Editing Bohumil Hrabal

{{Short description|Czech writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = Bohumil Hrabal
| image            = Bohumil Hrabal 1988 český spisovatel foto Hana Hamplová.jpg
| imagesize        = 250 px
| caption          = Portrait of Bohumil Hrabal taken in 1988 by Hana Hamplová
| pseudonym        = 
| birth_name       = Bohumil František Kilián
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1914|3|28|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Židenice]] (now part of [[Brno]]), [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1997|2|3|1914|3|28|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Prague]], [[Czech Republic]]
| resting_place    = [[Hradištko (Nymburk District)|Hradištko]]
| occupation       = Writer
| alma_mater       = [[Charles University]], Prague
| period           = 1948–1998
| genre            = 
| subject          = 
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = ''[[Closely Watched Trains]]''<br>''[[I Served the King of England]]''<br>''[[Too Loud a Solitude]]''
| spouse           = 
| partner          = 
| children         = 
| relatives        = 
| influences       = 
| influenced       = 
}}

'''Bohumil Hrabal''' ({{IPA|cs|ˈboɦumɪl ˈɦrabal}}; 28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a [[Czech Republic|Czech]] writer, often named among the best Czech writers of the 20th century.<ref>"Bohumil Hrabal", by James Wood (''London Review of Books'', Vol. 23 No. 1, 2001)</ref>

== Early life ==
Hrabal was born in [[Židenice]] (suburb of [[Brno]]) on 28 March 1914, in what was then the [[Margraviate of Moravia|province of Moravia]] within [[Austria-Hungary]], to an unmarried mother, Marie Božena Kiliánová (1894–1970). According to the organisers of a 2009 Hrabal exhibition in Brno, his biological father was probably Bohumil Blecha (1893–1970), a teacher's son a year older than Marie, who was her friend from the neighbourhood. Marie's parents opposed the idea of their daughter marrying Blecha, as he was about to serve in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]].<ref name="ReferenceA">“Vítová: Hrabal dostal šest pětek, a v Brně skončil”, Brněnský deník, 29 March 2009</ref> [[World War I]] started four months after Hrabal's birth, and Blecha was sent to the [[Italian Front (World War I)|Italian front]], before being invalided out of service.<ref name="Novinky 2004">Novinky.cz, 31 October 2004, reprinted from Právo</ref> Blecha's daughter, Drahomíra Blechová-Kalvodová, says her father told her when she was 18 that Hrabal was her half-brother. Bohumil and his biological father never met formally, according to Blechová-Kalvodová.<ref name="Novinky 2004"/> Hrabal and Blechová-Kalvodová met twice; a dedication on a picture from 1994 says: "To sister Drahomíra, Hrabal!"<ref name="Novinky 2004"/>

Hrabal was baptised Bohumil František Kilián. Until the age of three, he lived mainly with his grandparents, Kateřina Kiliánová (born Bartlová) (d. 1950)<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="denikrozhovor">{{Cite news|url=http://brnensky.denik.cz/rozhovor/hrabal-dostal-sest-petek-a-v-brne-skoncil20090328.html|title = Vítová: Hrabal dostal šest pětek, a v Brně skončil|newspaper = Brněnský Deník|date = 29 March 2009|last1 = Fasurová|first1 = Hana}}</ref> and Tomáš Kilián (died 1925), a descendant of a French soldier injured at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]],<ref>“Naivní fuga”, Bohumil Hrabal (Pražská imaginace, 1995)</ref><ref>“Já si vzpomínám jen a jen na slunečné dny”, Bohumil Hrabal (Stanislav Klos, 1998)</ref> in Brno, while his mother worked in [[Polná]] as an assistant book-keeper in the town's brewery. She worked there with her future husband, František Hrabal (1889– 1966); one František Hrabal was listed as Bohumil's godfather when he was baptised on 4 April 1914, but František was also the first name of Bohumil's future step-grandfather, a soft-drinks trader. František Hrabal, Hrabal's stepfather, was a friend of Blecha.<ref name=":5" /> He is a prominent character in some of Hrabal's most famous fiction work,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hrabal |first=Bohumil |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/905087913 |title=Spisy 3 / Jsme jako olivy / novely |date=2015 |publisher=Mladá Fronta |others=Václav Kadlec, Jiří Pelán, Claudio Poeta |isbn=978-80-204-3281-0 |edition=Vydání první |location=Praha |pages=455 |language=cs |oclc=905087913}}</ref> and in ''Gaps'', the second volume of his autobiographical trilogy, Hrabal wrote that he declined an invitation to meet his biological father and considered František Hrabal to be his father.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hrabal |first=Bohumil |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25583922 |title=Proluky |date=1991 |publisher=Československý spisovatel |isbn=80-202-0243-9 |edition=Vyd. v ČS 1 |location=Praha |pages=75–76 |language=cs |oclc=25583922}}</ref>

