This is an auction for I SERVED THE KING OF ENGLAND, by Bohumil Hrabal.

"Sparkling with comic genius and narrative exuberance, this excellently translated novel by a major Czech writer brings into sharp focus the grotesque absurdities of recent Czech history. Dittie, a busboy with an inferiority complex and a driving ambition to become a millionaire, quickly rises to become a head waiter, but the respect he craves continues to allude him. When he marries a Nazi gym teacher, the Czechs despise him even more, while the Germans barely tolerate him. Rare stamps taken from wealthy Jews make his dream come true after the war, but his first-class hotel is soon nationalized by the Communists and he ends his life in poverty and isolation writing his memoirs. As is typical of Hrabal's work (eg Closely Watched Trains), the novel is full of zany characters whose antics range from supremely entertaining to bizarrely tragic. Highly recommended." - Library Journal (US)

Amazon.com review:

"The story of the young apprentice, then waiter going from hotel to hotel, then owner of his own hotel and millionaire, then losing everything, explores with the typical Hrabal's humour, full of tenderness, the physical and psychological development of the boy, his memories through the first Republic of Czechoslovakia after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then through the occupation of Bohemia by the Third Reich and the II World War until the final Communist take over. The lad suffers a progressive transformation of his soul which leads him to complete maturity, as he finally understands that wisdom lies in the heart of the humble, and that everything else is meaningless."

More reviews on Amazon.com.

Paperback 1990.

241 pages.

Good condition.

The cost of shipping is $4.95.

There is of course no charge for shipping if you collect this book from my shop in Palmerston North following the auction.

Payment within seven days, please.