The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Milan Kundera
- First Published: 1979
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Political and psychological realism
- Time of Work: 1948-1980
- Setting: Czechoslovakia and France
- Principal Characters: Mirek, Zdena, Marketa, Karel, Eva, Mother, Gabrielle, Michelle, Madame Raphael, R., Milan Kundera, Tamina, Bibi, Hugo, Kristyna, The Student, Kundera’s father, Jan, Edwige, Passer
- 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 Story:
Lost Letters. Disregarding his friends’ advice to destroy his diaries recording dissident political meetings, Mirek traveled by car to meet Zdena. She was ugly, so he was ashamed of having had an affair with her twenty-five years earlier. He realized that he was being followed by another car, most likely the secret police. Mirek asked Zdena to return his old love letters to him. She refused. On the way back to his apartment, Mirek managed to elude the car following him. When he arrived home, he found his apartment being searched by the police, who...
[The entire page is 2026 words long]
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