Milan Kundera about World War II. Kundera, Milan (Milan Kundera)

Milan Kundera is a Czech writer who has lived in France since 1975.

Milan's father was a pianist, musicologist, rector of the University in Brno. Cousin - writer and translator Ludwik Kundera. During his high school years, Milan wrote his first poems. After World War II, he worked as a laborer and jazz musician.

Milan graduated from high school in 1948. He began to study at the Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University (Prague), studied musicology, cinema, literature and aesthetics there, after two semesters he transferred to the Faculty of Cinema of the Prague Academy.

In 1950 he interrupted his studies for political reasons, but nevertheless graduated in 1952. He worked as an assistant and later as a professor at the Academy at the Faculty of Cinema, taught world literature. At the same time, he joined the editorial boards of the literary magazines Literarni noviny and Listy.

He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1948 to 1950. In 1950 he was expelled for "anti-party activities and individualist tendencies." From 1956 to 1970 again in the CPC.

In 1953 he published his first book. Until the mid-1950s, he was engaged in translations, essays, and dramaturgy. He became famous after the release of a collection of poems and the release of 3 parts of the cycle of short stories "Funny Loves", written and published from 1958 to 1968.

In his first novel, The Joke (1967), he deals with the position of the Czech intelligentsia in the conditions of Soviet reality. In the same year, Kundera took part in the IV Congress of the Writers' Union of Czechoslovakia, where calls for the democratization of the country's social and political life were openly voiced for the first time and which began the processes that led to the Prague Spring.

After the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Kundera took part in a number of demonstrations and protest meetings, for which he was deprived of the opportunity to teach. His books were withdrawn from all libraries in Czechoslovakia. In 1970, on charges of complicity in revolutionary events, he was again expelled from the party, he was forbidden to publish.

In 1970, Kundera completed his second novel Life Is Not Here, which tells in a grotesque-surrealistic form about the personality crisis and the poet's creative degradation under the conditions of the formation of socialist Czechoslovakia. The protagonist of the novel, the young poet Yaromil, evolves from surrealism in the spirit of Andre Breton to socialist realism. The novel was published in 1973 in Paris.

The third novel of the writer - "Farewell Waltz" (1971) - an elegant story about the stay of several characters in the resort town. This is Kundera's first novel dealing primarily with sexual themes.

In 1975, Kundera was invited to work as a professor at the University of Rennes (Brittany region, France).

Kundera's fourth novel, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1978), is essentially a cycle of several stories and essays united by common characters (Tamina, Kundera himself), themes and images (laughter, angels, Prague). For this book in 1979 the Czechoslovak government deprived the writer of citizenship.

Since 1981 Kundera has been a French citizen. The novel "Immortality" (1990) is the last one he wrote in Czech.

Since the early 1990s, Kundera has been writing in French. Three French novels - "Slowness" (1993), "Authenticity" (1998), "Ignorance" (2000) - are more miniature, chamber than his Czech novels.

In October 2008, an employee of the Czech Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Adam Gradilek, published an article in the weekly Respekt that Kundera in 1950 informed the police about Miroslav Dvořáček, who first fled to Germany and then secretly returned to Czechoslovakia as an American intelligence agent. Dvořáček was sentenced to 22 years in prison, of which he served 14. After the publication, Kundera said: “I am simply shocked by this whole story, which I know nothing about and which did not exist at all. I don't know the person in question at all. It's a lie". Allegations that the writer was allegedly a scammer caused heated debate in the Czech Republic.

Milan Kundera was born on April Fool's Day, April 1, 1929, into an intelligent family. His father was the rector of the university, his mother was a musicologist. Life promised to be calm and serene . At the university, the young man rotated in the usual rhythm for the "golden youth": he was drinking, joking, meeting girls and, like many, joined the Communist Party. However, jokes with the party turned out to be bad for the writer's friends.

