Ostře sledované vlaky

this is the book that got me back into reading again after probably a year hiatus of enjoying or devouring any one thing thoroughly. its gorgeous, funny and a lovely contrast to the tolstoy i read before. not a slam at tolstoy. just reading this knowing my czech country is like realizing for the first time that only mark twain could write mark twain, only dostoyevskii could write dostoyevskii, and in fact only bohumil hrabal could write closely watched trains. its an epitome of czech literature in its most accessible and yet graphic, bloody and stunning. i think the accessibility of the book comes through its subtle shadowy humor and implication of sex in almost everything. this is what i mean by it is czech at its finest.