Frances's review
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
This is my first Kundera book, and it blew me away. The loss of memory depicted in each story is overwhelmingly sad, but his writing seems to rejoice in the absurd temporary nature of memory and history. I've read a lot of anti-colonial and post-colonial writings, and this novel - often dealing with life as an exile or a political outcast in a drastically changing state - departs from the usual themes of anger, violence, and revenge. Instead, his characters slip into lonely existence, losing their futures in the realization that their past has disappeared and they cannot rely on their memories to reconstruct it.
Beyond the sad and absurd beauty of the themes in the stories, Kundera provides wonderful musings and theories on life in general. As soon as I finished the book, I opened it again to certain sections and just re-read them, always amazed at his insight and mastery of language (which, I guess, is also his translator's mastery... so kudos to him too). I recommend this b...more
Beyond the sad and absurd beauty of the themes in the stories, Kundera provides wonderful musings and theories on life in general. As soon as I finished the book, I opened it again to certain sections and just re-read them, always amazed at his insight and mastery of language (which, I guess, is also his translator's mastery... so kudos to him too). I recommend this b...more
Nice review! I loved this one too, and your thoughts here make me want to re-read it. Sometimes Kundera drives me crazy with the narrator philosophizing. I recommend his Laughable Loves collection.
