Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal (plus some Schopenhauer)

Hi everyone!

Please join us to discuss Too Loud a Solitude by celebrated Czech author Bohumil Hrabal. We’ll be pairing the novella with a couple of essays from Arthur Schopenhauer (see below), one of many philosophers that had an influence on Hrabal’s work.

Hrabal’s novella follows Haňtá, who saves classic literature and philosophy from their untimely and undignified demise in a trash compactor. Vulgar, baroque, and occasionally horrifically funny, the novel hurtles through questions on the nature of being, literature, and the intellect.

Though not explicitly required, we strongly recommend reading the accompanying essays by Schopenhauer, as the conversation will include connections between the three texts:

• “On the Indestructibility of Our Being by Death” (10 pages)
• “On Thinking for Yourself” (6 pages)

These selections are derived from Parerga and Paralipomena, and are some of Schopenhauer’s last writings. These are taken from the Penguin Classics edition (1970). Please feel free to use any other edition/translation that you see fit.

We will be reading the entirety of Too Loud a Solitude, which is a little under 100 pages. Most of us will be reading the Michael Henry Heim translation (the Harcourt edition). Here is a link to the PDF.

We’ll be meeting at TALEA Beer Co. in Williamsburg. Please comment here or message Henryk or Maya if you cannot find us.

Lastly, if you have any interest in additional reading, feel free to read this additional essay by Hrabal on the nature of his writing. This is completely optional, but a really fascinating look into Hrabal’s own considerations.