The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Analysis

Kundera refers to Czechoslovakia under the Communist regime as the "Republic of Forgetting" (VI.2), which makes the country an ideological setting as much as a geographical one. Because Kundera foc...

Kundera tells the story of his characters and his country from an intimate and comprehensive perspective. Take this description of Karel's frustration and inner turmoil, for example: "Why had he ma...

You can tell by that heading that we're having a problem committing ourselves on this subject. That's because Kundera uses bits and bobs from a variety of literary genres to explore his major theme...

We don't mean to scare you by using adjectives like this. Kundera can be playful (though usually in a nihilistic way), provocative, and even funny at times. But consider this: he's contemplating th...

Kundera has a way of speaking directly about his characters and their personalities (check out "Character Clues" for more). There's absolutely no beating around the bush: if someone is a man-chaser...

Kundera's title reflects two of the most destructive weapons in the psychological arsenal of humanity. We don't mean to be overly dramatic, but consider this: inappropriate laughter and the ability...

Why is Jan's story the note that Kundera leaves us on? Remember, the border is an image that occurs to Jan because he's aging: he understands that there are only so many times that a person can do...

Kundera's writing style isn't particularly hard to handle: he's straightforward in his descriptions and dialogue, and the storytelling is pretty compelling. The difficulty comes when you try to fig...

Kundera calls this novel structure "variations on a theme," and as such, it has more of the feel of a collection of short stories held together by setting and thematic concerns. Since the narrative...

Since Kundera has no interest in pursuing a traditional, unified plotline for this book (each part of the book is a self-contained story), it's not possible to assign one type of narrative line to...

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is divided into seven parts, each of which—with the exceptions of parts IV and VI—tells a unique story, with its own cast of characters. Since the narrative...

Kundera got into a sand-throwing match with Vaclav Havel, the man who would become the Czech president, over the fallout of the Prague Spring. The argument was about whether or not activism under a...

Okay, we know that's not a proper rating, but we're just looking out for you—because Kundera isn't. He has no problem confronting and including challenging sexual relationships in this work: from...

Communism (throughout)Marxism (throughout)Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary (I.19.3)Sisyphus (II.6.13, II.8.12-13)Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros (III.1.1, III.8.2, III.8.8)...