Some were expelled and expelled from work for Trotskyism and political myopia, and Milan was “luckier” than he was expelled with a light wording “for individual tendencies and anti-party activities”, which made it possible to continue working in his specialty. At this time he was engaged in journalism, translations, dramaturgy, wrote essays . In 1956 he again joined the CPC. The publication of the first novel, The Joke, in 1967 brought Kundera European recognition. In the book, he described the Czech intelligentsia.

In the same year, the IV Congress of the Union of Writers of Czechoslovakia was held, where for the first time calls for the democratization of society were heard publicly.. Czechoslovakia was hungry for change. In 1968, a new Secretary of State was elected, who headed for the liberalization of society, which the USSR did not like. The "Prague Spring" and with it the desire of the people to get more rights ended with the introduction of Soviet tanks into Prague. Milan Kundera took an active part in the strikes. He depicted the events of those days in the novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. .

In 1969, he was again expelled from the party with the subsequent punishment - the inability to publish and work. Kundera's publications were published abroad, on the fee from which the writer could exist. In 1974, an offer was received from France to work at one of the universities, but Milan was not allowed to travel abroad. A year later, the Czech government allowed him to leave the country. Kundera, together with his wife Vera, settled down in his second homeland - France, where he received citizenship in 1981. and taught first in Rennes and then in Paris at the university. After going abroad, Milan wrote exclusively in French. In his work, he displayed such problems:

• Denunciation of compatriots to the competent authorities;
• Jokes and political humor in an obscure campaign;
• Love has always reduced to erotica;
• He laid lies at the foundation of good deeds;
• How easier it is to break relationships with a mistress, wife, friend, and the like.

Today, Milan Kundera lives in France, occasionally visits old friends in the Czech Republic incognito, and leads a secluded life. The writer entered the history of prominent figures with filigree texts with philosophical reflections on human destinies through the prism of laughter.

Writer Quotes

1. “He dreamed of getting out of his life, as they leave the apartment on the street”;
2. “A person who dreams of leaving the place where he lives is clearly unhappy”;
3. “To give birth to a child means to express one’s absolute consent with a person”;
4. “If I had a child, then by doing so I would say: I was born, I knew life and made sure that it is so good that it deserves repetition”;
5. “We will never know why and how we annoy people, why we are nice to them and why we are funny; our own image remains the greatest mystery to us.”

Biography

Milan's father was a pianist, musicologist, rector of the University in Brno. Cousin - writer and translator Ludwik Kundera. During his high school years, Milan wrote his first poems. After World War II, he worked as a laborer and jazz musician.

In his first novel "The Joke" (), we are talking about the position of the Czech intelligentsia in the conditions of Soviet reality. In the same year, Kundera took part in the IV Congress of the Writers' Union of Czechoslovakia, where calls for the democratization of the country's social and political life were openly voiced for the first time and which began the processes that led to the Prague Spring.

Honorary Citizen of Brno (2009) .

Bibliography

Poetry

• "Man is an immense garden"(Czech. Člověk, zahrada širá,)
• "Last May"(Czech. Poslední máj, - -)
• "Monologues"(Czech Monology, - -)

Plays

• "Key Owner"(Czech Majitele klíčů,)
• "Miss"(Czech Ptákovina,)
• "Two gossip, two weddings"(Czech Dvě uši, dvě svatby,)
• "Jacques and his master"(Czech. Jakub a jeho pan: Pocta Denisu Diderotovi, )

Novels

• "Funny Loves"(Czech. Smešne lasky, )

Novels

• "Joke"(Czech. Zert, )
• "Life is not here"(Czech. Zivot je jinde, - )
• "Farewell Waltz"(Czech. Valčík na rozloučenou, - )
• "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting"(Czech. Kniha smíchu a zapomnění,)
• "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"(Czech. Nesnesitelná lehkost byti, )
• "Immortality"(Czech. Nesmrtelnost, )
• "Slowness"(fr. La Lenteur; Czech Pomalost, )
• "Authenticity"(fr. L'identite; Czech Totožnost , )
• "Ignorance"(fr. L'ignorance; Czech Nevědomost , )
• "Festival of Insignificance"(fr. La Fete de l'insignifiance, 2013)

Essay

• On Disputes of Inheritance (1955)
• The Art of the Novel (1960)
• Czech Agreement (1968)
• Radicalism and Exhibitionism (1969)
• (1983)
• The Art of the Novel (L'art du Roman) (1985)
• Broken Wills (Les testaments trahis) (1992)
• (2005)
• Meeting (Une rencontre) (2009)

Productions

• In 1963, based on his play, the play The Turn of the Key was staged at the Riga Youth Theater.

