The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Masterplots II: World Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Milan Kundera
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Novel of ideas
- Time of Work: From 1968 to the late 1970’s
- Setting: Prague and a small town in Czechoslovakia, the Riviera, a provincial town in Western Europe, and a mythical isle of children
- Principal Characters: The Narrator, Tamina
- 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
The Novel
In part 6 of The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, Milan Kundera states that the “entire book is a novel in the form of variations.” He also declares that “it is a novel about Tamina, and whenever Tamina is absent, it is a novel for Tamina. She is its main character and main audience, and all the other stories are variations on her story and come together in her life as in a mirror.” In this authorial digression can be seen the nexus of the book. With historical anecdotes, philosophical reflections, artistic criticism, and personal revelations,...
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See Also:
Milan Kundera (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Milan Kundera (Short Fiction)Milan Kundera (Long Fiction)
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