At Joanna's in February 2015

I Served The King Of England - discussion questions

1. Who is the main character of the book?
2. Do you like the first part of the book? Does it seem interesting?
3. What do you think of the hero as a teenager learning to wait tables at a hotel?
4. How is Ditie faring before WWII?
5. What do you think of Dietie's marriage to a German gymnastics teacher?
6. A big part of the book takes place during the war, yet war seems mostly distant. Diete's opinion is that Czechs do not fight. Do you agree?
7.  Ditie uses money from the sale of rare stamps to buy a hotel. Is Ditie an opportunist or a criminal?
8. What was Hrabal's message to the readers?
9. Is Hrabal poking fun at Czechs? Is he condemning them?
10. What happened to Ditie after the war? Why was he in a labor camp?
11. What do you think of the ending of this book?
12. Hrabal shows the career of a simple man as a metaphor of the twentieth century. Do you agree or not? Is there something more sinister in the story?
13. Is Ditie a simpleton or ruthless and opportunistic egoist?