Marie and František married in February 1917, shortly before Bohumil's second birthday. Hrabal's half-brother, Břetislav Josef Hrabal (1916–1985), was born later that year; Břetislav, known as Slávek, is said to have been an excellent raconteur.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="denikrozhovor"/> The family moved in August 1919 to [[Nymburk]], a town on the banks of the [[Elbe]] River, where František Hrabal became the manager of a brewery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pivovary.info/historie/p/polna.htm|title=Měšťanský pivovar v Polné - Pivovary.Info}}</ref> Both Marie and František were involved in amateur dramatics,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mazal |first=Tomáš |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/750943943 |title=Cesty s Bohumilem Hrabalem |date=2011 |publisher=Academia |isbn=978-80-200-1924-0 |edition=Vyd. 1 |location=Praha |pages=16 |language=cs |oclc=750943943}}</ref> though Marie was more active.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mazal |first=Tomáš |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56880551 |title=Spisovatel Bohumil Hrabal |date=2004 |publisher=Torst |isbn=80-7215-226-2 |edition=Vyd. 1 |location=Praha |pages=203 |language=cs |oclc=56880551}}</ref> Hrabal later recalled having a complex about this, and feeling embarrassed by her being the centre of attention.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hrabal |first=Bohumil |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23462559 |title=Kličky na kapesníku : román-interview |date=1990 |publisher=Práce |others=László Szigeti |isbn=80-208-0984-8 |edition=1. vyd |location=V Praze |pages=19–20 |language=cs |oclc=23462559}}</ref>

[[File:Hrabale.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Hrabal's portraits on ''[[Postřižinské]]'' beers]]
Hrabal's uncle was Bohuslav Kilián (1892–1942), a lawyer, journalist and publisher of the cultural magazines ''Salon'' and ''Měsíc''. The latter had a German version, ''Der Monat'', that was distributed throughout Europe, but not in Nazi Germany.<ref>Časopis Matice moravská (Matice moravská, 2001)</ref><ref>“Bohuslav Kilian”, by Miroslav Jeřábek, ''Reflex'', 2007, no. 5, pp. 60–63.</ref>

In 1920, Hrabal started primary school in [[Nymburk]]. In September 1925, he spent one year at a grammar school in Brno (now [[Gymnázium třída Kapitána Jaroše]], later attended by [[Milan Kundera]]). He failed the first year, and later attended a technical secondary school in Nymburk. There too he struggled to concentrate on his studies, despite extra tutoring from his uncle.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="denikrozhovor"/>

==Wartime activities and early adulthood==
In June 1934, Hrabal left school with a certificate that said he could be considered for a place at university on a technical course. He took private classes in [[Latin]] for a year, passing the state exam in the town of [[Český Brod]] with an "adequate" grade on 3 October 1935. On 7 October, he registered at [[Charles University]] in [[Prague]] to study for a [[law degree]]. He graduated only in March 1946,<ref>''A handbook of Czech prose writing, 1940-2005'', by B. R. Bradbrook (Sussex Academic Press, 2007)</ref> as Czech universities were shut down in 1939 and remained so until the end of [[Nazi Occupation of Czechoslovakia|Nazi occupation]].<ref>''The Oxford companion to World War II'', by Ian Dear, Michael Richard, Daniel Foot</ref> During the war, he worked as a railway labourer and dispatcher in [[Kostomlaty nad Labem|Kostomlaty]], near Nymburk, an experience reflected in one of his best-known works, ''Closely Observed Trains'' ({{langx|cs|Ostře sledované vlaky}}). He worked variously as an insurance agent (1946–47), a travelling salesman (1947–49) and a manual labourer alongside the graphic artist [[Vladimír Boudník]] in the [[Kladno]] steelworks (1949–52, and again briefly, 1953), an experience that inspired the "total realism" of texts such as ''Jarmilka'' that he was writing at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hrabal |first=Bohumil |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/905087913 |title=Spisy 2 / Skřívánek na niti / povídky |date=2014 |publisher=Mladá Fronta |others=Václav Kadlec, Jiří Pelán, Claudio Poeta |isbn=978-80-204-3281-0 |edition=Vydání první |location=Praha |pages=421–423 |language=cs |oclc=905087913}}</ref> After a serious injury, he worked in a recycling mill in the Prague district of [[Libeň]] as a paper packer (1954–59), before working as a stagehand (1959–62) at the S. K. Neumann Theatre in Prague (today [[Divadlo pod Palmovkou]]).<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/885931402 |title=Hlučná samota : sto let Bohumila Hrabala : 1914-2014 |date=2014 |others=Petr Kotyk, Světlana Kotyková, Tomáš Pavlíček |isbn=978-80-204-3279-7 |edition=Vydání první |location=Praha |oclc=885931402}}</ref>

