_sofiia_'s reviews
92 reviews

this is a snapshot-like story told by a 22-year-old Miloš who works at the train station and is contemplating his burdensome virginity and the purpose of his life after unsuccessful suicide attempt. 

coming into this book, i expected to hear a funny story and some people-watching on the trains. Hrabal certainly adds a dash of humour into this account, but the story is much more than “watching trains”. set in 1945 when the German forces were losing their grip on modern-day Czechia, it illuminates the horrors and losses of war, its ubiquitous consequences (e.g., seen in several animal cruelty snapshots), the rebellious spirit and the unexpected finding of purpose. the book also touches on the topics of sexual liberation as a between-generational clash (tho, in all fairness, what’s up with putting stamps on one’s bottom??), the importance of letting your emotions out (tho, probably shouldn’t shout your anguish into the ventilation tubes like the station master), and the complexities of empathy and pity for enemies.

the writing style may have lost its appeal and coherence through translation, but it still allowed for immersing yourself into Miloš’ view. (in my experience with reading Kundera, his works read better in Ukrainian translation than in English, so maybe there’s something to it…) at times it was hard to follow the narrative, as our protagonist alternates between observing different people, reflecting on the past, and wondering about his pressing concerns (his ejaculatio praecox). nonetheless, i would re-read this and may watch the movie adaptation.

***

favourite little details:

bottom-line: worth a read in one sitting if you are interested in Czechia, WW2, and, oki, a little bit of trains. i might read Hrabal’s other works, like “too loud a solitude”…

***
3.75 but so close to 4… i guess i still wanted more trains.

my third Russell Hoban and i think i’ve been spiked with sth cuz despite all the weirdness and bizarreness and non-making-sense-ness, i could not unglue my poor eyeballs from this book. not until i realised the next page was the ad for his other books (oh my). well, before i am physically, mentally, and spiritually ready for the next one, i need a good gulp of something incredibly normal (or, frankly, maybe not read for a few days…weeks?…) and a therapy session to make sense of what the hell just happened. 

Hoban’s attention to objects, perceptions, and, in his own, often comical, way, people is unmistakable here. here we have some of his favourites: the rosehip tea (but what about potato pancakes?), the lonely man who longs for his “destiny woman” (who has run off with some artist/producer/geologist/parachutist - honestly, anyone), contagious affection for London (especially London Underground), references to artworks, the mess in the room as a separate being (did Hoban write anything on hoarding? pls say yes), and words that don’t exist but should because they make you smile (”novembering” is now a verb in my weather vocab). even when people tell you about seemingly the strangest details of the plot, Hoban’s eccentricity remains pretty much unspoilerable.  once you read a few of his books, these details can seem repetitive, but they also create a mini-universe that welcomes you into its weirdness… and then messes with your brain.

while i still (weeks later) cannot understand what the heck happened, i can say this for sure: Hoban, for me, is one of those writers who break traditions and seize language to create their way of telling a story, of narrating an experience. if you get absorbed in his writing (i’m not saying “get used to” - impossible), you’ll likely keep reading even when a man is talking to the head of Orpheus on the banks of the Thames. it’s addictive, it’s inventive, and it knows no boundaries.
 

perhaps, it is a blessing to not correlate all of the symbols contained in this book.  
***

more thoughts to come.  
***

actively recovering for the celebration of RH’s 100th birthday on 4th feb 2025. 

a long-awaited catalyst for the "phoenix moment" of the year and a portal to my teenage ability to be fully in a book - all against the backdrop of having my life on hold.

i feel renewed. [and un-lobotomised after the talking head of orpheus from russell hoban].  

this was indeed "a celebration of life's possibilities" (The Guardian) threading through the multitude of alternative lives across an absorbing plot. beautiful concept of a library that exists between life and death and is filled with books, or rather portals leading to lives where regrets are undone.

emotionally, this is a tough read and has lots of triggers related to suicide, depression, and, on balance with life's joyous possibilities, the chances of different failures, misfortunes, imperfections, and heartbreaks. however, it reads easily otherwise, which would usually be a deal-breaker for me but not this time. sure, the lessons that the protagonist learns are often clichés, and the writing style is not for a literary connoisseur club. but as a lighter read (not in terms of mood, at least in the first 30% of the book) and as something to read for fun and simple inspiration, the book does its job. it leaves you moved by the resolute beauty and meaning in every life and reassured to let go of your regrets for the paths untaken. non, je ne regrette rien, en effet!

ultimately, the character's journey reminds us about what truly matters in life, no matter the particularities of your existence: love, social connectedness, self-acceptance, and gratitude for this one, true, root life that you've got.

 i forgot that books can bring something other than existential angst, loss of faith in marriage (well, in men), questioning of own self, and other stuff that, sure, is though-provoking, and deep, and in its own way beautiful (-ly depressing), and makes me feel like a french lady trying to wash down my early-twenties crisis with another sip of coffee, hoping to look mysterious to that guy across the room... 

BUT. 

i loved the way in which some of the characters were present in others’ stories, it created a sense of community around this…well, Community House, and the reading and cookie industry. the book balanced the collectivist themes with the ideas of having personal responsibility and impact on own life to evoke change. this balance will help me heal in the upcoming year. 

though the characters were of varying ages, i felt connected to all five, there’s certainly something to take from each: 

and, together, the characters give rise to a sort of * ciiiiircle ooof liiiiiife * - you’re unsure what to do, you try, you find something you like, you’re unsure if you can/should do it, you try, you might be doing really well, but then life happens, but then you reinvent yourself, or re-surrect your old dreams, taking it easy and building something big eventually, only to step away and be proud of what your journey has been, being hopeful what it can still hold for you…

...because the last two cookies are no different from the previous ones. (though, the law of diminishing returns dictates otherwise, but i believe there is no room for economics in this charming little universe, so go on, enjoy every cookie and maybe don’t eat them all in one go). 

bottom line: i am healed and ready for 2025, and if i will start to lose it, i think i’ll learn felting and will process my emotions through meditative wool stabbing 

p.s.: i need a little felted figurine plssss!!! 

