Review: 'Closely Watched Trains' by Bohumil Hrabal
- Caroline Selby
- Jul 2, 2020
- 1 min read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Closely Watched Trains by Bohumil Hrabal, and finished it yesterday. This short novel tells the story of Miloš Hrma, a railroad apprentice in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. Occupied more with the pursuit of romance, Miloš is oblivious to the war going on around him. As the Allies come closer to victory, love comes closer to Miloš. Yet as his life seems to have turned a new ground, danger in a trainload of Nazis arrives. Driven to a new depth of bravery, Miloš comes to develop a newfound sense of peace.
I liked this story. The first half of the book was by no means the most interesting thing I’ve ever read, but the second half definitely picked up much more. Miloš’s motivations were definitely youthful and even somewhat childish, but it was very interesting and appealing to me to read a war book not so explicitly about war. The ending perfectly wrapped up the story, while completely captivating me. Overall, this book is a great quick read that I would recommend to anyone who likes books about WWII, or just historical fiction in general!
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