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Links

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• respekt.ihned.cz/c1-36370990-udani-milana-kundery

Notes

Excerpt characterizing Kundera, Milan

In the happiest state of mind, returning from his southern journey, Pierre fulfilled his long-standing intention to call on his friend Bolkonsky, whom he had not seen for two years.
Bogucharovo lay in an ugly, flat area, covered with fields and felled and uncut spruce and birch forests. The manor's yard was at the end of a straight line, along the main road of the village, behind a newly dug, full-filled pond, with banks not yet overgrown with grass, in the middle of a young forest, between which stood several large pines.
The manor's yard consisted of a threshing floor, outbuildings, stables, a bathhouse, an outbuilding and a large stone house with a semicircular pediment, which was still under construction. A young garden was planted around the house. The fences and gates were strong and new; under a shed stood two fire chimneys and a barrel painted green; the roads were straight, the bridges were strong with railings. On everything lay the imprint of accuracy and thrift. When asked where the prince lived, the courtyards pointed to a small, new outbuilding, standing at the very edge of the pond. Prince Andrei's old uncle, Anton, let Pierre out of the carriage, said that the prince was at home, and escorted him to a clean, small entrance hall.
Pierre was struck by the modesty of a small, albeit clean, house after those brilliant conditions in which he last saw his friend in Petersburg. He hurriedly entered the small hall, still smelling of pine, not plastered, and wanted to go further, but Anton ran forward on tiptoe and knocked on the door.
- Well, what is there? - I heard a sharp, unpleasant voice.
“Guest,” answered Anton.
“Ask me to wait,” and a chair was pushed back. Pierre walked quickly to the door and came face to face with Prince Andrei, frowning and aging, coming out to him. Pierre hugged him and, raising his glasses, kissed him on the cheeks and looked at him closely.
“I didn’t expect it, I’m very glad,” said Prince Andrei. Pierre did not say anything; he stared at his friend in surprise, not taking his eyes off him. He was struck by the change that had taken place in Prince Andrei. The words were affectionate, there was a smile on the lips and face of Prince Andrei, but his eyes were dead, dead, to which, despite his apparent desire, Prince Andrei could not give a joyful and cheerful sheen. Not that he lost weight, turned pale, his friend matured; but this look and the wrinkle on the forehead, expressing a long concentration on one thing, amazed and alienated Pierre until he got used to them.
When meeting after a long separation, as always happens, the conversation could not stop for a long time; they asked and answered briefly about such things, about which they themselves knew that it was necessary to talk at a long time. Finally, the conversation began to stop little by little on what was previously said in fragments, on questions about the past life, about plans for the future, about Pierre's journey, about his studies, about the war, etc. That concentration and deadness, which Pierre noticed in the eyes of Prince Andrei, now expressed even more strongly in the smile with which he listened to Pierre, especially when Pierre spoke with animation of joy about the past or the future. As if Prince Andrei would have wished, but could not take part in what he was saying. Pierre began to feel that enthusiasm, dreams, hopes for happiness and goodness were not decent before Prince Andrei. He was ashamed to express all his new, Masonic thoughts, especially those renewed and aroused in him by his last journey. He restrained himself, was afraid to be naive; at the same time, he irresistibly wanted to quickly show his friend that he was now completely different, better Pierre than the one who was in Petersburg.
