Content Warning: The source text includes references to suicide and portrays a gruesome death. The author also uses offensive, outdated terminology for the Romani people, which this guide replicates only in direct quotations from the source material.

The novel’s protagonist, Haňt’a, introduces himself and his life’s work. For 35 years, he has been compacting wastepaper and books in a hydraulic press. This repetitive labor, which he undertakes in a dimly lit cellar, has shaped his existence. Despite the mechanical nature of his job, Haňt’a finds deep connection and meaning in the discarded books he encounters, reading and internalizing their contents. He saves some of the books from compression into bales by bringing them home with him.

Haňt’a describes his intimate relationship with the knowledge contained in the books he processes. He views his mind as a repository of compressed thoughts, likening it to a bale of ideas. He reflects on the historical significance of thought and the futile efforts of those who try to suppress it by physically destroying the books. For Haňt’a, ideas transcend physical destruction, persisting in the atmosphere and in human consciousness.

Haňt’a’s daily routine includes pressing paper and drinking large quantities of beer, which he claims aids his intellectual endeavors.