faculty = 4,057
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, undergr ...
in
Prague to study for a
law degree
A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...
. He graduated only in March 1946, as Czech universities were shut down in 1939 and remained so until the end of
Nazi occupation. During the war, he worked as a railway labourer and dispatcher in
Kostomlaty, near Nymburk, an experience reflected in one of his best-known works, ''Closely Observed Trains'' ( cs, Ostře sledované vlaky). He worked variously as an insurance agent (1946–47), a travelling salesman (1947–49) and a manual labourer alongside the graphic artist
Vladimír Boudník in the
Kladno steelworks (1949–52, and again briefly, 1953), an experience that inspired the "total realism" of texts such as ''Jarmilka'' that he was writing at the time. After a serious injury, he worked in a recycling mill in the Prague district of
Libeň as a paper packer (1954–59), before working as a stagehand (1959–62) at the S. K. Neumann Theatre in Prague (today
Divadlo pod Palmovkou
Palmovka Theatre, also known as the Theatre S. K. Neumann, Divadlo pod Palmovkou and the Urban and Regional Theatre, is a classic drama theatre located in the Prague district of Libeň at the bottom of Zenklova street in Prague near the inter ...
).
Hrabal lived in the city from the late 1940s onward, for much of it (1950–73) at 24 Na Hrázi ul. in Prague - Libeň; the house was demolished in 1988.
In 1956, Hrabal married Eliška Plevová (known as "Pipsi" to Hrabal, and referred to by that name in some of his works), the 30-year-old daughter of Karel Pleva, procurator and manager of a wood factory in the South Moravian town of
Břeclav. In 1965, the couple bought a country cottage in
Kersko, near Nymburk; the cottage became home to his numerous cats. Eliška died in 1987.
Early writing career
Hrabal began as a poet, producing a collection of lyrical poetry in 1948, entitled ''Ztracená ulička''. It was withdrawn from circulation when the communist regime was established. In the early 1950s, Hrabal was a member of an underground literary group run by
Jiří Kolář
Jiří Kolář (24 September 1914, Protivín – 11 August 2002, Prague) was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work included both literary and visual art.
Life
Kolář was born in Protivín on September 29, 1914, in a work ...
, an artist, poet, critic and central figure in Czechoslovak culture. Another member of the group was the novelist
Josef Škvorecký. Hrabal produced stories for the group, but did not seek publication.
Two stories by Hrabal (''Hovory lidí'') appeared in 1956 as a supplement in the annual ''Report of the Association of Czech Bibliophiles'' ( cs, Zprávy spolku českých bibliofilů), which had a print-run of 250. Hrabal's first book was withdrawn a week before publication, in 1959. It was eventually published in 1963, as ''Pearls of the Deep'' ( cs, Perlička na dně). In the same year, he became a professional writer. ''
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
''Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age'' ( cs, Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé) is a 1964 novel by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. It tells the story of a man who recounts various events from his past, and in particular his love lif ...
'' ( cs, Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé) followed in 1964 and ''Closely Observed Trains'' ( cs, Ostře sledované vlaky) in 1965.
Ban from publication and later career
After the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Hrabal was banned from publishing. In 1970, two of his books – ''Domácí úkoly'' and ''Poupata'' – were banned, after they had been printed and bound but before they were distributed. In the following years, he published several of his best known works in
samizdat editions (including ''The Little Town Where Time Stood Still'' ( cs, Městečko, kde se zastavil čas) and ''I Served the King of England'' ( cs, Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále).
In 1975, Hrabal gave an interview to the publication ''Tvorba'' in which he made self-critical comments, which enabled some of his work to appear in print, albeit typically in heavily edited form.
Hrabal's interlocutors were anonymous in the journal, but it was later discovered that the published interview was at least a third version of the text,
and that the more explicitly ideological statements were inserted by editors Karel Sýs and Jaromír Pelc according to contemporary party doctrine.
One such passage reads "...as a Czech writer I am connected to the Czech people, with its Socialist past and future".
Some young dissidents were incensed by Hrabal's actions; poet
Ivan "Magor" Jirous organised an event on
Kampa Island at which his books were
burned
Burned or burnt may refer to:
* Anything which has undergone combustion
* Burned (image), quality of an image transformed with loss of detail in all portions lighter than some limit, and/or those darker than some limit
* ''Burnt'' (film), a 2015 ...
,
and the singer
Karel Kryl
Karel Kryl (12 April 1944 – 3 March 1994) was an iconic Czechoslovak (Moravian born and Czech speaking) poet, singer-songwriter and author of many hit protest songs in which he identified and attacked the hypocrisy, stupidity and inhumanity of ...
called him a "whore". However, his defenders point out that an edited version of a key text, ''Handbook for the Apprentice Palaverer'' ( cs, Rukovět̕ pábitelského učně), was published alongside the interview, which ended the ban on publication and permitted his work once again to reach the broader Czechoslovak public.
Ludvík Vaculík, who had published his work in samizdat and would later continue to do so, defended him, saying that the interview demonstrated that Hrabal was a writer of such standing that he could not be suppressed and the regime had had to acknowledge him.
Additionally, some of his writings continued to be printed only in samizdat and as underground editions abroad,
including ''
Too Loud a Solitude'' ( cs, Přílíš hlučná samota) which circulated in a number of samizdat editions until it was finally published officially in 1989. Hrabal avoided political engagement, and he was not a signatory of the
Charter 77 civic initiative against the communist regime in 1977.