[[Image:Bohumil Hrabal Wall Prague Liben CZ.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Bohumil Hrabal painted among his beloved cats on the "Hrabal Wall" in Prague]]
Hrabal lived in the city from the late 1940s onward, for much of it (1950–73) at 24 Na Hrázi ul. in Prague - Libeň; the house was demolished in 1988.<ref name=":5" /> In 1956, Hrabal married Eliška Plevová (known as "Pipsi" to Hrabal, and referred to by that name in some of his works), the 30-year-old daughter of Karel Pleva, procurator and manager of a wood factory in the South Moravian town of [[Břeclav]]. In 1965, the couple bought a country cottage in [[Hradištko (Nymburk District)|Kersko]], near Nymburk; the cottage became home to his numerous cats. Eliška died in 1987.<ref name=":5" />

==Early writing career==
Hrabal began as a poet, producing a collection of lyrical poetry in 1948, entitled ''Ztracená ulička''. It was withdrawn from circulation when the communist regime was established. In the early 1950s, Hrabal was a member of an underground literary group run by [[Jiří Kolář]], an artist, poet, critic and central figure in Czechoslovak culture.<ref>“Očitý svědek (Eye-witness)”, Jiří Kolář (K. Jadrný, 1983)</ref> Another member of the group was the novelist [[Josef Škvorecký]]. Hrabal produced stories for the group, but did not seek publication.

Two stories by Hrabal (''Hovory lidí'') appeared in 1956 as a supplement in the annual ''Report of the Association of Czech Bibliophiles'' ({{langx|cs|Zprávy spolku českých bibliofilů}}), which had a print-run of 250. Hrabal's first book was withdrawn a week before publication, in 1959. It was eventually published in 1963, as ''Pearls of the Deep'' ({{langx|cs|Perlička na dně}}). In the same year, he became a professional writer. ''[[Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age]]'' ({{langx|cs|Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé}}) followed in 1964 and ''[[Closely Observed Trains (novella)|Closely Observed Trains]]'' ({{langx|cs|Ostře sledované vlaky}}) in 1965.

==Ban from publication and later career==
[[File:Bohumil Hrabal 1985 český spisovatel foto Hana Hamplová.jpg|thumb|right|Bohumil Hrabal in 1985]]
After the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]] in August 1968, Hrabal was banned from publishing.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxIzBwAAQBAJ&q=banned&pg=PA162 |title = Czech New Wave Filmmakers in Interviews|isbn = 9780786417209|last1 = Buchar|first1 = Robert|date = 24 October 2003| publisher=McFarland }}</ref> In 1970, two of his books – ''Domácí úkoly'' and ''Poupata'' – were banned, after they had been printed and bound but before they were distributed. In the following years, he published several of his best known works in [[samizdat]] editions (including ''The Little Town Where Time Stood Still'' ({{langx|cs|Městečko, kde se zastavil čas}}) and ''I Served the King of England'' ({{langx|cs|Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále}}).

In 1975, Hrabal gave an interview to the publication ''Tvorba'' in which he made self-critical comments, which enabled some of his work to appear in print, albeit typically in heavily edited form.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Hlučná samota : sto let Bohumila Hrabala : 1914-2014|others=Kotyk, Petr, 1963-, Kotyková, Světlana, 1963-, Pavlíček, Tomáš, 1972-|isbn=9788020432797|edition=Vydání první|location=Praha|oclc=885931402|last1 = Kotyk|first1 = Petr|last2 = Kotyková|first2 = Světlana|last3 = Pavlíček|first3 = Tomáš|year = 2014}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Spisovatel Bohumil Hrabal|last=Mazal|first=Tomáš|date=2004|publisher=Torst|isbn=8072152262|edition=Vyd. 1|location=Praha|oclc=56880551}}</ref> Hrabal's interlocutors were anonymous in the journal, but it was later discovered that the published interview was at least a third version of the text,<ref name=":1" /> and that the more explicitly ideological statements were inserted by editors Karel Sýs and Jaromír Pelc according to contemporary party doctrine.<ref name=":1" /> One such passage reads "...as a Czech writer I am connected to the Czech people, with its Socialist past and future".<ref name=":0" />