[went to google “how to get into felting”] 

the past few weeks featured too much procrastination and i feel like i was occupied with something shallow when alone. and now, as this year is slipping away and i am still desperate to get that book count in, i finally tackled "deep work", cuz deep work i need [essay crying in a corner].

"deep work" is a focused and distraction-free state of "flow", which should be cultivated for three key reasons: it's important, it's rare, and it's fulfilling. nice.

this was an okay read that could have easily been condensed into 100 pages or less. three major issues: sexist examples - the vast majority of examples being men (see also this person's blog:   https://kimschlesinger.com/post/deep-work-2/), the author's apparent assumption that anyone can do deep work [with equal ease/opportunity] (whereas, in reality, it's prob mostly freelances, academics, and maybe postgrad students), and too many examples with office floor plans.

the rest of this review is just notes on what i already knew (haha, maybe i should publish my "aggressive studying" as "rules for being a postgrad and keeping your shit together in this unpredictable period of youth"), a few (a few) things i learnt, and a few (quite a few) things for my future self to research.


some things that i had been doing before reading this book and that work for me:
 
1. keeping your metrics visible: when i need to get that wordcount in, i keep a tally of every 100 words

2. end-of-day ritual: i don't have issues with saying bye bye to work, only if it feels like i could still be going on (i agree that this momentum should be used)

3. shallow work gives a misleading sense of progress; sometimes i use it to get started, but from this book i realised that a better way to get going would be to do a small task that relates to my deep work, rather than doing shallow work.

4. feeling that deep work is what makes me feel fulfilled -> now it's a bit more structured in my head that it promotes mastery, autonomy, and purpose

5. setting a deadline that is before the actual deadline, but dude, it doesn't work, my memory is too good and i know i can take my darn time

6. building deep work environment - all that prep-your-coffee/tea-light-a-candle-when-you-work jazz, nothing new in this book

7. collaboration, aka "i work cuz they're working" - it's rare for me to find a person with whom i can actually be in deep focus 

8. writing emails that relay all the info - and loving when ppl do that for me too, thank you for valuing my time

some new ideas:

1. deep work is not just work: e.g., can be applied to personal goals, like writing reviews, aaaaaaa 

2. try periodic and daily scheduling for deep work

3. try scheduling internet time - as much of an online nun as i am, i STILL feel like my time on the internet youtube could be reduced 

4. learn to say no to shallow work - though, i'd rather learn to select what shallow work to engage in and what to delegate and what to say no to

5. organization's adoption of distracting practices - what work environment would i like to be in?

miscellaneous:
 
- high-quality work produced = time spent x intensity of focus 

- task-switching vs multitasking 

- evidence on deep focus promoting myelination? 

- recency and availability bias in tasks -> e.g., overestimation of the importance of your inbox 

- what IS willpower? 

- does the brain really not need a break from thinking? i need a meta-analysis, pls 

- interesting distinction between leading metrics (monitoring progress as you go, e.g., wordcount) and lagging metrics (logging completed tasks, e.g., number of papers written) 

but, could this have been done in fewer pages? i wanna say yes, even with so many things happening… maybe it’s my taste, or it’s a feature of writing that did not quite suit this book - either way, it felt like the plot dragged on, to the point i was getting frustrated at times. (only to be met with another paragraph of food erotica - which, btw, could have been a fantasmagestic book in itself - that just made me salivate and open my fridge instead of the next page). 

i think partly this frustration has to do with rather misleading marketing of this book as a thriller about murders, whereas a more accurate (tho less eye-catching i suppose) (tho no less important/interesting!) summary would be “feminism-body standards-desires-food”. alas, here i am, still confused whether kajii did actually kill those men, or are they to blame for being incapable of caring for themselves in the most basic way. i think the answer to that is not yes/no, and a deeper exploration of this responsibility/guilt/expectations in reference to the actual case could have been an interesting thread to read alongside other themes. admittedly, the author mentioned in waterstones interview that the details of the murder case itself did not interest her as much as the public's reaction to it and the immediate lookism (https://youtu.be/Yw5yf2oeiqU?si=QDmKy73siGVL8pB1&t=133), hence her book. (also, i was warned about this at the time of purchase :)

now understanding the idea behind it, what i loved in this book is its resonation with various topics of desire, not solely for food, but also for female friendship, being understood and recognised, being accepted in your body and life philosophy. this was like a series of snapshots of some of the japanese societal standards, which intrigues me and definitely makes me keen to read more of japanese fiction (and some actual japanese thrillers). finally, asako yuzuki consistently weaved in the issues of internalised misogyny (kajii’s hate of feminists and expectations towards women), gender inequality (journalism work), beauty/health standards for female body (fatphobia; also seen sayuri komachi, the librarian from What You Are Looking for is in the Library), infertility stigma (reiko), society's narrow view of why (women) cook (cooking school vs bride-to-be school), and broader patriarchical conditioning (with its multiple repercussions).

long story short, plenty of food for thought.

***

food checklist

this was so damn good.