“I can’t tell you how much I have experienced during this time. I wouldn't recognize myself.
“Yes, we have changed a lot, a lot since then,” said Prince Andrei.
- Well, and you? - asked Pierre, - what are your plans?
– Plans? Prince Andrei ironically repeated. - My plans? he repeated, as if wondering at the meaning of such a word. - Yes, you see, I’m building, I want to move completely by next year ...
Pierre silently, intently peered into the aged face of (Prince) Andrei.
“No, I’m asking,” said Pierre, “but Prince Andrei interrupted him:
- What can I say about me... tell me, tell me about your journey, about everything that you did there on your estates?
Pierre began to talk about what he had done on his estates, trying as much as possible to hide his participation in the improvements made by him. Prince Andrei several times prompted Pierre in advance what he was telling, as if everything that Pierre did was a long-known story, and listened not only not with interest, but even as if ashamed of what Pierre was telling.
Pierre became embarrassed and even hard in the company of his friend. He fell silent.
- And here's what, my soul, - said Prince Andrei, who was obviously also hard and shy with the guest, - I'm here in bivouacs, and I came only to look. Today I'm going back to my sister. I will introduce you to them. Yes, you seem to know each other,” he said, obviously entertaining the guest with whom he now felt nothing in common. - We'll leave after lunch. And now you want to see my estate? - They went out and walked until dinner, talking about political news and mutual acquaintances, like people who are not close to each other. With some animation and interest, Prince Andrei spoke only about the new estate and building he was arranging, but even here, in the middle of the conversation, on the stage, when Prince Andrei was describing to Pierre the future location of the house, he suddenly stopped. - However, there is nothing interesting here, let's go to dinner and go. - At dinner, the conversation turned to the marriage of Pierre.
“I was very surprised when I heard about this,” said Prince Andrei.
Pierre blushed just as he always blushed at this, and hastily said:
"I'll tell you someday how it all happened." But you know that it's all over and for good.
- Forever? - said Prince Andrew. “Nothing happens forever.
But do you know how it all ended? Have you heard of the duel?
Yes, you've been through that too.
“One thing I thank God for is that I didn’t kill this man,” said Pierre.
- From what? - said Prince Andrew. “Killing an evil dog is even very good.
“No, it’s not good to kill a person, it’s unfair…
- Why is it unfair? repeated Prince Andrei; what is fair and unfair is not given to people to judge. People have always been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider just and unjust.
“It’s unfair that there is evil for another person,” said Pierre, feeling with pleasure that for the first time since his arrival, Prince Andrei revived and began to speak and wanted to express everything that made him what he was now.
– And who told you what evil is for another person? - he asked.
– Evil? Evil? - said Pierre, - we all know what evil is for ourselves.
“Yes, we know, but I cannot do the evil that I know for myself to another person,” Prince Andrei said more and more animatedly, apparently wanting to express his new view of things to Pierre. He spoke French. Je ne connais l dans la vie que deux maux bien reels: c "est le remord et la maladie. II n" est de bien que l "absence de ces maux. [I know only two real misfortunes in life: this is remorse and disease. And the only good is the absence of these evils.] To live for oneself, avoiding only these two evils: that is all my wisdom now.