Some young dissidents were incensed by Hrabal's actions; poet [[Ivan Martin Jirous|Ivan "Magor" Jirous]] organised an event on [[Kampa Island]] at which his books were [[Book burning|burned]],<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.respekt.cz/tydenik/2014/13/normalizacni-partie-bohumila-hrabala|title=Bohumil Hrabal: V osidlech cenzury|last=Nezbeda|first=Ondřej|work=Týdeník Respekt|access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and the singer [[Karel Kryl]] called him a "whore".<ref>"History of the literary cultures of East-Central Europe: junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th century" By Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer (John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007)</ref> However, his defenders point out that an edited version of a key text, ''Handbook for the Apprentice Palaverer'' ({{langx|cs|Rukovět̕ pábitelského učně}}), was published alongside the interview, which ended the ban on publication and permitted his work once again to reach the broader Czechoslovak public.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10150778447-historie-cs/214452801400007-hrabalovo-stoleti/video/|title=Hrabalovo století|date=10 May 2018|website=Česká televize}}</ref> [[Ludvík Vaculík]], who had published his work in samizdat and would later continue to do so,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ludvikvaculik.cz/index.php?pid=2&sid=17|title=Stránky spisovatele Ludvíka Vaculíka|website=ludvikvaculik.cz|others=Rew, Oniin|access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref> defended him, saying that the interview demonstrated that Hrabal was a writer of such standing that he could not be suppressed and the regime had had to acknowledge him.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Additionally, some of his writings continued to be printed only in samizdat and as underground editions abroad,<ref name=":0" /> including ''[[Too Loud a Solitude]]'' ({{langx|cs|Přílíš hlučná samota}}) which circulated in a number of samizdat editions until it was finally published officially in 1989. Hrabal avoided political engagement, and he was not a signatory of the [[Charter 77]] civic initiative against the communist regime in 1977.

Hrabal's two best-known novels are ''Closely Observed Trains'' ({{langx|cs|Ostře sledované vlaky}}) (1965) and ''[[I Served the King of England]]'' (1971), both of which were made into movies by the Czech director [[Jiří Menzel]] (in 1966 and 2006, respectively). Hrabal worked closely with Menzel on the script for ''[[Closely Watched Trains]]'' which won the [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 1968. The two men became close friends and subsequently collaborated on other film projects, including the long-banned 1969 film ''[[Larks on a String]]''.

Hrabal was a noted raconteur,<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Cesty s Bohumilem Hrabalem|last=Mazal|first=Tomáš|date=2011|publisher=Academia|isbn=9788020019240|edition=Vyd. 1|location=Praha|oclc=750943943}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> and much of his story-telling took place in a number of pubs including, most famously, U zlatého tygra (At the Golden Tiger) on Husova Street in Prague.<ref name=":2" /> He met the Czech President [[Václav Havel]], the American President [[Bill Clinton]] and the US ambassador to the UN [[Madeleine Albright]] at U zlatého tygra on 11 January 1994.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/hrabal-writer-czech/25311346.html|title=100 Years Of Bohumil Hrabal|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|date=27 March 2014 |language=en|access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

