| Milan Kundera is the writer who penned the masterpiece known as “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” In that novel he explores human frailty, sexuality and the depravity of politics in the Eastern bloc. “The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” is a creative collection of stories that also explores these themes, albeit less successfully and less cohesively.
Much of Kundera’s work is critical of Communist politics and is based on his experience in his native Czechoslovakia. |
“The Book of Laughter and Forgetting” is critical of Communism, but also attacks Western values and Judeo-Christian tradition. If I were to describe its ideology, it is the pursuit of child-like innocence and simplicity. The book is divided into seven parts that could stand independently of the other parts.
Part six, “The Angel,” is about a woman called “Tamisa,” who fled her native Czechoslovakia because of political persecution. She loses her husband in her newly adopted country and takes a menial job in which she starts forgetting how her husband was and yearns to recover the love letters that she left behind. Throughout the story, she is driven by this desire to regain her brief past. Sandwiched between the story line are rebukes on the political establishment and modern music, as well as a very intellectual analysis of Beethoven’s structured compositions. The story devolves into a sexual romp in an island of children. Although this is very distasteful for a majority of readers, I believe it is merely symbolic and not meant to be titillating. A quote from the book seems to support this: “Until now, her sexuality had been occupied by love (I say ‘occupied’ because sex is not love but merely a territory love takes over), and it had therefore, participated in something dramatic, responsible, serious. Here among children, in the kingdom of triviality, sexual activity has reverted to become what it had originally been: a small toy for the production of physical pleasure.”
Each part of the book is interesting and worth reading. What I disliked about the book was calling it a novel instead of a collection of short stories. The parts are tied to each other in theme, but not in story line. Since the book was written in the 1970s, the Soviet bloc has ceased to exist and for many it is not even a memory. Because of this, the value of its political commentary may be lost or wasted. The lessons to be learned, however, are timeless and relevant.
I reccommend this book, but I like “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” more so. It is a fully developed novel with a story line that flows perfectly. (The movie, although not as good, is also excellent.) Enjoy.
