The Art of the Novel

Author: Kundera
Translator: Dong Qiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: Undoubtedly, Milan Kundera is a great novelist. Starting with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, his fragmented chapter structure like musical movements, popular farcical style, sharp observations and critiques of totalitarian societies (even including totalitarian families), and profound philosophical reflections leave readers astonished and captivated. What is is that at times, in the arrangement of his novel chapters, two seemingly unrelated storylines later converge at a single point in a strange yet perfect fusion, taking the reader to a higher perspective and allowing them to glimpse the novelist's perfect layout, much like listening to a perfect symphony movement, leaving one unable to help but applaud in admiration. This is one of the experiences of enjoying novel reading that I have engraved in my memory while reading his novel Immortality.
However, Kundera's novels are not easy to read. Perhaps for most readers, we can only grasp a piece or a thread from his complete puzzle as a clue for reading. Now, a collection titled A Novelist on Novels, which Kundera describes as a practitioner's reflection on The Art of the Novel, has been published again. This book is worth reading for those who love reading novels, even those who write them.
How does a novelist view novels? Especially one like Milan Kundera? Kundera's novels can be depicted as clear architectural structural diagrams based on the number "seven," skillfully employing polyphonic structures and aligning with the tempo of an internal melody to write about love and sex, history and politics, existence and conflict, all with black humor.
Undoubtedly, Milan Kundera is a great novelist. Starting with The Unbearable Lightness of Being, his fragmented chapter structure like musical movements, popular farcical style, sharp observations and critiques of totalitarian societies (even including totalitarian families), and profound philosophical reflections leave readers astonished and captivated. What is is that at times, in the arrangement of his novel chapters, two seemingly unrelated storylines later converge at a single point in a strange yet perfect fusion, taking the reader to a higher perspective and allowing them to glimpse the novelist's perfect layout, much like listening to a perfect symphony movement, leaving one unable to help but applaud in admiration. This is one of the experiences of enjoying novel reading that I have engraved in my memory while reading his novel Immortality.
However, Kundera's novels are not easy to read. Perhaps for most readers, we can only grasp a piece or a thread from his complete puzzle as a clue for reading. Now, a collection titled A Novelist on Novels, which Kundera describes as a practitioner's reflection on The Art of the Novel, has been published again. This book is worth reading for those who love reading novels, even those who write them.
How does a novelist view novels? Especially one like Milan Kundera? Kundera's novels can be depicted as clear architectural structural diagrams based on the number "seven," skillfully employing polyphonic structures and aligning with the tempo of an internal melody to write about love and sex, history and politics, existence and conflict, all with black humor.