Classic Love Reading - The Hitchhiking Game

Author: (Czech) Kundera
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: The Field Theory of Modern Love—in the absurd game, the authentic self listens, the crying of the puppet. The Hitchhiker Game—A girl and her boyfriend go on a vacation together. While parking at a gas station, the girl contemplates the duality of spirit and flesh, worries about her shyness, and then becomes infatuated with another woman's frivolous and unrestrained charm, especially the flirtatious game between young women and drivers on the highway. When she gets back into the car, she speaks to her boyfriend as if she were a stranger, and he gradually shifts to a rough and wild manner. Their new selves are ultimately lost in this imitation of a hitchhiking game. Let Her Be—At 35, he meets her at 50 on the street. He recalls a physical encounter 15 years ago. Later, she married him, who was 19 years older than her, and they had a son. Ten years ago, her husband passed away, so she visits his grave every year. This time, they meet again, awakening past passion. Edward and God—Edward is a teacher in a small Czech town, and his principal, Jizera, is the female classmate who was responsible for sending his brother to a constitutional village. Edward pursues a beautiful girl named Alice, who is devout to God and keeps her chastity out of superstition. To please her, Edward pretends to be even more pious about God, and is discovered by the female principal in the church, who then talks to him. In the end, both women fall in love with him, but he falls into the trap he set for himself—emptiness without essence.