Bohumil Hrabal (1914-1997)

Death: 3rd February 1997
Location: Cemetery, Hradištko, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic
Cause of death: Accidental – Fall from a fifth floor window whilst feeding pigeons.
Photo taken by: Mohylek
Buy books by Bohumil Hrabal


Czech writer, who along with Jaroslav Hašek, Karel Čapek and Milan Kundera is considered one of the greatest Czech writers of the 20th century. 
Hrabal began as a poet, producing a collection of lyrical poetry in 1948. It was withdrawn from circulation when the communist regime was established. Hrabal's first book was withdrawn a week before publication, in 1959. It was eventually published in 1963, as Perlička na dně / Pearl on the Bottom. Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé / Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age followed in 1964; the book consists of one extremely long sentence.
Hrabal's two best-known novels are Ostře sledované vlaky / Closely Observed Trains (1965) and Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále / I Served The King Of England (1971) both of which were made into movies by the Czech director, Jiří Menzel (1966 and 2006, respectively). Menzel's adaptation of Closely Observed Trains won an Oscar in 1967.


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