Too Loud a Solitude
Bohumil Hrabal
 The entire story is narrated in the first person by the main character Hanta. Hanta is portrayed as a sort of idiot and a hermit, albeit one with encyclopedic literary knowledge. Hanta uses metaphorical language and surreal descriptions, and much of the book is concerned with just his inner thoughts, as he recalls and meditates on the outlandish amounts of knowledge he has attained over the years. He brings up stories from his past and imagines the events of whimsical scenarios. He contemplates the messages of the vast numbers of intellectuals which he has studied. The novel is vibrant with symbolism. A simple but obscure plot is present, however. "For thirty-five years now I've been in wastepaper, and it's my love story" says Hanta in the opening line of the book. He goes on to describe his methods for work, and for using his job to "save" incredible numbers of books for reading and storage in his home...