''Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age'' () is a 1964 novel by the Czech writer
Bohumil Hrabal
Bohumil Hrabal (; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech Republic, Czech writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century.
Early life
Hrabal was born in Židenice (suburb of Brno) on 28 March 1914, in what was then ...
. It tells the story of a man who recounts various events from his past, and in particular his love life. The novel is written in one long sentence.
Reception
The book was reviewed in ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' in 1995, where the critic described it as a "humorous and breathless affair". The review continued: "Hrabal, who has been cited as a major literary influence by
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera ( ; ; 1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship ...
and
Ivan Klima, among others, is generally considered the most revered living Czech author. It's easy to see why. As this novel (originally published in Czech in 1964) plays around with Czech history, juxtaposing the public life of the country with the private life of the narrator, Hrabal displays abounding energy and a rambunctious wit." Howard Norman of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' wrote that it "stands up to the best of Hrabal", and argued that his novels "distill complicated human behavior to its basic--albeit at times repugnant, at times joyful--motivations".
See also
*
1964 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1964.
Events
*January 10 – Federico García Lorca's play ''The House of Bernarda Alba'', completed just before his assassination in 1936, receives its first perf ...
*
Czech literature
Czech literature can refer to literature written in Czech language, Czech, in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia, earlier the Lands of the Bohemian Crown), or by Czech people.
Most literature in the Czech Republic is now written in C ...
References
1964 Czech novels
Novels by Bohumil Hrabal
NYRB Classics
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