The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

5

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is the first Milan Kundera book that I have read. When I sit to write the review, I feel a bit lost. The book follows a very unconventional format where it talks about multiple stories. Some sound fictional, some autobiographical. At times suddenly the author takes the first person and starts narrating an incident, or becomes a character in the story. Everything keeps changing with chapters except ‘Prague’, which remains a constant backdrop for all that is mentioned in the book. It does give glimpses of Prague and its people through the ages.

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera

I particularly liked the scene of the poets meeting in Prague. Which kind of can be similar to poets’ meetings in many other places, with their eccentricities, their professional envy, and at the same time their solidarity as a community.

There are a few stories, the ones at the beginning that talk about some of the basic human behaviors. And goes into the core of the issues that dictate certain types of behaviors. They talk about some not-so-important people who touched the lives of the protagonists and left an irreversible mark for the rest of their lifetimes. The end of the book sounds like a pornographic script. I could not relate to the relevance of the beginning and the end of the book. Overall it may give an impression of being an abstract book, but it is not abstract, it makes perfect sense when you read it.

Do I like the book, I don’t know. Would I read another of his books, Probably No? Am I sounding abstract, call it the effect of reading the book.

Updates

The book considers the nature of forgetting as it occurs in history, politics, and life in general. It explores the themes of memory, forgetting, love, art, politics, and the power of the individual to resist oppression.

  • Power of Forgetting: An essential part of the human experience. It allows us to move on from the past and create new memories. However, forgetting can be used as a tool of oppression.
  • Power of the Individual: Individuals are always struggling against the forces of oppression. The characters in the book all find ways to resist the regime. In small ways, they do this through their art, their love, and their friendships.
  • Nature of Love: Different ways that love can be experienced. How love can be both joyful and painful, both liberating and destructive.
  • Nature of Art: Art is a powerful tool for resisting oppression. It can be used to challenge the status quo and to create new ways of thinking.

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Hey,
    Have you ever felt being on the border..I mean the border that separates Angels and Devils, laughter and ‘reason’..which Kundera tries to set out? You have to..that is the most important prerequisite for enjoying this book. The world out side the reasoned, ordered, and sensible is magnificent and alluring. How fragile is the social structure of human life that we never know when we would find everything as infinitely laughable.
    Anyway..Good Going..
    Take care.

  2. Hi, I know you’ve probably already gone and read more Kundera books; this post is quite old… but if you haven’t yet read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, read that. It was an absolute pleasure to read, where the Book of Laughter and Forgetting, which I’ve just finished, I didn’t really take to.

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