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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Milan Kundera seams to say in his first novel, that somebody is playing with our lives, somebody is connecting and disconnecting the events in which we are attracted with or without our will. It pushes us into a hollow or it offers us a sudden freedom, that we don't know how to use. Somebody is laughing about us by proposing us ideals that turn into their own semblance, without stopping to follow us and poison our existence. Somebody is looking merciless to us and records every move we make with a cold look which doesn't let any hope. And this face, characterized by this look, is the one that "The Joke" is offering us - the face of yesterday, today and forever, in which we all are challenged to identify ourselves.
In reality the opposite is true: everything will be forgotten and nothing will be redressed. The task of obtaining redress will be taken over by forgetting.
This philosophy, I may not know where it's from, is what Milan Kundera imparted in his first novel. The seven-part creation chronicles the Czech history and culture of more than a decade. Told in four viewpoints, we see the story of Ludvík, plotting a vangeance with his comrade (and previously, a friend, Zemanek). The Joke is not a satirical novel, but an ironic one, because as you read along you see yourself within the time and tide of the characters unfolded before your eyes.
It all started with the playful spirit of the scientist named Ludvík Jahn, sending a postcard with a political joke:
Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!
Using Trotskism as a political joke (a political philosophy adverse of the Czech communism of the time) branded Ludvík as the enemy of the party (thus ousted) and sent to the mines. This is the first Joke.
As you go with the pages you see the treatment of being branded, the suffering of working in the mines and their longing for individual freedom. We see Ludvík's encounter with the first love, Lucíe Sebetka, his sudden enstrangement with his musician friend Jaroslav, and his bitterness with fate and life by plotting a revenge against Zemanek - and his wife Helena.
What I loved with the novel is how Kundera unfolded the humanity of the four narrators - Ludvík, Helena, Kotska, and Jaroslav - by placing them in the Czechoslovakia situation as a backdrop. Perhaps the country is so full of history that these interweaving stories make it more vulnerable to the ironies of their times - on how one deals with the genuinity of the Moravian Folk music as a political movement, or of faithfulness to the Catholic faith in contrast with the Communist ideals.
In addition, Kundera intently placed the drama on how one's hatred controlled one's life, only be slammed by the irony that these contained feelings are simply forgotten by those who caused it; Or how one's indifference makes the other amorous and how one's amorous sentiments makes the other descend into abandonment.
This #laslasread, ended with a heart attack, is what Kundera bequeathed to his countrymen, that a sudden change is needed to the once sparkling glamour to the slowly decaying cynical society of his. I am not a Czech, but it clicked my interest on why the Prague Spring happened.
May it be the love story or the changing times of the Czech history, I hope you consider this heavy book a try. The book simply awakens your consciousness of the human spirit, and makes you ponder of the gravity of the Hands of Time and of the Wheels of Fate.
Side-notes:
1. Trotsky is a leader of Red Army, during 1917 he was on Stalin's side until the Left Opposition and the Great Purge happened. He was assassinated by Stalin's men.
2. Moravian folk music was made as a party movement post-WW2 times.
3. Most of the Czechs today are atheists. Before half of the Czechoslovakia is of Catholic faith (rough estimate)
4. Pre-february (1948) is before the coup de etat, before Czechoslovakia became a Communist Government.
[gathered information from wikipedia.or]
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Había pasado regular tiempo sin leer algo de uno de mis escritores favoritos: el checo Milan Kundera. Curiosamente el interés por otro libro me llevó finalmente a leer La broma. ¿Cómo así? Pues, recientemente Jaime Bayly ha publicado su novela Pecho Frío, y en una entrevista concedida a Renato Cisneros, confesó que la historia de su novela, es decir la historia de Pecho Frío, fue inspirada en una obra escrita por el checo Milan Kundera: La broma. Esta confesión inmediatamente gatilló el entusiasmo por buscar y leer La broma, que es la primera publicada por Kundera en el año de 1967.
Comentario:
"No había otra posibilidad, tenía que interrumpir aquella historia ruin, aquella broma estúpida que no se contentaba consigo misma sino que se multiplicaba monstruosamente dando lugar a más y más bromas estúpidas, deseaba borrar todo este día que se había producido por error..." (Capítulo 15. Ludvik)
La novela narra múltiples historias contada por sus propios protagonistas y desde su punto de vista. La historia inicia con la visita de Ludvik a su tierra natal Moravia, un pueblo de República Checa, quien llega para cometer una venganza contra su pasado. A partir de entonces, y a lo largo de esa estadía Ludvik recordará aquel episodio que lo ha llenado de rencor hasta ahora, quince años después.
A lo largo de la novela, cada parte dividida es narrada por un personaje específico desde su punto de vista, por lo cual nos enteramos de la historia de Helena, Jaroslav y Kostka, además de Ludvik.