In his novels, Milan Kundera (born 1929) seeks to answer the question: What is the nature of existence?

Milan Kundera proved to be one of the most significant and talented novelists to emerge from the agony of the old communist regimes in Eastern Europe. However, his novels are not political treatises, but attempts to reveal the meaning of the existential problems facing humanity.

Mother - Milada Kundera (nee Yanishkova / Milada Janiskova). Father - Ludwik Kundera (Ludvík Kundera, 1891-1971) - once a student of the composer Leos Janacek; famous Czech musician and pianist; from 1948 to 1961 - head of the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno (Janáček Music Academy).

The father taught his son how to play the piano. Milan later studied musicology and composition under Paul Haas and Vaclav Kapral. The influence of music is felt in all subsequent literary works of Kundera.
In 1948 he graduated from high school in Brno. As a teenager, Kundera joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.

In 1950, Milan Kundera and another writer, Jan Trefulka, were expelled from the Czechoslovak Communist Party "for anti-party activities". Trefulka described these events in the novel Happiness Rained On Them (Pršelo jim štěstí/Happiness Rained On Them, 1962). Kundera also addressed these events, using his novel The Joke (Žert, 1967) as the basis.
In 1956 he was reinstated in the party (having been expelled again in 1970).

In 1956, Kundera entered the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague (Charles University, Faculty of Arts), studied literature and aesthetics.
After the second year, in 1958, he transferred to the Prague Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts) at the Faculty of Cinematography, where he attended lectures for directors and screenwriters.
Upon graduation, Kundera began teaching world literature at the Film Department, a position he held until 1969.

Starting as a poet, from 1953 to 1965 Kundera published three collections of poems: "Man is an immense garden" (Člověk zahrada širá) (1953); "Last May" (Poslední máj) (1961) - in memory of Julius Fučík; "Monologues" (Monology) (1965)
Later, he began to write novels - works in this genre brought fame to Kundera.

September 30, 1967 married Vera Hrabankova, with whom he still lives.

In 1967, Kundera's first novel, The Joke (Žert), was published, in which the author exposed the vicissitudes of life in a world devoid of humor.
Together with other reformist and communist writers such as Pavel Kohout, Kundera participated in the events of the Prague Spring of 1968. During this period of cultural reform, writers and other creative people gained freedom that they did not have under the communist regime.
Kundera remained committed to the reform ideas of the communist movement and argued passionately in print with Václav Havel, arguing that one should remain calm, that "nobody has ever been jailed for expressing their opinion" and that "the significance of the Prague Autumn in the end may become more majestic than the significance of the Prague Spring." (However, in the end, Kundera had to give up his reformist hopes; in 1975 he emigrated to France).

In 1969, "Funny Loves" (Směšné lásky) was written. In 1972 - "Farewell Waltz" (Valčík na Razloučenou).

The thaw period was short-lived (and ended with the occupation of Prague by Soviet tanks). Kundera found himself in the same position as many leaders of the reform movement. His books disappeared from the shelves of libraries and bookstores, he lost his job at the academy, and then the right to write and publish in his native country.

Kundera's first two novels were published abroad in translation, but in essence he remained a writer without readers. At first he was not allowed to travel to the West, but eventually Kundera was able to take a teaching position in France.

In 1974, when the writer was in Rennes, France (Rennes, France), the Czechoslovak authorities annulled his citizenship, forcing Kundera to exile.
From 1975 to 1979 he was Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Rennes (Université de Rennes).
In 1980, he became a professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris.
In 1981, Kundera took French citizenship.

In 1974, Life Is Not Here (Život je jinde), Kundera's first novel written after being expelled from his native country, was published in the United States. The book deals with revolutionary romanticism and lyric poetry in general, and among other things deals with the fickleness of the marriage union of two people.

The next book was also published in the United States, in 1976, and was called Goodbye Waltz (Valčík na Razloučenou, written in 1973). It satirically depicts a state-run sanatorium for women with fertility problems, and also raises serious ethical questions.

In 1980, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Kniha smíchu a zapomnění, written in 1978) was published in the USA, and in 1981 its second edition, supplemented by Philip Roth, was published. The novel demonstrates the need for memory to overcome oblivion for the sake of self-preservation of the individual.

Milan Kundera's most famous novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí), appeared in 1984. The book scrutinizes the greatest existential problems that man faces: love, death, transcendence, the sense of continuity or "heavyness" that memory provides, and the opposite sense of "lightness" that oblivion provides. The novel was filmed in 1988.

The next novel, titled Immortality (Nesmrtelnost, 1990), was released in 1991 in England. In addition to the theme stated in the title, the book deals with the era of romance, ideology, the cult of the image and selfish individualism.
The novel Slowness (La Lenteur, 1993), published in 1994, raises basically the same questions.

Initially, Kundera wrote in Czech, and since 1993 he has been writing books in French. Between 1985 and 1987 the writer revised the translations of his own early works into French. As a result, all of Kundera's books exist in French as originals.

In 1998, the novel "Authenticity" (L" Identité) was written, in 2000 - "Ignorance" (L "Ignorance).

