Review of Closely Watched Trains by Bahumil Hrabal

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A novella about a young Milos Hrma working at a train stop in occupied Czechoslovakia in 1945. He is a man up to the point of being a man a someone who just came back from leave after a suicide attempt. Luckily he was rescued by God is disguise as a brick layer.

Sexual accomplish and sexual acts are a big theme in this book. Milos fell short when he first attempted to lose his virginity. He wilted like a lily. But now he is a man. A man through and through. For he didn't wilt like a lily this time.

Oh and there are also some brutal descriptions of dead animals, eyes being poked out, train cars filled with dead and dying cattle, and a train sabotage. Good and interesting book.

A Review of Embers by Sandor Marai

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A Hungarian general recluse living in a grand estate receives an old friend who he hasn't seen in 41 years.

Two friends who were attached at the hip from ages 12 to 34 now haven't seen eachother in 41 years. In this book we find out why and we also learn about human nature. During the first few chapters of this book before the long soliloquy starts this book was shaping to be a 5 star book. It lost me during the soliloquy.

Henrik (the Hungarian General) and Konrad (his old friend) were one the best of friends. They met while attending a military school. Henrik is of rich aristocratic nobility while Konrad is from a poor region of the Austro-Hungarian empire where his parents do without in order for Konrad to thrive.

One day during a hunt in 1899 something happens. The next day Konrad flees the empire and spends the next decades in either the tropics or in London. During the book we find out why Konrad fled, more about the General's life and perception of things, and about human nature.

A Review of The Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan

 

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This was a gritty and raw description of the early days of the war in the Donbas. Thirty-something year old Ukrainian language teacher Pasha sets off to the city to pick up his nephew Sasha from the orphanage. Grey, drizzly, cold, stiff hands, wet boots.

Nadiya Volkova, 24, grieves for her mother Katya Volkova, 60, killed by ­shelling

Pasha doesn't pick sides. He teaches Ukrainian but when he speaks to someone new he is unsure what language to speak in, what side to refer to as "us" and doesn't know where to call home. He sets off this awkward pudgy man with glasses and a beard that needs to pick up his 13 year old nephew. He returns three days later to The Station. He has seen death, destruction, homes destroyed. He has walked through mine fields, and assisted an exhausted surgeon save a life.

Ukrainian civilians walk by a destroyed vehicle

I really liked how Zhadan used animals as metaphores. He describes a cab driver as an iguana and refers to him as the Iguana for the rest of that character's time in the book. He does this and it helps readers not only picutre these characters, but also easily discern the characters. If he named them Vasily, Vladislav, Vladimir, Oleg, and Ivan they may become confused to the reader. Good call on his end.

I wish I was giving this book a higher score. The topic is a 5/5 but the prose and actual story are a 3/5. I didn't become emotionally invested in either Pasha or Sasha. Same goes for the supporting characters.

Ukrainian service members riding through the Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 2022

I am sure Zhadan will write more about this war now that the full scale invasion of Ukraine is over a year old. The Ukrainians have inspired millions from around the globe with their resilience and fight.