Week 1

Course overview / Introduction to life and work of Bohumil Hrabal

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: Pirouettes on a Postage Stamp

Week 2

From the inspirations: Jaroslav Hašek

Assigned reading:

Jaroslav Hašek: Behind the Lines & At the Front (from The Good Soldier Švejk)

Week 3

From the inspirations: Franz Kafka

Assigned reading:

Franz Kafka: Description of a Struggle & Metamorphosis

Recommended reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: Mr. Kafka and Other Tales

Week 4

From the inspirations: Ladislav Klíma

Assigned reading:

Ladislav Klíma: The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch: A Grotesque Romanetto

Week 5

Hrabal’s Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age

Week 6

Hrabal’s Closely Watched Trains

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: Closely Watched Trains

Week 7

Hrabal’s I Served the King of England

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: I Served the King of England

Week 8

From Hrabal’s short stories

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: Rambling On: An Apprentice's Guide to the Gift of the Gab

Week 9

Hrabal’s Too Loud a Solitude

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: Too Loud a Solitude

Week 10

Hrabal’s so-called autobiographical trilogy

Assigned reading:

Bohumil Hrabal: In-House Weddings

Recommended readings:

Bohumil Hrabal: Vita Nuova: A Novel

Bohumil Hrabal: Gaps: A Novel

Week 11

From the tributes: Péter Esterházy

Assigned reading:

Péter Esterházy: The Book of Hrabal

Week 12

From the tributes: Paweł Huelle / Course conclusion

Assigned reading:

Paweł Huelle: Mercedes-Benz: from Letters to Hrabal