Czech

Hrabal, Bohumil. (2009/1998/1964). Dancing lessons for the advanced in age (Taneční hodiny pro starší a pokr̊očilé)[1]. Trans. from Czech by Michael Henry Heim. Ethnographs by Vladimir Suchánek. Ex Libris Vintage Classics. London: Vintage (Great Britain:The Harvell P)(Prague).

I don't generally care for this kind of book. Hrabal (2009/1998/1964)'s novel, specifically, though, is written in a stream of consciousness format from beginning to end, which means it has no specific aim easily discernible to the reader. In fact, there's no real ending, as there's no punctuation at the end (p. 103). There's also no capitalization at the beginning of sentences except for the first word (p. 3), etc. which supports the suggestion of rambling. I also received a jolt toward the end from being pulled out of the narrator's banter with the words “so anyway, ladies, there I was [with] six beauties ” (p. 103) which echoes the beginning: “I used to go to … see my beauties” (p. 3).[2]

However, I’d already lost interest by this point and more or less couldn’t tell you what’s going on in the story. The general sense is of a man being engaged by sluts (see pp.  6, 10, 13, 19, 38-40, 43, 48-52, 56, 58, 61-63, 72-73, 75-81, 87, 100-101) who serves time as a soldier (see pp. 6, 12-13, 43-44, 46-56, 61, 65, 80-81). Yet almost none of it ties back to the title which, while suggesting something humorous, also promises a loose theme that never materializes except for one possible hint that dancing might refer to sex: “a pretty nurse … asked me … why I let so fine a body go to waste, and for an answer I … was about to give her a dancing lesson” (p. 63; cf p. 76). The ethnographs, too (see pp. 1 [reappearance p. 103], 11, 22, 41, 57, 74, 90), are loosely connected; however, they were added later (see credits page).

Oh, and while I didn’t generally have an issue with the writing, some of the triteness (that is, clichés) can be explained by the year of publication or the translator.  So it depends on what you’re looking for whether or not Hrabal (2009/1998/1964)’s Dancing lessons for the advanced in age appeals to you. It certainly didn't for me.

[1] I had difficulty figuring out how to create the r̊ in Word (this is the symbol shown on the credits page). So, if you got here with the search terms “r with ring above” (or “r with circle above” or “r with circle”), these are the steps:

•  Put the cursor next to the letter you want to add the symbol to.                               Note: Make sure you have no extra space after the letter, or the symbol will appear top right instead of top center.
• Press Alt+I, S. (Or click on the 'Insert' tab, then 'Symbol.')
• Select 'Combining Diacritical Marks' in the 'Subset' drop-down menu.
• Click on the symbol you want.
• Hit 'Enter' twice. (Or click 'Insert,' then 'Close').

[2] For other references to his listening “young ladies ” – the synopsis on the back of the book describes them as “an audience of young beauties” – see pp. 17, 27, 33, 37, 43-44, 47, 54, 56; cf pp. 5, 20.