==Death==
[[Image:Hrabal tomb.jpg|thumb|Hrabal's grave]]
Hrabal died in February 1997 after falling from a window on the fifth floor of [[Bulovka Hospital]] in Prague. Initially, there were reports that he fell while attempting to feed pigeons,<ref name="lidovky">{{cite news |date=3 February 2012 |title=Hrabal zemřel před 15 lety. 'U tygra by měla hořet svíčka' |publisher=Lidovky.cz |agency=ČTK |url=http://www.lidovky.cz/hrabal-zemrel-pred-15-lety-u-tygra-by-mela-horet-svicka-p0z-/lide.aspx?c=A120202_171331_lide_glu |access-date=6 September 2016}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> though these were rejected by friends including his translator, [[Susanna Roth]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hofmann |first=Michael |date=2022-07-21 |title=Goofing Off |language=en |volume=44 |work=London Review of Books |issue=14 |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n14/michael-hofmann/goofing-off |access-date=2022-08-25 |issn=0260-9592}}</ref> who angrily dismissed the reports as a way of censoring Hrabal even in death.<ref name=":1" /> The story was later publicly renounced by professor Pavel Dungl, Bulovka's chief physician.<ref name="Reflex" /><ref name=":4">{{Citation |title=Požehnaný prokletý básník Bohumil Hrabal - Příběhy slavných |publisher=Česká televize |url=https://www.ceskatelevize.cz/porady/10123383458-pribehy-slavnych/498223100031001/ |language=cs |access-date=2022-09-21}}</ref> First Roth<ref name=":4" /> and later Tomáš Mazal noted that [[suicide]] recurs as a theme throughout his work,<ref name=":1" /> and both Dungl and Mazal said that early in the morning on the day of his death, Hrabal mentioned to Dungl an "invitation" he received in his dream from a dead poet and painter, [[Karel Hlaváček]], who was buried in a cemetery next to the hospital. Some years later, Professor Dungl said he had no doubts about Hrabal's death being a suicide.<ref name="Czech TV">{{cite news|last1=Reportéři ČT|title=Ukradená sebevražda pábitele|url=http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/1142743803-reporteri-ct/214452801240013/obsah/317664-ukradena-sebevrazda-pabitele|access-date=6 September 2016|work=iVysílání|agency=Czech TV|date=31 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Reflex">{{cite news|last1=Hrubý|first1=Dan|title=Lékař, který léčil Bohumila Hrabala: Jsem přesvědčen, že spáchal sebevraždu|url=http://www.reflex.cz/clanek/zpravy/55485/lekar-ktery-lecil-bohumila-hrabala-jsem-presvedcen-ze-spachal-sebevrazdu.html|access-date=6 September 2016|publisher=Reflex|date=26 March 2014}}</ref> He was buried in the cemetery of [[Hradištko (Nymburk District)|Hradištko]] near Kersko. According to his wishes, he was buried in an oak coffin marked with the inscription "Pivovar Polná" (Polná Brewery), the brewery where his mother and stepfather had met.

==Style==
Hrabal wrote in an expressive, highly visual style. He affected the use of long sentences; his works ''[[Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age]]'' (1964) and ''Vita Nuova'' (1987) consist entirely of one single sentence. Political quandaries and the accompanying moral ambiguities are recurrent themes in his works. Many of Hrabal's characters are portrayed as "[[wise fool]]s" — simpletons with occasional inadvertently profound thoughts — who are also given to coarse humour, lewdness, and a determination to survive and enjoy life despite harsh circumstances they found themselves in.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Much of the impact of Hrabal's writing derives from his juxtaposition of the beauty and cruelty found in everyday life. Vivid depictions of pain human beings casually inflict on animals (as in the scene where families of mice are caught in a paper compactor) symbolise the pervasiveness of cruelty among human beings. His characterisations also can be comic, giving his prose a baroque or mediaeval tinge.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} He is known for his "comic, slightly surreal tales about poor workers, eccentrics, failures, and nonconformists"; his early stories are about "social misfits and happily disreputable people".<ref>Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, Publishers. Springfield, Massachusetts, 1995. Page 3.</ref>

Alongside fellow satirists [[Jaroslav Hašek]], [[Karel Čapek]] and [[Milan Kundera]], Hrabal is often described as one of the greatest Czech writers of the 20th century.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Author [[Ewa Mazierska]] compared his works to [[Ladislav Grosman]]'s, in that his literary works typically contained a mixture of comedy and tragedy.<ref name="Mazierska2008">{{cite book|last=Mazierska|first=Ewa|title=Masculinities in Polish, Czech and Slovak Cinema: Black Peters and Men of Marble|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nW5FAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA54|date=15 November 2008|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78238-216-4|page=54}}</ref> His works have been translated into 27 languages.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

==Quotations==

{{Copy to Wikiquote|section=yes|date=February 2012}}

*''It's interesting how young poets think of death while old fogies think of girls.'' — Bohumil Hrabal in ''Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age''
*''Bohumil Hrabal embodies as no other the fascinating Prague. He couples people's humor to baroque imagination.'' — Milan Kundera.
*''To spend our days betting on three-legged horses with beautiful names '' — Bohumil Hrabal

