The Gospel according to Bohumil Hrabal
Pavel Hošek, a professor of religious studies at the Evangelical Theological Faculty, has written, in addition to many scholarly books, several other books devoted to the spiritual dimension of fine literature, more specifically to the personalities of J. Foglar, E. T. Seton, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
He also wrote a book on Hasidic Judaism and its influence in the works of, for example, J. Langer, M. Buber, E. Wiesel, Ch. Potok and I. B. Singer.
His latest book, published in March this year, focuses on the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, whose work is one of the most important products of Czech culture, has been translated into dozens of languages, and has been the subject of numerous films and plays.
However, Pavel Hošek has taken an unusual approach to his book, focusing on the spiritual dimension of Hrabal's thought and work, which has never been addressed before. Yet spiritual themes clearly do seem to be inherent to this writer.
The main point that Pavel Hošek has drawn on in his book are Hrabal's previously unknown Advent speeches at the evangelical parish in Libice nad Cidlinou, discovered by the author on seven antique cassette tapes. Hrabal had been visiting the parish in Libice since 1980, he was friends with the parish pastor and his eleven visits every last Sunday of Advent are evidenced by entries in the parish chronicle.
According to Pavel Hošek, the Advent speeches shed new light on the little-explored spiritual background of the writer's work, and the author convincingly concludes that the spiritual themes in Hrabal's texts are not mere embellishments, or perhaps even parodies, but instead they are a part of his ideas about the cosmos and people.
Jana Plíšková
Pavel Hošek: The Gospel according to Bohumil Hrabal
Brno, Centre for the Study of Democracy and Culture 2024, 218 p.
Photo: Hana Hamplova: "Bohumil Hrabal 1985 český spisovatel"; CC BY-SA 3.0; via Wikimedia Commons