Los recuerdos de Ludvik se remontan al año de 1948, año en el cual el comunismo se hace con el poder político del país como una extensión del Stalinismo (totalitarismo), es decir, las libertades se restringen, la cultura es reducida, el poder político es asumido y controlado exclusivamente por el comunismo, y quien difería de aquella ideología simplemente era apartado del sistema.
Bajo este contexto social y político se desarrolla la historia de los protagonistas.
Una de las historias que más me ha conmovido fue la relación de Ludvik y Lucie, aquella joven misteriosa tan distinta a Ludvik en cuanto a su forma de ver la vida pero tan similar a él por la sombra que lleva en el alma. Ludvik y Lucie fue una relación romántica de juventud, llena de inocencia e ilusión.
Otras historias son la de Jaroslav y su relación con el folclore moravo, la historia de Lucie y su doloroso pasado, la historia de Helena y su intento por zafarse de la humillación y la de Kostka y su autoengaño sobre su cristianismo; y todo va ocurriendo bajo el inmenso peso del avance del tiempo que hace que todo se olvide, todo.
Podría decirse que Ludvik es el alter ego de Kundera porque ambos tienen similitudes en su historia.
En suma, La broma es un libro muy recomendable de leer y releer.
Título original: Žert
Autor: Milan Kundera
Año de publicación: 1967
Había pasado regular tiempo sin leer algo de uno de mis escritores favoritos: el checo Milan Kundera. Curiosamente el interés por otro libro me llevó finalmente a leer La broma. ¿Cómo así? Pues, recientemente Jaime Bayly ha publicado su novela Pecho Frío, y en una entrevista concedida a Renato Cisneros, confesó que la historia de su novela, es decir la historia de Pecho Frío, fue inspirada en una obra escrita por el checo Milan Kundera: La broma. Esta confesión inmediatamente gatilló el entusiasmo por buscar y leer La broma, que es la primera publicada por Kundera en el año de 1967.
Comentario:
"No había otra posibilidad, tenía que interrumpir aquella historia ruin, aquella broma estúpida que no se contentaba consigo misma sino que se multiplicaba monstruosamente dando lugar a más y más bromas estúpidas, deseaba borrar todo este día que se había producido por error..." (Capítulo 15. Ludvik)
La novela narra múltiples historias contada por sus propios protagonistas y desde su punto de vista. La historia inicia con la visita de Ludvik a su tierra natal Moravia, un pueblo de República Checa, quien llega para cometer una venganza contra su pasado. A partir de entonces, y a lo largo de esa estadía Ludvik recordará aquel episodio que lo ha llenado de rencor hasta ahora, quince años después.
A lo largo de la novela, cada parte dividida es narrada por un personaje específico desde su punto de vista, por lo cual nos enteramos de la historia de Helena, Jaroslav y Kostka, además de Ludvik.
Los recuerdos de Ludvik se remontan al año de 1948, año en el cual el comunismo se hace con el poder político del país como una extensión del Stalinismo (totalitarismo), es decir, las libertades se restringen, la cultura es reducida, el poder político es asumido y controlado exclusivamente por el comunismo, y quien difería de aquella ideología simplemente era apartado del sistema.
Bajo este contexto social y político se desarrolla la historia de los protagonistas.
Una de las historias que más me ha conmovido fue la relación de Ludvik y Lucie, aquella joven misteriosa tan distinta a Ludvik en cuanto a su forma de ver la vida pero tan similar a él por la sombra que lleva en el alma. Ludvik y Lucie fue una relación romántica de juventud, llena de inocencia e ilusión.
Otras historias son la de Jaroslav y su relación con el folclore moravo, la historia de Lucie y su doloroso pasado, la historia de Helena y su intento por zafarse de la humillación y la de Kostka y su autoengaño sobre su cristianismo; y todo va ocurriendo bajo el inmenso peso del avance del tiempo que hace que todo se olvide, todo.
Podría decirse que Ludvik es el alter ego de Kundera porque ambos tienen similitudes en su historia.
En suma, La broma es un libro muy recomendable de leer y releer.
Título original: Žert
Autor: Milan Kundera
Año de publicación: 1967
This review first published on Oh Just Books.
I've read another book by the same author - Immortality, which was more nuanced and polished on account of Kundera's growth as a storyteller. The Joke is his first book. I read the translated work (obviously). The original title of the book in Czech is 'Zert'.
The book is set in post-WW2 Czechoslovakia. It has 7 chapters written with the POV of different characters in the story with suitable jumps in the timeline to keep the reader guessing. The primary protagonist, Ludvik is a dashing, witty, and popular student who supports the Communist Party. He finds himself derailed from the path of his life after a joke that he cracks at the expense of a friend gains bad repute for him. This leads to him being expelled and sent to the mines, which embitters him. It would be appropriate to assume that this is the joke that the title refers to, but after finishing the book you can point out a number of instances which render the characters in it as a butt of a joke.