== Works ==
===In Czech===
The complete works edition of ''Hrabal spisy'' was published in the 1990s in 19 volumes by Pražská imaginace.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Title  !! Title in English !! Publisher !! Notes !! ISBN
|-
| 1948 || ''Ztracená ulička'' || ''A Lost Alley'' || Hrádek || || {{ISBN|9788070230800}}
|-
| 1963 || ''Perlička na dně'' || ''Pearls of the Deep'' || Československý spisovatel || || {{ISBN|9788020419279}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1964 || ''Pábitelé'' || ''Palaverers'' || Mladá Fronta || || {{ISBN|9788020415431}}
|-
| ''Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé'' || ''[[Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age]]'' || rowspan="2" | Československý spisovatel || || {{ISBN|9788020408792}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1965 || ''Ostře sledované vlaky'' || ''[[Closely Observed Trains (novella)|Closely Observed Trains]]'' || || {{ISBN|978-80-204-2948-3}}
|-
| ''Inzerát na dům, ve kterém už nechci bydlet'' || ''An Advertisement for the House I Don't Want to Live in Anymore'' || rowspan="2" | Mladá Fronta || || {{ISBN|9788020421401}}
|-
| 1966 || ''Automat svět'' || ''The World Cafeteria/The Death of Mr Baltisberger'' || || {{ISBN|9780349101583}}
|-
| 1967 || ''Toto město je ve společné péči obyvatel'' || ''This Town is Jointly Administered by its Inhabitants'' || rowspan="2" | Československý spisovatel || || {{ISBN|9788071857907}}
|-
| 1968 || ''Morytáty a legendy'' || ''Murder Ballads and Other Legends'' || || {{ISBN|9788020408228}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1970 || ''Domácí úkoly, Úvahy a rozhovory'' || ''Homework: Contemplations and Interviews'' || rowspan="2" | Mladá Fronta || || {{ISBN|978-80-204-3278-0}}
|-
| ''Poupata'' || ''Buds'' || Confiscated and burnt by the [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Communist regime]] || {{ISBN|9788020402714}}
|-
| 1973 || ''Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále'' || ''[[I Served the King of England]]'' || rowspan="4" | Petlice || [[Samizdat]]; Petlice was a secret, anti-Communist publishing house || {{ISBN|9788020201423}}
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1974 || ''Něžný barbar'' || ''The Gentle Barbarian'' || Exile edition: 1981 || {{ISBN|9788020701107}}
|-
| ''Postřižiny'' || ''Cutting It Short'' || || {{ISBN|978-80-204-2043-5}}
|-
| ''Městečko, kde se zastavil čas'' || ''The Little Town Where Time Stood Still'' || Exile Edition: 1978 || {{ISBN|978-80-204-1361-1}}
|-
| 1977 || ''Příliš hlučná samota'' || ''[[Too Loud a Solitude]]'' || Česká expedice || Exile edition: 1980; Česká expedice was a secret, anti-Communist publishing house || {{ISBN|9788020701565}}
|-
| 1978 || ''Slavnosti sněženek'' || ''Snowdrop Festival'' || rowspan="3" | Československý spisovatel || || {{ISBN|9788020419064}}
|-
| 1979 || ''Krasosmutnění'' || ''Joyful Blues/Beautiful Sadness'' || || {{ISBN|9788020433435}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1981 || ''Harlekýnovy milióny'' || ''Harlequin's Millions'' || || {{ISBN|9788071853060}}
|-
| ''Kluby poezie'' || ''Poetry Clubs'' || Mladá Fronta || || {{ISBN|9788020423290}}
|-
| 1982 || ''Domácí úkoly z pilnosti'' || || rowspan="2" | Československý spisovatel || || {{OCLC|479201923}}<!--couldn't find an ISBN-->
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1986 || ''Život bez smokingu'' || ''Life Without a Tuxedo'' || || {{ISBN|978-80-274-0834-4}}
|-
| ''Svatby v domě'' || ''In-House Weddings'' || rowspan="2" | Pražská imaginace || Exile edition: 1987; Pražská imaginace was a secret, anti-Communist publishing house || {{ISBN|0887811922}}
|-
| ''Vita nuova'' || || Exile edition: 1987 || {{ISBN|0810125463}}
|-
| ''Proluky'' || ''Vacant Lot/Gaps'' || Petlice || Exile edition: 1986 || {{ISBN|978-0887811685}}
|-
| ''Kličky na kapesníku – Kdo jsem'' || ''Knots on a Handkerchief – Who I Am: Interviews'' || Pražská imaginace || || {{ISBN|80-208-0984-8}}
|-
| 1989 || ''Chcete vidět Zlatou Prahu?: výbor z povídek'' || || Mladá fronta || Jaromír Pelc (ed.) || {{ISBN|8020400567}}
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1990 || ''Totální strachy'' || ''Total Fears: Letters to Dubenka'' || || || {{ISBN|8071100234}}
|-
| ''Listopadový uragán'' || ''November Hurricane'' || Tvorba || || {{ISBN|9788020426871}}
|-
| ''Bambino di Praga; Barvotisky; Krásná Poldi'' || || Československý spisovatel || || {{ISBN|8020201475}}
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1991 || ''Ponorné říčky'' || ''Underground Rivers'' || rowspan="2" | Pražská imaginace || || {{ISBN|80-7110-025-0}}
|-
| ''Růžový kavalír'' || ''Pink Cavalier'' || || {{ISBN|80-7110-055-2}}
|-
| ''Atomová mašina značky Perkeo'' || || Československý spisovatel || || {{ISBN|8020801332}}
|-
| ''Básnění'' || || rowspan="4" | Pražská imaginace || || {{ISBN|9788071100638}}
|-
| 1992 || ''Aurora na mělčině'' || ''Aurora on the Sandbank'' || || {{ISBN|8071101044}}
|-
| 1993 || ''Večerníčky pro Cassia'' || ''Cassius's Evening Fairytales'' || || {{ISBN|8071101176}}
|-
| 1997 || ''Bibliografie dodatky rejstříky'' || || || {{ISBN|9788071101666}}
|-
| 1998 || ''Já si vzpomínám jen a jen na slunečné dny'' || || rowspan="2" | Triton || || {{ISBN|9788386646609}}
|-
| 1999 || ''Buďte tak hodná, vytáhněte rolety: výbor z milostné korespondence'' || || || {{ISBN|9788072540686}}
|-
| 2014 || ''Skřivánek na niti'' || || || ''Hrabal spisy'' collection #2; short stories (''Perlička na dně, Pábitelé, Inzerát na dům, ve kterém už nechci bydlet, Morytáty a legendy'') || {{ISBN|9788020432810}}
|-
| 2015 || ''Jsme jako olivy'' || || || ''Hrabal spisy'' collection #3; short stories (''Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokročilé, Ostře sledované vlaky, Postřižiny, Městečko, kde se zastavil čas, Něžný barbar, Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále, Příliš hlučná samota'') || {{ISBN|9788020433367}}
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2016 || ''Rukověť pábitelského učně'' || || || ''Hrabal spisy'' collection #4; short stories (''Slavnosti sněženek, Krasosmutnění, Harlekýnovy miliony, Autíčko'') || {{ISBN|978-80-246-2499-0}}
|-
| ''Život bez rukávů'' || || || ''Hrabal spisy'' collection #4; autobiographical trilogy || {{ISBN|80-204-0236-5}}
|-
| 2017 || ''Křehký dluh'' || || || ''Hrabal spisy'' collection #1; poetry || {{ISBN|9788020432803}}
|}

