Too Loud a Solitude

For thirty-five years, Haňťa has been working a press at a wastepaper collection point. He rescues rare books from the piles of paper, reads them, and thus becomes "educated against his will". The novella Too Loud a Solitude is Haňťa's internal monologue, filled with constantly recurring motifs. The reader is introduced to Haňťa's first love, Mančinka, and the gypsy girl Ilonka, who disappeared in a concentration camp. We witness his daily struggle with mountains of paper and endless jugs of beer, and listen to Haňťa's philosophical quotes and his dreams of retirement…