Read the rest of the review here.
I've read another book by the same author - Immortality, which was more nuanced and polished on account of Kundera's growth as a storyteller. The Joke is his first book. I read the translated work (obviously). The original title of the book in Czech is 'Zert'.
The book is set in post-WW2 Czechoslovakia. It has 7 chapters written with the POV of different characters in the story with suitable jumps in the timeline to keep the reader guessing. The primary protagonist, Ludvik is a dashing, witty, and popular student who supports the Communist Party. He finds himself derailed from the path of his life after a joke that he cracks at the expense of a friend gains bad repute for him. This leads to him being expelled and sent to the mines, which embitters him. It would be appropriate to assume that this is the joke that the title refers to, but after finishing the book you can point out a number of instances which render the characters in it as a butt of a joke.
Read the rest of the review here.
Milan Kundera's The Joke is a beautiful novel, which is an extremely personal story, and at the same time, very political. It deals with the individual and the state, and the overlap of the two.
It tells the tale of several strange love stories, but my favourite part has to be what Ludvik is thinking, after his relationship with Lucie ends:
“It seemed to me an error in reasoning for a man to isolate a woman he loves from all the circumstances in which he met her and in which she lives, to try, with dogged inner concentration, to purify her of everything that is not her self, which is to say also of the story that they lived through together and that gives their ove its shape.
After all, what I love in a woman is not what she is in and for herself, but the side of herself she turns toward me, what she is for me. I love her as a character in our common love story.”
The novel is stellar storytelling, with a nonlinear plot and multiple storylines that all converge in the depressing and hilarious last section of the book. All characters are caricatures, they are all serious and ridiculous. The characters are powerless to their circumstances, in spite of the rage and stubornness with which they try to control their fate. Ludvik and his friends are, indeed, the victims of "the joke history has plated on them".
The Joke> challenges the optimistic communist belief that reality can be mastered and controlled by man's intellect, and that man can control his own destiny. "Optimism is the opium of the masses", as Ludvik writes in the postcard that ironically gets him into trouble in the first place.
It tells the tale of several strange love stories, but my favourite part has to be what Ludvik is thinking, after his relationship with Lucie ends:
“It seemed to me an error in reasoning for a man to isolate a woman he loves from all the circumstances in which he met her and in which she lives, to try, with dogged inner concentration, to purify her of everything that is not her self, which is to say also of the story that they lived through together and that gives their ove its shape.
After all, what I love in a woman is not what she is in and for herself, but the side of herself she turns toward me, what she is for me. I love her as a character in our common love story.”
The novel is stellar storytelling, with a nonlinear plot and multiple storylines that all converge in the depressing and hilarious last section of the book. All characters are caricatures, they are all serious and ridiculous. The characters are powerless to their circumstances, in spite of the rage and stubornness with which they try to control their fate. Ludvik and his friends are, indeed, the victims of "the joke history has plated on them".
The Joke> challenges the optimistic communist belief that reality can be mastered and controlled by man's intellect, and that man can control his own destiny. "Optimism is the opium of the masses", as Ludvik writes in the postcard that ironically gets him into trouble in the first place.
Hmm... I will be thinking about, and processing, this book for a while. It is definitely not a book to read over a long time, as I did. Oh well.
I am curious to read some secondary literature about this novel. I found myself considering similarities with The Stranger. I am unsure how I feel about the representation of women in this book. Yet, at the same time, I find all of the characters to work quite will in their symbolic roles.
Interesting.
I am curious to read some secondary literature about this novel. I found myself considering similarities with The Stranger. I am unsure how I feel about the representation of women in this book. Yet, at the same time, I find all of the characters to work quite will in their symbolic roles.
Interesting.
Uma estreia genial de um autor genial. Muitos dos elementos familiares no texto do Kundera já estão aqui, e perceber que ele já iniciou a carreira com esse nível de qualidade é incrível!
Years after reading it for the first time, I'm still reminded once and again of the role of music in freedom and in brainwashing, the power it has over the mobs and the beauty it holds when it's art. Kundera has a rather dry, light way of storytelling that keeps you at a distance from the incidents, and that allows to enjoy the stingy satire instead of being crushed by the horror of tyrany. He makes you wonder what is truth, how accurate is memory, what's behind relationships.
The stupid misunderstanding, the main incident in The Joke had apparently happened to Kundera himself, a totally unsettling fact.
The stupid misunderstanding, the main incident in The Joke had apparently happened to Kundera himself, a totally unsettling fact.
This book is probably great if you have a good understanding of and interest in Czech politics and history. I do not. It was wasted on me.