From Kafka to Kundera (Novels and Novelists of the 20th Century)

Author: Wu Xiaodong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: This book is compiled based on the lecture notes of the "Twentieth-Century Foreign Modernist Novel Selection and Study" course offered at Peking University. The improvisations and insightful discussions during the lectures add a touch of casual and empathetic charm to the book, beyond its rigorous and academic research style. For those familiar with or fond of certain novels and novelists, listening to Dr. Wu Xiaodong's commentary might be an enjoyable "revisit of old dreams." Looking back at the recently passed 20th-century literature, labeling it as classic may be premature. However, the nine novelists promoted by Wu Xiaodong on the lecture stage—from Kafka to Kundera—undoubtedly deserve the title of masters; the nine works he selected for interpretation and analysis have already or will inevitably be proven immortal. Therefore, Dr. Wu Xiaodong's insightful research on the novelists he admires and his unique interpretation of the novels he appreciates can be seen as a review and assessment of 20th-century modernist literature. Although the author does not intend to establish a contract for the history of the novel, his broad perspective helps us gain a comprehensive understanding and grasp of the literary context of the past century. This, in turn, allows us to appreciate the profound influence of this "most complex century in human history" on novelists and the novel form, as well as why 20th-century novels made readers feel that "reading is no longer a pastime or enjoyment; reading has become a serious, even painful ritual."