Fiction Writing, Miscellaneous Genres & Literary Forms - Literary Criticism

Art of the Novel

Name: Art of the Novel
Author: Milan Kundera
ISBN: 9780060093747

by Milan Kundera, Linda Asher (Translator), Linda Asher

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Overview

Kundera brilliantly examines the work of such important and diverse figures as Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne, Diderot, Flaubert, Tolstoy, and Musil. He is especially penetrating on Hermann Broch, and his exploration of the world of Kafka's novels vividly reveals the comic terror of Kafka's bureaucratized universe.

Kundera's discussion of his own work includes his views on the role of historical events in fiction, the meaning of action, and the creation of character in the post-psychological novel.

"...belongs in any literary library. Incandescent illumination by one of literature's most important voices."--Kirkus Reviews. By the best-selling author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Synopsis

The noted author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1982) collects seven essays written between 1979 and 1985 on his conception of the novel. Kundera's themes range from Cervantes as the forgotten founder of the Modern Era, to the roles of novelists vs. philosophers. The first Perennial Library edition appeared in 1988; originally published in French in 1986 as L'Art du roman by Editions Gallimard. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Publishers Weekly

A novelist who writes eloquently about the wrenching dislocations of history, Kundera explains that his fictions use historical circumstances only to thrust his characters into a ``revelatory existential situation.'' The Czech writer (The Joke, Laughable Loves) draws lessons from Cervantes, who saw the world as a welter of contradictory truths, and from Kafka, who recognized that pure irrationality held center stage. In essays and dialogues, he discusses novelists whose works are sorely neglected (Broch, Diderot) and more familiar writers like Tolstoy, Flaubert, Musil and Sterne. He presents a 62-word glossary of key words to aid readers of his own novels (``Betrayal . . . Breaking ranks and going off into the unknown''). His strikingly original reflections crystallize his conviction that the modern novelist's greatest asset is the wisdom of uncertainty. (March)

About the Author, Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera's study of philosophy is evident in his books, which are part meditation, part love story and part satire. In novels such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, he asks readers to consider not just his characters, but questions of history and human existence.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A novelist who writes eloquently about the wrenching dislocations of history, Kundera explains that his fictions use historical circumstances only to thrust his characters into a ``revelatory existential situation.'' The Czech writer The Joke, Laughable Loves draws lessons from Cervantes, who saw the world as a welter of contradictory truths, and from Kafka, who recognized that pure irrationality held center stage. In essays and dialogues, he discusses novelists whose works are sorely neglected Broch, Diderot and more familiar writers like Tolstoy, Flaubert, Musil and Sterne. He presents a 62-word glossary of key words to aid readers of his own novels ``Betrayal . . . Breaking ranks and going off into the unknown''. His strikingly original reflections crystallize his conviction that the modern novelist's greatest asset is the wisdom of uncertainty. March

Library Journal

Kundera's first nonfiction book alternates between passionately intelligent reflections on some of the novelists most important to himCervantes, Broch, and Kafkaand on his own challenging and important work. Although the Czech author's own fiction better proves his argument that the novel is far from dead where there is no censorship, this book is very useful for understanding his works as continuing a Central European and international tradition. He is so dedicated to his art form that he evaluates contemporary culture on the basis of how well it supports the modern novel. The reader is left with a renewed appreciation of the form. For all literature collections.Ethan Bumas, formerly with the New Sch. for Social Research, New York