In addition to novels, one of Kundera's most important works appeared in the late 1980s, a collection of essays The Art of the Novel (L "art du Roman, 1986). Published in 1988, the book outlines the writer's views on the theory of the novel. True to the nature of his own novels, the author compiled a book of three short essays, two interviews, a list of 63 words and their definitions, and the text of a speech.

The unity of Kundera's novel does not exist within a predetermined set of rules. To connect parts of his novels, he uses one common theme, as well as a structure based on musical polyphony. As in musical composition, the length and organization of chapters, subsections, and sections is used to create mood and timing. Instead of the linear structure of the stories of characters or their groups, Kundera sometimes combines stories that initially seem to be unrelated common themes and existential situations.

In The Art of the Novel, Kundera explains the inextricable link between the history of the novel and the history of European culture. Starting with Cervantes and analyzing the works of authors such as Richardson, Balzac, Flaubert, Tolstoy, Proust, Joyce, Mann and Kafka, he traces the path of existential experience. This path originates in a world of unlimited potential, moves towards the beginning of history - through the reduction of the possibilities of the external world, the search for infinity in the human soul, the futility of this search - falling into a sphere where history is considered a monster, unable to offer anything useful.

Kundera considers himself a writer without a message, without a so-called "message". For example, in The Art of the Novel, compiled from essays he wrote, Kundera recalls an episode when a Scandinavian publisher hesitated to publish The Goodbye Waltz because of its explicit anti-abortion message. Kundera explains that not only did the publisher make a mistake about the existence of such a message, but that “... I was pleased with such a misunderstanding. I excelled as a novelist. I managed to create a moral duality of the situation. I retained faith in the essence of the novel as an art: irony. And irony does not care about any messages!

Kundera loves musical digressions, analyzing Czech folk music, quoting Leoš Janáček and Bartók. Going further, he inserts musical passages into the texts (for example, in "Joke"), discusses Schoenberg (Schoenberg) and atonality.

In 1995, Broken Testaments (Les testaments trahis, 1992), a book-length essay on literary criticism, was published. The publication is structured in the manner of Nietzsche's books - each of the nine chapters is divided into small subsections. The main recurring theme is based on Kundera's strong belief that the rights of writers and other creators must be protected; and that editors, publishers, and executors must respect their intentions and aspirations.

Milan Kundera's contribution is important both as a writer exploring the nature of existence and as a historian and critic of the novel.

Translation - E. Kuzmina © When using my translations, a link to the site is required

He started his career in poetry, then found his calling in prose.

Carier start

Kundera was born in the Czech city of Brno. His father was the rector of the university and a good specialist in music. The future writer graduated from school in 1948. During his studies, he composed poetry, tried the pen. But, oddly enough, after graduation, he entered the Faculty of Philosophy, where he was actively engaged in musicology. After studying for one year, he is transferred to the Faculty of Cinema, where Kundera subsequently worked. Milan has always had a difficult and confusing relationship with politics. As a department lecturer and member of the editorial boards of two literary magazines, he was expelled from the Communist Party for his individualistic views and anti-Party activities. However, he was soon rehabilitated.

The first published work appeared in 1953. Fame comes to him after the release of a collection of poems. At this time, Milan Kundera, whose books are gradually gaining popularity, is very much involved in dramaturgy and essay writing. The collection of short stories "Funny Loves" brought real success.

Writer's first novel

The political views of the author were reflected in his first novel "The Joke". Milan Kundera speaks in it about Stalinism, speaking with harsh criticism of this phenomenon. For 1967, the book was quite topical. The novel was translated into many languages ​​and immediately became popular. With the incredible brightness of Kundera, Milan shows the story of human torment mixed with the denunciation of the political system. The theme of jokes and games is organically woven into the outline of the novel. Ludovic Jan - the hero of the novel - jokes unsuccessfully, his joke changes life. Kundera brings his story to the point of absurdity. The book looks rather gloomy and gray, but it is very vital.

