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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting 
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 | A collection of seven not-so-short stories.
This book is trying to understand the reasons behind these two basic human behaviors. Brings a new definition to what laughter and forgetting are. The things that we laugh may not always be so amusing and the things that we forget may not always be unimportant. Once again, you will meet very interesting people in this book. Try to understand them. They will help you to understand yourself. However I think Milan Kundera inserted too much eroticism in this book and most of the times I found them out of context. Also this book has more political motives compared to his other works. These are two main subjects I do not like in novels, but still they do not prevent this book from being a good novel. |
Testaments Betrayed : An Essay in Nine Parts 
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 | A brilliant work from Kundera. In this book, Milan Kundera writes nine essays about various aspects of artistic life.
The art of novel writing, the art of translation, the change in artists' values and many other concepts are discussed with a style that gives the reader immense pleasure. Specially the parts about Kafka, his life and his works are very good. If you have not read Kafka before, this book may turn you into a Kafka reader. There is also a "mathematical" analysis of Satanic Verses which introduced me to a new point of view in reading novels. |
The Art of the Novel 
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 | After reading Testaments Betrayed, I think this is also a good book. |
Immortality 
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 | Who want to be mortal? Nobody! But unfortunately everybody is mortal and everybody is looking for his or her own ways to overcome this problem.
In Immortality, Milan Kundera is taking you a trip in time and space. You find yourself sitting in the same house by Goethe or running at night in a Parisian street, where strange professors perform childish acts. This is a novel about people trying to go beyond their limits and when they make it, Mr. Kundera leaves us the judgment of what success means... Scores very high in my "Best Books" list.
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The Joke
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 | Everybody is telling me to read this book. Should be good as other works of Kundera. |
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Life Is Elsewhere
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 | The life of a poet from his birth to his death. His relations with his mother and girlfriend. His efforts to find a place in society. The political situation in Czechoslovakia sets a good background fro the events in the book but this is not a political book. Kundera criticizes communists but leaves it before you get bored of anti-communist propaganda. This book is about human emotions and questions the reasoning behind human behavior. The psychologial elements in poets past and present are shaping his actions. In this book, you will get a chance to see the inner workings of human reasoning, as if you are reading an encyclopedia article about working principles of a car engine.
A very good reading until the last two chapters. When you are wondering why the book came to an end and there are still some pages left Mr. Kundera makes his trick. He surprises you. He takes you from one place in time and space to the other and then you realize the magic in his story-telling. In two paragraphs he shows you that thing may not be as they seem. Actually this is not a new idea. But his style makes the difference and this simple idea that we take for granted everyday starts to penetrate your brain. Read the book, then try to apply this philosophy to your life and the way you judge about people and events. You will start to see a different world. |