===Selected English-language editions===
[[File:Bohumil Hrabal, Complete works edition in 19 volumes.jpg|right|thumb|270px|'''Complete works''' in 19 volumes by Pražská imaginace]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Title !! Translator !! Publisher !! Notes !! ISBN
|-
|1968|| ''A Close Watch on the Trains'' or ''Closely Observed Trains'' or ''[[Closely Watched Trains]]''
|[[Edith Pargeter]]
|[[Jonathan Cape]]|| Foreword by [[Josef Škvorecký]] || {{ISBN|9780810112780}}
|-
| 1975 || ''The Death of Mr Baltisberger'' || [[Michael Henry Heim]] || [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] || || {{ISBN|9780810127012}}
|-
| 1992 || ''Cutting It Short'' || rowspan="2" | James Naughton || Time Warner Books UK || || {{ISBN|0356206688}}
|-
|1993
| ''The Little Town Where Time Stood Still'' || Pantheon Books || || {{ISBN|9780679422259}}
|-
| 1989 || ''[[I Served the King of England]]'' || Paul Wilson || rowspan="2" | [[Harcourt_(publisher)#Harcourt_Brace_Jovanovich|Harcourt Brace Jovanovich]] || || {{ISBN|9780811216876}}
|-
| 1990 || ''[[Too Loud a Solitude]]'' || Michael Henry Heim || || {{ISBN|9780233987019}}
|-
|1995
| ''[[Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age]]'' 
|Michael Henry Heim
|Harcourt Brace|| || {{ISBN|0151238103}}
|-
| 1998 || ''Total Fears: Letters to Dubenka'' || James Naughton || Twisted Spoon Press || || {{ISBN|9788090217195}}
|-
| 2007 || ''In-House Weddings (Writings From An Unbound Europe)'' || Tony Liman || Northwestern University Press || || {{ISBN|0810124300}}
|-
| 2008 || ''Pirouettes on a Postage Stamp'' || David Short || [[Karolinum Press]] || || {{ISBN|9788024614472}}
|-
| 2010 || ''Vita Nuova: A Novel'' || rowspan="2" | Tony Liman || rowspan="2" | Northwestern University Press || || {{ISBN|0810125463}}
|-
| 2011 || ''Gaps: A Novel (Writings From An Unbound Europe)'' || || {{ISBN|9780810125506}}
|-
| 2012 || ''Harlequin's Millions'' || Stacey Knecht || [[Archipelago Books]] || || {{ISBN|9780981955735}}
|-
| 2014 || ''Rambling On: An Apprentice's Guide to the Gift of the Gab'' || David Short || Karolinum Press || || {{ISBN|9788024632865}}
|-
| 2015 || ''Mr. Kafka: And Other Tales from the Time of the Cult'' || rowspan="2" | Paul Wilson || rowspan="2" | [[New Directions Publishing]] || || {{ISBN|0811224805}}
|-
| 2019 || ''All My Cats'' || || {{ISBN|9780811228954}}
|-
| 2020 || ''Why I Write?: The Early Prose from 1945 to 1952'' || David Short || Karolinum Press || || {{ISBN|9788024642680}}
|-
| 2021 || ''The Gentle Barbarian'' || Paul Wilson || New Directions || || {{ISBN|978-0-8112-2858-9}}
|}