Hrabal's two best-known novels are ''Closely Observed Trains'' ( cs, Ostře sledované vlaky) (1965) and ''
I Served the King of England
''I Served the King of England'' ( cs, Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále) is a novel by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. The story is set in Prague in the 1940s, during the Nazi occupation and early communism, and follows a young man who alterna ...
'' (1971), both of which were made into movies by the Czech director
Jiří Menzel
Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these films ...
(in 1966 and 2006, respectively). Hrabal worked closely with Menzel on the script for ''
Closely Observed Trains
''Closely Watched Trains'' ( cs, Ostře sledované vlaky) is a 1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel and is one of the best-known products of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as ''Closely Observed Trains' ...
'' which won the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
in 1968. The two men became close friends and subsequently collaborated on other film projects, including the long-banned 1969 film ''
Larks on a String
''Larks on a String'' ( cs, Skřivánci na niti) is a 1969 Czech film directed by Jiří Menzel. The film was banned by the Czechoslovak government, but was later released in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime. It tells the stories of vari ...
''.
Hrabal was a noted raconteur,
and much of his story-telling took place in a number of pubs including, most famously, U zlatého tygra (At the Golden Tiger) on Husova Street in Prague.
He met the Czech President
Václav Havel, the American President
Bill Clinton and the US ambassador to the UN
Madeleine Albright at U zlatého tygra on 11 January 1994.
Death
Hrabal died in February 1997 after falling from a window on the fifth floor of
Bulovka Hospital
Bulovka Hospital ( cs, Fakultní nemocnice Bulovka) is a large teaching hospital complex in Prague, situated on a hillock adjoining the in Prague 8 - Libeň near the defunct homestead of Bulovka. The most striking building in the complex is the ...
in Prague. Initially, there were reports that he fell while attempting to feed pigeons,
though these were rejected by friends including his translator, Suzanna Roth, who angrily dismissed the reports as a way of censoring Hrabal even in death.
The story was later publicly renounced by professor Pavel Dungl, Bulovka's chief physician.
First Roth
and later Tomáš Mazal noted that
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
recurs as a theme throughout his work,
and both Dungl and Mazal said that early in the morning on the day of his death, Hrabal mentioned to Dungl an "invitation" he received in his dream from a dead poet and painter,
Karel Hlaváček, who was buried in a cemetery next to the hospital. Some years later, Professor Dungl said he had no doubts about Hrabal's death being a suicide.
He was buried in his family's crypt in a cemetery in
Hradištko near Kersko. According to his wishes, he was buried in an oak coffin marked with the inscription "Pivovar Polná" (Polná Brewery), the brewery where his mother and stepfather had met.
Style
Hrabal wrote in an expressive, highly visual style. He affected the use of long sentences; his works ''
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
''Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age'' ( cs, Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé) is a 1964 novel by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. It tells the story of a man who recounts various events from his past, and in particular his love lif ...
'' (1964) and ''
Vita Nuova
''La Vita Nuova'' (; Italian for "The New Life") or ''Vita Nova'' (Latin title) is a text by Dante Alighieri published in 1294. It is an expression of the medieval genre of courtly love in a prosimetrum style, a combination of both prose and ve ...
'' (1987) consist entirely of one single sentence. Political quandaries and the accompanying moral ambiguities are recurrent themes in his works. Many of Hrabal's characters are portrayed as "
wise fools" — simpletons with occasional inadvertently profound thoughts — who are also given to coarse humour, lewdness, and a determination to survive and enjoy life despite harsh circumstances they found themselves in.
Much of the impact of Hrabal's writing derives from his juxtaposition of the beauty and cruelty found in everyday life. Vivid depictions of pain human beings casually inflict on animals (as in the scene where families of mice are caught in a paper compactor) symbolise the pervasiveness of cruelty among human beings. His characterisations also can be comic, giving his prose a baroque or mediaeval tinge. He is known for his "comic, slightly surreal tales about poor workers, eccentrics, failures, and nonconformists"; his early stories are about "social misfits and happily disreputable people".
[Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, Publishers. Springfield, Massachusetts, 1995. Page 3.]
Alongside fellow satirists
Jaroslav Hašek,
Karel Čapek and
Milan Kundera, Hrabal is often described as one of the greatest Czech writers of the 20th century. Author
Ewa Mazierska compared his works to
Ladislav Grosman Ladislav Grosman (4 February 1921 in Humenné – 25 January 1981 in Tel Aviv) was a Slovak novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for being the author of ''The Shop on Main Street'' (''Obchod na korze''), which he adapted into a critically ...
's, in that his literary works typically contained a mixture of comedy and tragedy.
His works have been translated into 27 languages.
Quotations
*''It's interesting how young poets think of death while old fogies think of girls.'' — Bohumil Hrabal in ''Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age''
*''Bohumil Hrabal embodies as no other the fascinating Prague. He couples people's humor to baroque imagination.'' — Milan Kundera.
*''To spend our days betting on three-legged horses with beautiful names '' — Bohumil Hrabal
Works
In Czech
The complete works edition of ''Hrabal spisy'' was published in the 1990s in 19 volumes by Pražská imaginace.
Selected English-language editions
Film adaptations
References
External links
Bohumil Hrabal - the Close Watcher of Trains article on Hrabal by Mats Larsson (1997)
a literary biography in ''
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
'' by
James Wood (2001)
Hrabal and Prague*
Bohumil Hrabal at Czechoslovak book network Baila.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrabal, Bohumil
1914 births
1997 deaths
Vysočany Circle
Writers from Brno
People from the Margraviate of Moravia
Czech satirists
Czech humorists
Czech male novelists
Dispatchers
20th-century Czech novelists
Charles University alumni
Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)
Suicides by jumping in the Czech Republic
1997 suicides
Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres