I want to say something smart on this topic, but really I just want everyone to read Milan Kundera's reflections on the German idiom "einmal ist keinmal" in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The way he writes about the connection between motivation, action and consequence makes me want to never wax philosophically again.
You know, I've owned several copies of that particular book and given them all away to people. I'd really like to read more of his stuff, but I think in the back of my mind that I worry that anything else he's written won't turn me inside out the way Unbearable did, even though I'm assured that his other stuff will not disappoint. Got any suggestions on where I might go next in terms of Kundera's work?
I would love this answered. kleinbl00 recommended The Joke to me about 6 months ago, and I read it in January on a plane trip to Russia (coincidence), but the subjects grappled within were of a different kind than those in The Unbearable Lightness of Being. The Joke is more absurdist, and asks what can life meaningfully strive towards in the face of an authoritative power that defies logic or rationality. Which, to be true, ULoB touches upon. But ULoB also dealt with so much more. I don't think The Joke was limited, but it just dealt with fewer subjects, and I don't mean that as a slight. John Updike said it best, "A... novel with the reach of greatness in it." I never felt the weight of absurdist Soviet policy like I did on that plane ride touching down in Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow early this year (and I slow whistled after learning this was his very first novel). Normally the absurdism of communist central planning comes in the form of satire. But The Joke was more... realistic? life-like? Though it dealt with something that almost demands satire -- an authoritative regime reacting out of political correctness -- I read it is as a serious (if funny in some parts) novel. I may be off base with that, I wonder how bl00 felt after reading it. But The Unbearable Lightness of Being? That book changed my thinking process more than anything else I've read. It may be selfish, but I want more.
Book of Laughter and Forgetting is great. I even liked Identity. I find Kundera's perspective to be insightful and novel and I don't really care what he's talking about. The Joke was not only Kundera's first novel, it has recently come to light that he escaped from Czechoslovakia in exchange for informing on fellow artists. In a way, the Joke is an apologia.
I'm not sure Kundera even cares what he's talking about. I'm pretty sure the scenarios he sets up are just conduits for getting his philosophy across in a more interesting way. I've only read Book of Laughter and Unbearable Lightness, but I found both to be amazing. I definitely plan to read most of his catalog.I find Kundera's perspective to be insightful and novel and I don't really care what he's talking about.
His take on litost in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is a lot better.
Haha! Let's see, the date set for #hubskibookclub is July 13. I don't know what edition you've got, or if you've started it, but the one I read was 726 pages, so . . . if you read 363 pages a day, you could do it if you haven't started it yet. I don't know how to convert pages into mg, or what averages human tolerances are for Ayn Rand, but it seems like that might exceed the LD50.
Ayn Rand is not exactly unknown to me. I feel I could have a reasonable discussion on Objectivism based simply on reading around her. I certainly don't know enough to participate in a book club discussion, though. Think I linked to the Action Philosophers Ayn Rand book in the past. Yup. It has always discouraged me that good sci fi writers inspire nerds but bad sci fi writers inspire cults.
I read it for the book club. I agree that there are numerous books that would have been more enjoyable. But I'll admit that it's not a tedious read, it's actually quite good at parts. But it is extremely heavy handed in the point it's attempting to make. I don't blame anyone for sitting this one out. I'm looking forward to the next book.