The Novels of Milan Kundera (1929 to 2023)
The celebrated Czech-born author and perennial Nobel Prize contender, Milan Kundera, best known for his beloved novel "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," passed away at the age of 94 this Tuesday in his adopted home of Paris – having fled his native Czechoslovakia for exile in 1975. His works, which we've compiled here, notably explored the absurdity, repressiveness, but also humor of life under Communism.
10 books
The Joke
Milan Kundera1967: Kundera's first novel is a great place to start. In this satire of totalitarianism, the main character Ludvik tells a harmless joke that leads to a life-altering tragedy, demonstrating the fragility of personal freedom.
Grace M. Cho & IndieWirePaperback, 1994
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Farewell Waltz
Milan Kundera1972: A love quadrangle unfolds at a spa town, intertwining passion, deception, and political disillusionment in Communist Czechoslovakia.
Colin Smith 💙 🇺🇦Paperback, 1998
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Life Is Elsewhere
Milan Kundera1973: Technically his sophomore novel, (finished in 1969), this won France's Prix Medicis for best foreign novel. It's a poetic bildungsroman that follows Jaromil, a young poet, on his journey through love, politics, and the quest for artistic identity.
Neil Strauss & @Patralekha2011 পত্রলেখা চ্যাটার্জীPaperback, 2000
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The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Milan Kundera1979: Composed of 7 separate narratives all of which deal with the nature of memory and forgetting – an allusion to the repressive political situation in Czechoslovakia – this is the book that first brought Kundera international acclaim.
Elisabeth Vincentelli & The Paris ReviewPaperback, 1999
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Milan Kundera1984: This iconic book follows 2 women, 2 men and a dog set against the backdrop of the Prague Spring. Mixing memoir, philosophy and history with a lacing of acidic humor, this is a must-read and a must re-read.
Maggie Haberman & Maria PopovaPaperback, 2005
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Immortality
Milan Kundera1990: The last novel he wrote in his native Czech – a move that would forever complicate his relationship with his homeland after his exile. In it, a renowned Czech writer, contemplates his life, relationships and art in a narrative infused with Kundera's philosophical musings.
Elisabeth Vincentelli & David FrumPaperback, 1999
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Slowness
Milan Kundera1995: During a social event at a French chateau, two parallel stories explore the allure of slowness, seduction and the modern obsession with speed.
gregory howard & Paul HoldengraberPaperback, 1997
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Identity
Milan Kundera1998: Chantal and Jean-Marc's weekend getaway becomes a mysterious quest for identity and self-discovery, blurring the lines between reality and imagination.
Elisabeth Vincentelli & Jo CoynePaperback, 1999
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Ignorance
Milan Kundera2000: Two émigrés return to their homeland, seeking their roots and encountering unexpected revelations about their own memories and identity.
Gérard Araud & The RumpusPaperback, 2003
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The Festival of Insignificance
Milan Kundera2013: Kundera’s final novel. Amidst the trivialities of everyday life, a group of friends engage in philosophical banter, reflecting on the nature of existence and the meaning of insignificance.
Elisabeth Vincentelli & Paul HoldengraberPaperback, 2023
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