Closely Watched Trains - Bohumil Hrabal

'Closely Watched Trains' by Bohumil Hrabal (Penguin Archive 112-page paperback)

Poignant, humorous and the inspiration behind Jiří Menzel's 1966 Academy Award-winning film, this is a small masterpiece from one of the best Czech writers of the twentieth century.

The story of a young railroad apprentice coming of age in wartime Czechoslovakia. He is overwhelmed with worries – about his virginity, his love for the conductor, and ongoing scandals in the stationmaster’s office – besides which the idea of fighting the Germans seems a simple affair.