The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Milan Kundera
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: 1948-1980
- Genres: Long fiction, Political fiction, Problem novel
- Subjects: 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, Self-discovery, Communism or communists, Politics, France or French people, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, 1940’s, Poetry or poets, Czechoslovakia or Czechoslovakians, Laughter
- Locales: France, Riviera, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Places Discussed
*Prague. Capital of Czechoslovakia, an Eastern European nation that was created after World War I, that was occupied by Nazi Germany through World War II, and that fell under the Soviet orbit in the late 1940’s. Seen through the perspectives of different characters at diverse places and times, the city becomes an emblem of the wrongs endured by the people of Czechoslovakia under communist rule. For example, in 1971, three years after the Russian occupation of his homeland, Mirek—under surveillance by the not-so-secret police—seeks to retrieve his letters...
[The entire page is 1017 words long]
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