The Book of Laughter and Forgetting
By Milan Kundera
Set for the most part in what is now the Czech Republic the book is formed of several separate sections, each telling their own story with their own characters and very few links between the sections. Very few links except the main theme. The book itself talks about what it is in a very oblique way. In one of the later sections the author talks about his father and a Beethoven’s compositions and the variations on a theme, much like the book itself.
This seven-stories-in-one technique has the effect of creating something that is both dis-jointed and perfectly linked. There isn’t any character development but the themes and ideas grow and develop. This book is half novel and half exposition of philosophy. Whether this is an effective method is another matter. Sometimes the author’s ideas seem a little strange or at odds with each other.
It was quite a cool book but I’m still quite glad most books aren’t written that way. Not one to read for the plot but an interesting read interesting if only for some of the social background
