Reviews

Una solitudine troppo rumorosa by Bohumil Hrabal

riep's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

doctorwithoutboundaries's review against another edition

3.0

Ha’nta’s world of books is under threat, besieged by the twin aggressors of censorship and technology, much like Guy Montag’s in [b: Fahrenheit 451|13079982|Fahrenheit 451|Ray Bradbury|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1383718290l/13079982._SY75_.jpg|1272463]. His surreptitious and solitudinous rebellion against a totalitarian regime that despises intellect is waged from within a claustrophobic cellar where he compacts books into bales of garbage—but not before reading and stealing a few for his own private library, where he is soon to be caved in by piles of books: books that make him wax eloquent and books that shake his foundations, full of new ideas and new ways of living and thinking. And we are privy to these innermost thoughts about his first and only love, his respite and recompense for the horrid work expected of him; they pour out in a convoluted stream of consciousness, full of run-on sentences that rendered it beautiful at times, moving, even, and yet it lost my ardour at several points. What should have been a home run, fell flat, as all the ingredients were present, the poignant themes to which I repeatedly return, but haphazardly mixed to make a dulling concoction. I wanted to love it, because I felt I should, a pressure akin to that of the ominous machine from the book, one that I’m trying to resist more and more. Maybe it was the timing, maybe it’s me; either way, I was glad to make Ha’nta’s acquaintance in Czechoslovakia of old, a soul after my own, a reader who collects ideas like treasured seeds, letting them grow inside him, who loves art in every form, who battles fascism silently in his own way, a revolution loud enough to change only one—even if the cost is to be crushed by the many books that he saves from destruction, the source of his “unwitting education”, full of novel propositions, each of them valued deeply by one man, enough to spare them from extinction.

alicias_reading_log's review against another edition

5.0

“yo, que vivo en un país donde la gente sabe leer y escribir desde quince generaciones atrás, bebo para que el texto me despierte, para que la lectura
me produzca escalofríos”

No puedo describirlo, nunca había leído nada así. Os recomiendo tantísimo que lo leáis... Las descripciones que hace, las constantes repeticiones que te hacen sentir desorientado... Súper súper sorprendente.

Especialmente sobrecogedora la historia de la gitana, me cogió completamente por sorpresa.

Me parece una lectura sobrecogedora, que te atrapa con las exposiciones de las mismas ideas una y otra vez y te hace sentir que tú mismo te encuentras dentro de la prensa de papel, con la guerra de las ratas, Kant, los ratoncillos, la cueva, los paseos por Praga…. Es una lectura que te deja desasosegado e intranquilo, desorientado. La falta de hilo y a la vez la constante conexión entre todos sus elementos… No sé, es una lectura cortísima que me ha dejado sin palabras.

frumpburger's review against another edition

4.0

I candidly am not sure that I am smart enough or a sophisticated enough reader to truly understand this book, but I enjoyed it.

milo_0's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

henrylphillips's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

lizardlies's review against another edition

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

paul_marv's review against another edition

dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

patokoao's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

robertrivasplata's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Love letter to old books, old Prague, & that old time drinking on the job. Explains the joys & risks of extreme tsundoku, with occasional views from insect & rodent perspectives. References various works of art, philosophy, & religion. Follows a guy who works as a paper recycler for the purpose of scavenging from the books people throw away. Introduces the idea of books that are published solely to be sent straight to the pulping plant, which is a plant whose sole purpose is to recycle newly printed books that no one has read. Contrasts the old-style workingman who is drinking pitchers of beer to get through the workday with the socialist youth who get through their days by thinking about their vacation time, & who drink milk & eat actual solid food on their lunch breaks. Work-life balance, retirement, & nostalgia also figure heavily. Thank you Tom for recommending this!