Reviews

Žert by Milan Kundera

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sidharthvardhan's review against another edition

5.0

"she had been caught stealing flowers in a cemetery."

You know the theory which speculates that married men are way funnier than unmarried one because they have got the punchline?

The above joke is a test of how satisfied men are from their marriages and must never be made in presence of wives, as some husbands have imprudence to laugh on it. But that is the thing about jokes. You don’t ‘make’ something funny, funny is already in air – in form of unhappy husbands (it won’t be funny to kids who know little about marriage), someone just discovers a way to poke at it.

Almost all humor is invoked by the fact that we are almost always trying hard to put up an act in one way or other; when something happens which reminds us of the reason we are putting the act, laughter becomes one of many possible responses. A non-vegetarian joke get you at sexual impulses that you won’t tell others about, the motion fails – people slipping, falling down etc are funny to people who are themselves most afraid of looking silly, it is people themselves spending time on their own appearances (and thus always with heavy makeup on) that make fun of how others look, the people who get George Carlin’s humor do so because they are themselves putting up happily with a people that they don’t think are ideal. I’m pretty sure some big philosopher gave this theory or something similar, I can’t recall who.

Now the thing is biggest acts humanity puts up with are five – nationalism, religion, political belief systems, property, and marriage. And they all prompt jokes both the good kind and the bad kind. In fact, anything which can be called an ‘institution’ will prompt a joke because all institutions make assumptions as to how you should perceive reality and how you should behave. Religious organizations will have you believe how God created the world, political ones will have you believe how their own values are best etc. Even elementary schools – brush your teeth daily, take bath daily etc. what is that about? I don’t bath for months and I’m doing just fine.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying one should do away with institutions but just that they kill individuality which is where hope for humanity lies – just look at the idea that requirements of 30 odd different students can be met in a single class by a single teacher at the same time! Personally, I believe, institutions should rather be like music instruments – with different kind of notes joining together to create music, for now, they are more like trying to make all buttons create same sound. Some of the members of the institution might actually believe in its one-size-fits-all value system while others are only putting up an act. Thus individuals are prompted to put an act - and thus leaving opportunities of humor.

It goes without saying that people with power over or interests in institutions don’t like humor. Remember that Queen Victoria’s ‘we are not amused’? Of course, you aren’t dear, it breaks the whole act. It is like emperor’s new clothes, they don't like reality.

"Now I understood why the king's face must be veiled! Not that he should not be seen, but that he should not see!"

And humor is the best way to point out the truth. If rightly done, it is the second most strongest of arguments – next only to silence.

"All I'm trying to say is that no great movement designed to change the world can bear sarcasm or mockery, because they are a rust that corrodes all it touches."

Soviet Socialism (which made 'revolution' into an institution) was no different from all this, only more so – telling people what to say and what to feel. Our protagonist is trying to pretend that he is a good socialist, but he senses the humor in air. Young as he was, it was only a matter of time before he ended up joking about it. The rulers obviously weren’t amused and so he is sentenced hard labor.

"And I was horrified at the thought that things conceived in error are just as real as things conceived with good reason and of necessity."

Of course, the ones who punished him were themselves putting up an act:

"They stood between life and death. They weren't petty. If they had read my postcard, they might have laughed."

And:

"I could see nothing but actors, their faces covered by masks of cretinous virility and arrogant brutishness; I found no extenuation in the thought that the masks hid another (more human) face, since the real horror seemed to lie in the fact that the faces beneath the masks were fiercely devoted to the inhumanity and coarseness of the masks."

The biggest comedian in the story though is fate who makes a joke of several people in the book thus providing a common theme to all stories.

This is a lot more than a political novel. Kundera manages to create parallels in personal and political lives of characters. I especially liked narrator's love story at Labour camp. I really liked Lucie's story.

"we kissed through a gap in the barbed wire."

A bit off the subject, but this is partially why I don't like RSS and BJP with their 'Hindu way of life'. I don't like the idea of anyone forcing any kind of lifestyle on anyone. Not they aren't full of absurdities. They have somehow convinced millions of people that in a country where millions of children are undernourished, women’s rights are screwed, students are committing suicide; we must not forget our priorities and save cows first. Now try making a joke about that! It is beyond humor, right? Gayen Hamari mata hai, aaghe kuch nahia aata hai. (Cow is our mama, know nothing more than that). You know what I don’t understand? They never seem to care about bull papas. I mean, do you know how screwed the sex ratios of cattle are is? Even the worst of bull papas can have a harem. Why do they don’t cry about that. Is it father issues or what? I mean holy cow that is sexist man! This can go on and on ... But on some other day.

Quotes:

"it's not your enemies who condemn you to solitude, it's your friends"

"When it is postponed, vengeance is transformed into something deceptive, into a personal religion, into a myth that recedes day by day from the people involved, who remain the same in the myth though in reality (the walkway is in constant motion) they long ago became different people."

"I merely squeezed the bottle in my palm and said to myself I'm holding my death in my hand, and I was enthralled by so much opportunity, it was like going step by step to an abyss, not to jump into it, just to look down."

"Because being brave in solitude, without witnesses, without the reward of others' approbation, face to face with himself, that took great pride and strength."

"If we looked back, we'd end up like Lot's wife."

"dog's yelp can't reach heaven."

"it occurred to me that when we were buying clothes in the summer we had forgotten that summer would end and cold weather come."

whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition

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4.0

While this is widely recognized as Kundera's greatest novel, a distinction with which I agree, it is not my favorite of his novels. In some ways it is difficult to read because you see an individual whose life is completely shaped by a minor act. Heart-rending at parts, tender at others, it is a wholly beautiful experience to read.

eklsolo's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bels's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced

3.0

liliana41's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective

4.25

kunjal_d's review against another edition

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challenging reflective

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

smuds2's review against another edition

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I just do not care about Ludviks story. There was maybe something interesting being said about the relationship between the public and private persona - and the extension of that idea to how everyone wears a mask in different conditions, either a mask chosen by themselves or a mask foisted on them by others. Or that you put a mask on everyone you meet and that's how you perceive them.

And how you can pull that even further to zoom out and say we have a perception on a whole people, in this case folk people, without truly understanding them. So like when the folk music guy tried to advance folk music to modern day, Ludvik was like "gross" because Ludviks perception of the appeal of folk music (aka his mask) did not correspond to the folk music guys mask/perception.

I guess. I don't know. I just didn't care about Ludviks story. Helena, interesting. Folk music guy. Interesting. Kolksta, interesting (skimmed his stuff). But I just don't care about a guy trying to get his rocks off by manipulating himself and women to get them to sleep with him.