== Film adaptations ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year !! Title !! Based on !! Language(s) !! Director !! Notes
|-
| 1964 || ''Fádní odpoledne'' || ''Fádní odpoledne'' || || [[Ivan Passer]] ||
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1966 || ''Smrt pana Baltazara'' || ''Automat svět'' || rowspan="6" | Czech || [[Jiří Menzel]] || rowspan="5" | Segments of the anthology film ''[[Pearls of the Deep]]''
|-
| ''Podvodníci'' || Short story "Swindlers" || [[Jan Němec]]
|-
| ''Dům radosti'' || Chapter V of ''Bambini di Praga'' || [[Evald Schorm]]
|-
| ''Automat Svět'' || ''Automat Svět'' || [[Věra Chytilová]]
|-
| ''Romance'' || Short story "Gypsy Romance" || [[Jaromil Jireš]]
|-
| 1965 || ''[[The Junk Shop|Sběrné surovosti]]'' || ''Baron Prášil'' || [[Juraj Herz]] || Originally filmed as part of the anthology film ''Pearls of the Deep''
|-
| 1966 || ''[[Closely Watched Trains|Ostře sledované vlaky]]'' || ''Ostře sledované vlaky'' || Czech, German || rowspan="3" | Jiří Menzel ||
|-
| 1969 || ''[[Larks on a String|Skřivánci na niti]]'' || ''Inzerát na dům, ve kterém už nechci bydlet'' || rowspan="2" | Czech || 
|-
| 1980 || ''[[Cutting It Short|Postřižiny]]'' || ''Postřižiny'' || 
|-
| 1981 || ''Mořská Miss'' || Chapter "Such A Beautiful Mourning" from ''Siren'' || || Magdaléna Příhodová ||
|-
| 1984 || ''[[The Snowdrop Festival|Slavnosti sněženek]]'' || ''Slavnosti sněženek'' || Czech || Jiří Menzel ||
|-
| 1989 || ''Něžný barbar'' || ''Něžný barbar'' || || Petr Koliha || 
|-
| 1994 || ''Andělské oči'' || ''Bambini di Praga'' || || [[Dušan Klein]] ||
|-
| 1995 || ''Une trop bruyante solitude'' || ''Příliš hlučná samota'' || || Véra Caïs ||
|-
| 2006 || ''[[I Served the King of England (film)|Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále]]'' || ''Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále'' || Czech || Jiří Menzel ||
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Bohumil Hrabal}}
{{Wikiquote|Bohumil Hrabal}}

* [http://art-bin.com/art/ahrabaleng.html Bohumil Hrabal - the Close Watcher of Trains], article on Hrabal by Mats Larsson (1997)
* [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n01/wood02_.html "Bohumil Hrabal"], a literary biography in ''[[London Review of Books]]'' by [[James Wood (critic)|James Wood]] (2001)
* [http://www.prague-life.com/prague/bohumil-hrabal Hrabal and Prague]
* {{IMDb name|id=0398518|name=Bohumil Hrabal}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121228063427/http://baila.net/autor/151975941/bohumil-hrabal Bohumil Hrabal at Czechoslovak book network Baila.net]

{{Mondello Prize}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hrabal, Bohumil}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:Vysočany Circle]]
[[Category:Writers from Brno]]
[[Category:Writers from the Margraviate of Moravia]]
[[Category:Czech satirists]]
[[Category:Czech humorists]]
[[Category:Czech male novelists]]
[[Category:Dispatchers]]
[[Category:20th-century Czech novelists]]
[[Category:Charles University alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)]]
[[Category:Suicides by jumping in the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:1997 suicides]]
[[Category:Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]