Kundera, Milan: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

An incredibly deep novel by Kundera. Perhaps it is the author's most popular and highly acclaimed book. In it, he tries to philosophically comprehend the freedom of man, his happiness. The writer again attempts to depict a turning point in history through the fates and traditional relationships of ordinary people. Some readers perceive this work negatively: there is too little action in it. The novel is filled with the author's inventions, his reasoning and lyrical digressions. However, therein lies the charm of this work. The novel has two storylines. The first is connected with the fate of Teresa and Tomas, and the second - Sabina and Franz. They live, as it seems at first glance, the most ordinary lives. They love, part, engage in professional activities. However, in 1968, such political events take place that change everything. Now only those who love Soviet power can live as before and feel comfortable. As you know, in 1968, Soviet tanks drove through Czech cities. Mass protests began, in which Kundera himself participated. Milan was deprived of the right to teach for this. The feeling of lack of freedom, pressure permeates the novel of the writer through and through. The novel has been translated into many languages ​​and filmed.

Characteristics of some novels

One of the most remarkable novels that Milan Kundera has written is "Farewell Waltz". It has seven main characters. These are ordinary women and men, it is not clear how their fate will turn out. The author, through some unthinkable mathematical calculations, mixes up and mixes the characters, gradually bringing them together. The novel is full of passions, intrigues, feelings. It can be defined as a psychological novel with an admixture of crime (detective) genre and drama.

A masterpiece of intellectual prose - a novel that Milan Kundera created - "Immortality" (1990). This book is built as a chain of associations that arose after a single gesture of the heroine. By the way, this is the last novel written by Kundera in Czech. In French, he wrote such novels as "Slowness", "Authenticity". The novel "Slowness" consists of several combined plots in which it is difficult to find one topic (since there are many topics). A novel about how people strive to achieve something, not realizing that they are only passionate about the process of achieving the goal, but not the goal itself. There are in it motives of a thirst for recognition, evaluation. The novel "Authenticity" opens before the reader endless labyrinths of reflections and inventions, when it is difficult to understand what is actually imaginary and what is genuine. This work actualizes the themes of friendship, memory, memories.

Later life of the writer

As noted above, after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops, Kundera was deprived of his position at the university. He continued to work on his novels, but none of his works were published. Constant surveillance and harassment force him to leave the country. Even after so many years, the writer has some distrust of the Russians (as Kundera himself says). Milan goes to France. He has lived there since 1975. In 1981 he became a full citizen of this country. For a long time he writes his novels in his native language, and essays and articles in French. In an interview, Kundera noted that, unlike other writers - forced emigrants - he does not feel separated from his native soil, so he can create in full force.

Kundera Milan on Literature

Like any writer, Milan Kundera is an ardent admirer of literature. According to the writer, the works of such great masters of the word had a great influence on him, as in the works of these authors, Kundera is attracted by play, irony, "freedom turned into a novel." Of course, he does not bypass Kundera and his compatriot - he rightfully calls him a symbol of the era. Disbelief in progress, some disappointment, the illusory nature of improvements in society, irony - this is what Kundera admires in Kafka's novels.

In Russian literature, the writer especially highlights the work of L.N. Tolstoy. In his opinion, Lev Nikolaevich succeeded better than other authors in capturing the present, feeling the peculiarities of the time. Tolstoy's special merit is in creating an internal monologue. Milan Kundera believes that it was Tolstoy who became the forerunner of the "stream of consciousness" literature developed further in the work of Joyce and other modernist and postmodernist writers.

Famous sayings of the author

The deeply philosophical, intellectual novels of the author can literally be "cut" into quotations. However, there are also such statements of the author that were not included in his works.

"I hate to participate in political life, although politics delights me as a show, a spectacle." This quote was made by the author about the elections in France and about his departure from his native country. Certainly, for Kundera, politics is a tragic sight.

"Life, when you cannot hide from the eyes of others, is hell." Everything is contained in this quote: both his attitude towards a totalitarian state, and his attitude towards his own glory. Milan once said that he would like to become invisible. The writer never stuck out or advertised his personal life.

"The true humanism of society is manifested in its attitude towards the elderly." According to the writer, one should not judge a society only by its attitude towards children. After all, the true future of man is old age.