Czechs in History Bohumil Hrabal - a few notes on the writer's style
Welcome to Czechs in History. In today's edition we look at the work of Bohumil Hrabal, the great Czech novelist whose contribution to modern European literature ranks among the very highest. Like James Joyce, who he valued greatly, Hrabal introduced a new syntax and poetics in his novels that captured many of his experiences from life. Hrabal showed a deep empathy for characters on the periphery and developed a lyrical and tragicomic sensibility to describe their lives, by extension our own. In just a moment we'll be talking with Dr Radko Pytlik, a specialist on Hrabal's work as well as his friend of more than thirty years. Dr Pytlik has published a book on Hrabal's work titled "The Sad King of Czech Literature". Together we'll be looking at some of Hrabal's influences and style, and shall briefly discuss what is perhaps Bohumil Hrabal's greatest novel "I Served the King of England".
Bohumil Hrabal
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