Trenes rigurosamente vigilados

Closely Watched Trains is one of Bohumil Hrabal's most widely read and acclaimed novels, with numerous editions worldwide and a film adaptation by Jiří Menzel that won the 1967 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. We present it now in a new translation by Monika Zgustová, who has translated virtually all of Hrabal's work into Spanish. Set in the train station of a small Czech town on the border with Germany during World War II, the novel recounts a day in the life of its protagonist, Miloš, a young railway apprentice who comes to life observing the amorous escapades of the hedonistic stationmaster and the attractive telegraph operator, and the harsh realities of war embodied in the ceaseless passage of German military trains bound for the front and the activities of the anti-Nazi resistance. Eventually, Miloš decides to take action and participate in the sabotage of an enemy train loaded with ammunition.